Pakistan must apologize to Bangladesh by December 16, 2021

Pathik Hasan

(pathikhasan1141@gmail.com)

Upcoming December 16, 2021, is knocking on the door. Bangladesh will celebrate its 50th anniversary of victory day with full spirit. On December 16, 1971, almost 93,000 Pakistani soldiers surrendered in Dhaka, leading to the creation of the sovereign nation-state of Bangladesh. December 16 is Victory Day in Bangladesh. On this day in 1971, some 93,000 Pakistani soldiers settled for unconditional surrender to India-Bangladesh joint forces in Dhaka that led to the emergence of a new nation-state in South Asia. Bangladesh got its independence from Pakistan in 1971. Bangladesh was a part of Pakistan from 1947 to 1971. Bangladesh had to separate itself from Pakistan due to various reasons through the prolonged independent movement. After the hardcore struggle, it placed itself on the world map as a sovereign state. During this period, the people of Bangladesh faced serious exploitation and genocidal activities committed by the Pakistan army. Consequently, India had to stand a huge influx of refugees. According to the Bangladesh government, nearly 3 million people were martyred and 2.5 lacks women were raped by the Pakistani military and its local associates.

Pakistan should apologize to Bangladesh for killing, torturing and looting Bengalis during the war of liberation in 1971. Pakistan must apologize to Bangladesh. Apart from the egoistic leaders of Pakistan, the common people of the country think that Pakistan should apologize to Bangladesh. If Pakistan apologizes, it has nothing to do with being small. Four decades of the liberation war have passed. The attitude of Pakistanis towards Bangladesh in 1971 has changed a lot. Now the Pakistani people also think that they should apologize to Bangladesh.

Recently, Pakistan's High Commissioner Imran Ahmed Siddiqui paid a courtesy call twice on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on December 03, 2020, and October 25, 2021. At that time, the Prime Minister said, Bangladesh cannot forget the atrocities committed by Pakistan in 1971. The events of 1971 cannot be forgotten. That wound will remain forever. During the meeting, the High Commissioner conveyed the greetings of the Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan to the Prime Minister. Sheikh Hasina also greeted the Prime Minister of Pakistan through him.

In December, when the Pakistani army surrendered in Dhaka, everyone around them should remind them of the genocide and atrocities of the 1971 war and highlight the historical truth and pressurize them to seek an apology to Bangladesh for their heinous act during the liberation period. The Pakistani government is always afraid to reveal this truth. The majority of the people there still do not know what horrible atrocities took place in Bangladesh during the war. The Pakistani textbooks do not talk about the atrocities of the Pakistani army and the liberation war of Bangladesh. According to the Pakistani textbook, 'Dhaka fell' due to the Indian conspiracy. The arrogance and arrogance of the occupying Pakistani forces fell.

Earlier on July 1, 2020, Pakistan's High Commissioner met Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen and discussed the issue of genocide by the Pakistani army. "I have told the high commissioner that Pakistan has not yet formally apologized for the 1971 genocide," he told reporters after the meeting. Since independence, defeated Pakistan has been waging war against Bangladesh in the international arena. It opposes Bangladesh's inclusion in various forums. Although the two countries recognized each other in 1974, diplomatic relations were established in 1975, after the assassination of Bangabandhu. When the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was formed in the eighties, relations between the two countries became fairly normal. When the Awami League came to power in 2009 and took the initiative to try the war criminals, Pakistan started sniffing. When war criminal Quader Mollah was hanged in 2013, Pakistan passed a resolution condemning it in the National Assembly. They play a similar role in other war crimes. This brings the relations between the two countries to a lower level. Although Pakistan speaks of forgetting the past, it provokes the past.

Despite Pakistan's steadfast stance, many progressives in the country feel that Pakistan should apologize for the genocide carried out by the Pakistani army in 1971, killing innocent men, women and children.

Hamid Mir is one of the journalists who campaigned for Pakistan's apology. During a visit to Bangladesh in 2011, he said in an exchange of views in the office that he would continue to work for his cause. He also said that he was collecting signatures of members of national and provincial councils. Before arriving in Dhaka, Hamid Mir interviewed former cricketer and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party chief Imran Khan on March 23, 2011. In the interview given to Geo News and Geo Super TV, Hamid Mir drew Imran Khan's attention and said, "Didn't you see that the Bangladeshi spectators supported Pakistan in the match between West Indies and Pakistan on March 23 at Mirpur Stadium in Dhaka." Don't you think the time has come for the government of Pakistan to apologize unconditionally to Bangladesh for the genocide of 1971? Imran Khan agrees with the host.

The citizens of Bangladesh, Expatriate Bangladeshis in Europe have been protesting against Pakistan since 1971 in protest of genocide in Bangladesh from time to time. They have been urging Pakistan to seek an apology to Bangladesh. The demand is an apology from Islamabad for the massacre of innocent Bengalis.

During the liberation war, the Pakistani military carried out massive atrocities. United Nations should recognize this horrific atrocity as genocide and start international recognition of the perpetrators.

Pakistan has not apologized to Bangladesh. Pakistan should apologize to Bangladesh and the United Nations should recognize the 1971 genocide as genocide.

Bangladesh always seeks international recognition for the 1971 genocide. Bangladesh demands demand that the killings carried out by the Pakistani army on March 25 be recognized as genocide.

Pakistan has played a very dirty and disgusting role. I think the United Nations, the European Union, the Council of Europe and other human rights organizations should recognize the 1971 genocide internationally as genocide. This recognition is needed not only to prevent genocide but also to honour those who were killed in the genocide.

Hussein Haqqani, Pakistan's former ambassador to the United States, said Pakistan should apologize for the atrocities committed in Bangladesh in 1971 during a webinar in Brussels in March 2021.

Referring to the arrest and genocide of Bengalis without handing over power to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the leader of the winning party Awami League in the 1970 elections, he said, "There is no indication that he has apologized for it till date. I think the people of Pakistan should call on their government to formally apologize to the people of Bangladesh for the atrocities committed in 1971. In Haqqanis words, apologizing for the role played in 1971 may now be the most "civilized" behaviour for Pakistan."

Seeking forgiveness to someone after doing wrong does not mean being small, but expressing oneself as a symbol of greatness and humility. If France and Germany can apologize to Rwanda after all this time, why can't Pakistan apologize to Bangladesh?

If Europe's two biggest former colonial powers - France and Germany - can do it, then no one else should have a problem doing it. Pakistan should realize this. Since Bangladesh won on 16 December 1971, it was on 16 December that Pakistan could formally apologize to Bangladesh. Still, Bangladesh will get some consolation. This should be realized by the government of Pakistan. Because they need Bangladesh's help and support in reviving their fragile economy and in various international issues. The sooner the Pakistani government realizes this, the better for them. If Pakistan wants to take steps to improve relations with Bangladesh, it must apologize for the 1971 war crimes. Only then is it possible to advance diplomatic and economic relations between the two countries? So, it would be better for Pakistan if Pakistan should seek a state apology to Bangladesh as soon as possible.