Jamaat-e-Islami chief and opposition leader Dr Shafiqur Rahman described a meeting in Dhaka between US special envoy Sergio Gor and Indian High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi as unexpected. He made the remarks on Saturday morning while answering journalists’ questions at a gathering in Sylhet’s Bandar Bazar marking the Daily Jalalabad newspaper’s 34th year.

Rahman said the matter would be different if the government knew about and approved it in an independent, sovereign country. He said a purely courtesy meeting would also be different, but any discussion involving issues concerning two countries should take place with the government and the opposition as well. He said such engagement with a diplomat from a particular country was not desirable.

He also raised concern over what he called a process of appointing party loyalists to the Election Commission, saying the nation and his party would not accept a staged election. Rahman urged the prime minister to take responsibility for stopping corruption and extortion. At the event, he stressed the role of independent, objective and responsible media, urging Daily Jalalabad to remain a voice of the public rather than any political party.