Pakistan's former army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa retired in November after six years as head of the army. General Bajwa left off with a bit of a bang to Bangladesh.
In one of his last official engagements, General Bajwa quipped that Pakistan failed politically and not militarily in 1971. He also claimed that the actual number of PoWs from West Pakistan was 34,000 instead of 92,000.
Relations between Bangladesh and Pakistan should not be held hostage to 1971. Attempts to promote revisionist history by questioning the facts of 1971 are a bane to good relations.
Sadly, there have been efforts to promote distorted and revisionist history in the last few years. The politics of today must not overshadow the historical truth of 1971.
While it can be argued that 1971 was as much a political failure on the part of the political class of West Pakistan to accept the unequivocal democratic mandate of East Pakistan, it remains the fact that West Pakistan was militarily defeated in the war that ensued for nine months.
General Bajwa's claim that the actual number of PoWs was 34,000 contradicts Pakistan's own figures. In 1973, Pakistan launched a case against India at the International Court of Justice in which its application to the court clearly stated that there were “92,000 Pakistani prisoners of war.”
In December 1971, the surrender which took place was a military surrender and hence it was evidently a military failure. Today, Pakistan's army presides over a nuclear arsenal and is an important regional player.
It is bemusing that its army chief would need to distort history to instill pride in his country's armed forces. One would argue that Pakistan does not need such distortions.
From a Bangladeshi standpoint, inaccurate statements and outright revisionist insinuations are detrimental to cordial relations between the two brotherly countries.
Perhaps, it has to do with General Bajwa's political profile. He is accused by Pakistani politicians of interfering in the country's politics. Perhaps, he is resorting to the age-old ploy of blaming politicians for everything.
Now that he is retired, General Bajwa should introspect on his mistakes and inaccurate statements. His comments have been debunked by many Bangladeshis. His comments about 1971 are a stark departure from his generally moderate commentary this year on promoting regional cooperation.
The promotion of distorted and revisionist history is a cause of concern. Subtle denial about what really happened in 1971 is a disservice to the truth. Bravery will not come from falsehoods.
These remarks by General Bajwa stand in contrast to his earlier statements about regional peace.
At Pakistan's military academy in October, the outgoing army chief talked about giving “peace a chance by developing a mechanism to resolve all our bilateral issues peacefully. Moreover, as opposed to fighting each other, we should collectively fight hunger, poverty, illiteracy, population explosion, climate change and disease.”
He also said that “[t]he world has changed, so should we, as the price of [the] status quo will be devastating for all of us.”
Does General Bajwa want the status quo to change for the better or for the worse?
Ideally, the parliament of Bangladesh should adopt a resolution against the promotion of distorted and revisionist narratives regarding 1971.
Parliament should also take into cognizance the human rights situation in Pakistan and stand with its moderate and progressive forces.
Umran Chowdhury works in the legal field.