Shock, anger and despair in Bangladesh over the executions

Saudi Arabia has been making news on multiple fronts in recent times for being relentlessly targeted by the Houthis, struggling to keep its oil exports going for its much-talked-about security pact with Pakistan and Turkey. Which really isn't amounting to much. However, beyond the geopolitics, it has been in news for something extremely tragic, the execution of a Bangladeshi couple over an alleged indecent act inside a mosque. Nazrul Islam Abdul Basir and Sweety Akhtar were one of the thousands of Bangladesh nationals who carry out blue-collar jobs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The couple, like many others from the faith, had a wish to do the Umrah once in their lifetime. Any like millions of other faithful, they got overwhelmed inside the Holy Mosque in Mecca. It was this moment of pure joy that turned into death knell for them. An expression of affection apparently became an unpardonable sin. They were arrested and jailed. This was back in 2023. For three years, their families prayed in hope, but to no avail. On October 14th, Nazrul and Sweety were executed for indecency inside a holy place. The Rahman government is caught up in a bind over the incident. Country's foreign minister, Humayun Kabir said, and I quote, the incident is very disappointing. The government has sought an explanation from Saudi Arabia which is a friendly partner nation. I hope our bilateral ties continue to grow. Government's muted response added fuel to fire when the bodies of Nazrul and Sweety were repatriated to Dhaka, there was disbelief and shock. The anguish gave way to anger. Civil society groups in Bangladesh are accusing the Saudis of not only violating human rights but also the Vienna Convention. A senior advocate in Bangladesh Supreme Court Halid Adnan said that Article 36 of the Convention requires authorities to inform detained foreigners of their consular rights without delay if a detainee requests it, the relevant consulate must also be notified without delay. It now seems that the Bangladesh consulate was informed about the arrests of Nazrul and Suti but not about the execution. A report from Daily Star claims that it accessed a confidential memo from the Bangladesh consulate in Jeddah which revealed that it was not even aware of their execution People are accusing their government of inaction, drawing parallels with the case of Sri Lankan worker Anujan Sivarasa who had been sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia for alleged blasphemy but the sentence was overturned following global outrage. Local laws and sensibilities must always be upheld and respected but this tragic incident has once again raised questions about the crown prince's March talked about liberal push 10 years after he curbed the powers of power of the country's vaunted religious police. It seems orthodoxy still rules supreme