Bangladesh Demands Apology from Pakistan for 1971 Atrocities

During the visit of Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar to Bangladesh, the issues of the 1971 Liberation War were raised again. Bangladesh reiterated its demand for an apology for the genocide, financial compensation, return of stranded Pakistanis and help for cyclone victims. Dar called the 1971 issue resolved, but Bangladesh disagreed.

After a long gap of 13 years, the visit of Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar to Bangladesh once again opened the wounds of 1971. There were high hopes in Pakistan about this visit that it would bring a new turn in the relations between the two countries, but the manner in which Bangladesh raised old issues as soon as he reached Dhaka made it clear that the warmth in the relations was only for show. The demand for an apology for the excesses committed by the Pakistani army during the 1971 Liberation War was raised again.

Dar clarified that the 1971 issue has already been resolved twice. For the first time, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto visited Dhaka in 1974 and there he expressed regret to the people of Bangladesh. For the second time, in the year 2000, General Pervez Musharraf expressed regret for the 1971 incident during his visit to Bangladesh. However, Foreign Affairs Advisor Mohammad Tauheed Hussain rejected Dar's claim.

Hussain told the media that he does not agree with Dar's claim at all. He said that if this had happened, the issues would have been resolved long ago.

Bangladesh placed four demands before Pakistan
Hussain said that Bangladesh has reiterated its stand on four unresolved issues, which include a formal apology for the 1971 massacre, financial compensation for the pre-independence properties, which is said to be around 4.52 billion dollars, return of Pakistanis trapped in Bangladesh and return of foreign aid received for the victims of the 1970 cyclone. Hussain also said that 54-year-old issues will not be resolved in a one-day meeting. We have shared each other's positions. These issues need to be resolved to take bilateral relations forward.

Yunus' efforts

In the last one year, Mohammad Yunus' interim government has made efforts to improve relations with Pakistan by distancing Dhaka from India. Yunus met Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif twice last year. These meetings took place during the United Nations General Assembly in New York and the D-8 summit in Cairo. Despite this, the unresolved issues of 1971 are becoming an obstacle in improving relations with Pakistan.

Yunus-Dar agreements

Many important agreements have been reached between the two countries during Ishaq Dar's visit to Dhaka. This includes relaxation in visa requirements for official and diplomatic passport holders. Apart from this, both sides signed MoUs on setting up joint working groups on trade, cooperation between foreign service academies, cooperation in national news agencies and institutional partnership between think-tanks.

Hina Rabbani had visited last time

Dar is the first Pakistani foreign minister to visit Dhaka after Hina Rabbani Khar in 2012. He met the head of the interim government of Bangladesh Yunus, Bangladesh National Party leader Khalida Zia and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami chief Shafiqur Rahman.

What happened in 1971?

In 1971, under 'Operation Search Light', the Pakistan Army massacred lakhs of Bangladeshi Bengalis. Along with this, cases of rape of about three lakh women were reported. Relations were the worst in 2010 During the rule of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, relations between Dhaka and Islamabad were at their worst. In 2010, the Awami League government had started a case against the collaborators of the Pakistani army during the 1971 Liberation War.

Yunus promoting Pakistani agenda

Awami League Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's party Awami League expressed displeasure over the visit of the Pakistani Foreign Minister to Bangladesh and claimed that the interim government of Mohammad Yunus is promoting Pakistan's agenda. The party said that the Yunus regime is distorting the history of the country's liberation war and presenting it to the public so that it can be erased from people's memory. This is a heinous crime. The party said that there is no mention of genocide in the statement of the Pakistan Foreign Ministry. At the same time, the Yunus government is engaged in belittling the national struggle for independence of the country.