Bangladesh has strongly protested the resolution adopted by Pakistan National Assembly on Monday over the execution of war criminal Abdul Quader Molla and his trial at the International Crimes Tribunal.
It also protested the resolution adopted by Punjab Provincial Assembly last Wednesday and the remarks made by Pakistan home minister on Friday over the same issue.
Jamaat-e-Islami Assistant Secretary General Quader Molla, well-known as “Mirpurer Koshai” (Butcher of Mirpur), was hanged on Thursday night for committing crimes against humanity against the pro-liberation people in 1971.
Pakistan High Commissioner Afrasiab Mehdi Hashmi went to the foreign ministry just before 5pm yesterday, and at 5:25pm he entered the room of foreign ministry Secretary (bilateral) Mustafa Kamal.
During the 30-minute meeting, Kamal handed him over an Aide Memoire. Mehdi left the ministry without talking to the press.
In the Aide Memoire, Bangladesh expressed grievance and dissatisfaction in the strongest possible terms over the resolutions and the statement of Home Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.
Nisar on Friday said Quader Molla had been hanged due to “loyalty and solidarity with Pakistan in 1971.”
But Quader Molla in his testimony at the tribunal claimed that he had taken training as freedom fighter during the Liberation War. However, the claim was rejected both by the tribunal and the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.
In the Aide Memoire, it was stipulated that: “The Bangladesh government also noted, with regret the reported remarks by a Senior Cabinet Minister of the Pakistan government calling the execution of a convict as a judicial murder and reviving old wounds between Bangladesh and Pakistan. Bangladesh finds such remarks completely untrue, biased and absolutely inappropriate.”
Bangladesh also in the Aide Memoire conveyed strong protest on the Pakistan government’s reaction to the verdict against Quader Molla.
The National Assembly adopted the resolution, moved by Pakistan Jamaat member Sher Akbar Khan and supported by the ruling party Pakistan Muslim League-N.
“It is the expectations of the people of Bangladesh that decisions and stature of the highest courts and judicial bodies of Bangladesh are duly respected by all concerned in Pakistan and utmost restraint is exercised specially by the responsible quarters of the government,” the Aide Memoire said.
The resolution was, however, not supported by two other political parties – PPP and MQM.
The Pakistan high commissioner told the secretary that he would convey Bangladesh’s feeling to the higher authorities in Islamabad.
Later at a press briefing, Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali said Bangladesh had conveyed to Pakistan that the tribunal was internal affair of the country.
“Bangladesh has reached at a level where it does not afraid of anybody,” he said.
When asked whether Bangladesh would summon other envoys whose countries or organisations earlier issued statements against the tribunal, the minister said each of the statements had different premises.
“We will deal with everybody separately,” he said.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, and the European Union also issued statement against the tribunal and the execution of Quader Molla.
According to a press release issued by the foreign ministry, Mustafa Kamal told the high commissioner that the establishment of the tribunal had been Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s commitment as reflected in the 2008 election manifesto.
The trials are not being conducted with any specific intention to rake up memories of 1971 as misconstrued by some quarters in Pakistan, but to put a legal closure to the injustice and pain suffered by the victims’ families and the Bangalee nation as a whole, the press release added.
Kamal referred to the campaign of genocide launched against the peaceful and innocent people of Bangladesh by the Pakistan Army and its cohorts which consisted of war criminals like Quader Molla.
The Aide Memoire said: “The Bangladesh government would like to state in unequivocal terms that the war crimes trial in Bangladesh is an internal matter of Bangladesh and as such the uncalled for resolution on the part of the Pakistan National Assembly and the Punjab Provincial Assembly demanding of the Bangladesh government to end the cases against the war criminals and refrain from raising the issues of 1971, which tantamount to interference in the domestic affairs of Bangladesh and stands against the spirit of international principal of non-interference. This also does not augur well for the friendly bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Pakistan enjoyed over the decades.”
Meanwhile, the Ganajagaran Mancha has announced a march towards the Pakistan High Commi-ssion in Dhaka today protesting Islamabad's reaction to the execution of Quader Molla. The march will start at 3pm from the Gulshan 2 intersection.
