Pakistan HC summoned over reaction on Quasem’s execution

The Foreign Ministry has summoned Pakistan's acting high commissioner in Dhaka to protest Islamabad's reaction over the execution of condemned 1971 war criminal Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mir Quasem Ali. "We called their Acting High Commissioner Samina Mehtab as we consider Islamabad's statement as direct interference to Bangladesh's internal affairs," a foreign ministry spokesman told BSS. The envoy reached the foreign ministry office at around 3pm on Sunday as she was summed by Additional Foreign Secretary Qamrul Ahsan on Sunday. Mir Quasem Ali was hanged on Saturday night for committing crimes against humanity during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971. In a statement released into six hours of Jamaat leader’s execution, the External Affairs Ministry of Pakistan condemned the execution. “Pakistan is deeply saddened over the execution of the prominent leader of Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladesh, Mir Quasem Ali, for the alleged crimes committed before December 1971, through a flawed judicial process,” reads the foreign office statement. It offered the deepest condolences to the bereaved family. The statement also said: “The act of suppressing the Opposition, through flawed trials, is completely against the spirit of democracy. Ever since the beginning of the trials, several international organisations, human rights groups, and international legal figures have raised objections to the court proceedings, especially regarding fairness and transparency, as well as harassment of lawyers and witnesses representing the accused. Pakistan also called upon the Bangladeshi government to uphold its commitment, as per the Tripartite Agreement of 1974, wherein it was “decided not to proceed with the trials as an act of clemency”. “Recriminations for political gains are counter-productive. Pakistan believes that matters should be addressed with a forward looking approach in the noble spirit of reconciliation,” the statement added. Pakistan had also expressed concern after the executions of other convicted war criminals of Jamaat. This fetched the country strong criticism from the Bangladesh government which termed Pakistan’s interference into Bangladesh’s internal affairs unsolicited.