It was two years back when some municipality elections were held in West Bengal (one of the eastern states of India); in those elections, at least dozen people were killed along with plenty of vandalism. Last week, in West Bengal, Panchayet (like Union board) election was held where 21 people were killed. Normally, I read four major English Dailies and some well-circulated news portals of India every day along with observance the NDTV. I did not get any news that the American ambassador to India met the  Foreign Minister of India regarding the elections, passed any comments to the press on the elections, and advised India and their political parties on how the election should have been held and what should be their political culture in future.
America itself has been suffering from the commencement of the Trump regime.  Russia had interfered in American election through the virtual world which is still being investigated by American authority; we the people, we watch CNN and Fox TV regularly,  we read at least New York Times and Washington Post in the same manner. Besides, sometimes we get to have a look at Boston Globe, Conversation etc. But, we did not get any news that any ambassador of any country went to meet the foreign secretary or any chairman of the Senate committee regarding this issue, and they made any comments to the press. Besides, at the election of Bush and AL Gore, the Florida Chapter was a black chapter for the American election’s history, but none of the ambassadors to America of any country put their heads on that matter.
On the other hand, on 15 May, Khulna city corporation election was held in Bangladesh, and the present government party candidate won the election by getting sixty thousand more votes than his opponent, a member of the  Bangladesh National Party (BNP). Little numerals of irregularities had been held in that election, for this reason, the election commission postponed the vote of the three centres. The irregularities held in Khulna are obviously irregularities, but still, no democratic countries could overcome it yet, rather, democracy has to advance along with it. Immediately before of this city corporation election, another two city corporations elections were held in Bangladesh, one is Comilla, and another is Rangpur city corporation election; same minor irregularities were found in those two elections, interestingly, like May 15, during the whole election day the opposition party spokesperson was blaming the government for flexing their muscles in the election when the election was on. However, when they won the election, they welcomed the result and the role of the election commission. We as journalists have covered many elections inside our country and abroad too. We have seen that not only the government party, the opposition party members do these irregularities as well. Basically, it depends on which party’s support is vigorous in that zone. In Khulna city corporation election, at least one camp was vandalized by the opposition party supporters, and the center was Iqbal Nagar; after getting the news, I talked to some impartial persons from Khulna over telephone;  they said that the  BNP understood that they were going to lose so they created some incidents to provoke the government party to postpone the election.
However, according to the political culture of Bangladesh, on the following day, losing the election, BNP gave their reaction where the joint secretary of their party said, “In yesterday’s voting the illegal government has flexed its muscle. On behalf of the party, I reject the Khulna polls outcome and demand the resignation of the chief election commissioner.” This reaction of the BNP is nothing new in the political culture of Bangladesh. This type of blame game is one of the lamentable features in the country’s politics which should be given up for the betterment of the political atmosphere, but it will take time. Variants types of blame games are still occurring in liberal democracy even in the west and in this sub-continent; it will take time to get rid of it. Unfortunately, after the reaction of BNP, the American ambassador to Bangladesh, Marcia Bernicat, met the foreign secretary of Bangladesh and after that, she called for a full and transparent investigation into the reported   “intimidation” in the Khulna city corporation elections in order to stop a repeat. Besides, she also called upon all parties “to stay in a rule of law" in the future election.  
Marcia Bernicat is neither a political party spokesman nor an authority of the government of Bangladesh; she is only an ambassador of America to Bangladesh. America is a sizably voluminous and opulent country, with a large area and much wealth, there is no match with Bangladesh and America; but, the sovereignty of America and Bangladesh is same according to United Nation (UN) charter. Even, not only for America and Bangladesh, according to the UN charter, the sovereignty of all countries is the same. Therefore, it may be said that all the ambassadors and the High Commissioners of other countries to America are doing their duties and obligations according to their code of conduct in America. Simultaneously, all the American ambassadors are performing their duties in the same manner in all over the world. Given this context, the manner of the duties of the ambassador of America to Bangladesh is expected to be same, and he or she should act on that way. It is never fair to cross the boundary of an ambassador.
Miss Bernicat should remember what her previous ambassador, Dan Mozena, had done.  What he did at that time made it obvious for him to be declared as a persona non grata (PNG) by the Bangladesh government. However, Bangladesh government kept patience then. Truly it is never fair for an ambassador or High commissioner to interfere in the internal matter of any sovereign country. The election of a country is absolutely their internal matter. So, if any representatives of other countries comment and advisee, it is ignoring the sovereignty of that country. It is a violation of their code of conduct.
However, in Bangladesh, not only Miss Bernicat, so many diplomats are doing this. They are not hundred percent responsible for this situation; a group of our politician, members of civil society, and part of the media pressurise them to interfere in our internal matter, and at a stage, the other countries representatives are getting a chance to enter into our internal issues.  Many of the politicians and the members of the civil society never think about the pride of the nation, even about their own responsibility. A country cannot tolerate that type of insolence for a long. So, it is the high time, everyone should respect the sovereignty of the country and understand their pride. If the politicians and the members of the civil society understood their position properly, no representatives of other countries would get any chance to advise us, thinking of us as their colony.
Swadesh Roy, Executive Editor. The Daily Janakantha, Dhaka, Bangladesh. He is the highest state award-winning journalist and can be reached at [email protected].