Pakistan has denied its involvement in crimes and atrocities during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971.
It yesterday summoned the acting Bangladesh high commissioner in Islamabad to convey its rejection of what it said “baseless and unfounded assertions” of Bangladesh against Pakistan.
125 Slain in Dacca Area, Believed Elite of Bengal: At least 125 persons, believed to be physicians, professors, writers and teachers were found murdered today in a field outside Dacca. All the victims' hands were tied behind their backs and they had been bayoneted, garroted or shot. They were among an estimated 300 Bengali intellectuals who had been seized by West Pakistani soldiers and locally recruited supporters. (The New York Times / December 19 , 1971). Photo courtesy: Rashid Talukdar “It is regrettable that attempts have been made by the government of Bangladesh to malign Pakistan, despite our ardent desire to develop brotherly relations with Bangladesh,” the Pakistan Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued yesterday.
On November 23, Bangladesh had summoned Pakistan High Commisionner in Dhaka Shuja Alam and formally protested a Pakistan Foreign Ministry statement issued after the execution of war criminals Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Muzahid.
The Bangladesh high commissioner was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said a press release of the Pakistan Foreign Ministry.
Pakistan believes that the peoples of both countries not only want to maintain but also further strengthen the bonds of friendship and brotherhood. However, sadly, the government of Bangladesh does not seem to respect these sentiments, said the release.
Pakistan reiterates its desire for further enhancing relations with Bangladesh, because it believes that the hearts of the people of Pakistan beat in unison with the people of Bangladesh.
It is important for the two countries not to forget the role played by their people in the struggle for the establishment of a separate homeland for the Muslims of the South Asian sub-continent. It is, therefore, imperative to move forward in the spirit of goodwill, friendship and harmony for the collective good of the peoples of Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The statement claimed that the 1974 tripartite agreement is the bedrock of relations between the two countries.
As regards the Bangladesh government’s contention that Pakistan presents a misleading interpretation of the Agreement of 1974, it needs to be emphasised that, as part of the agreement, the government of Bangladesh had “decided not to proceed with the trials as an act of clemency.”
