Pakistan columnist censures Islamabad for defending Bangladesh war criminals

A prominent Pakistani columnist in the reputed newspaper Dawn has sharply criticised Islamabad for defending the war criminals in Bangladesh.

Pervez Hoodbhoy, who teaches physics in Lahore and Islamabad, writes against the backdrop of the hanging of Mir Quasem Ali, when the Pakistan Foreign Office said it was “deeply saddened” by the execution.

Mir Quasem was found guilty of torture, multiple murders and arson in Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence against Pakistan. He was sentenced to death after what Pakistan describes as “a flawed judicial process”.

In Hoodbhoy’s opinion, Pakistan can “scarcely accuse Bangladesh of unfair trials because its own judicial system has even shakier legs.”

“In contrast to Bangladesh’s — where the war crimes trials are held before a civilian court — Pakistani civilians accused of waging war against the state are tried behind closed doors by military courts,” he pointed out.

“Further, they are not allowed to engage a lawyer of choice, nor allowed access to military court records. This is entirely inconsistent with modern ideas of judicial propriety.”

“Mir Quasem’s trial and subsequent death sentence matter to Pakistan only because he was formerly the head of the pro-Pakistan Islamist militia Al Badr,” Hoodbhoy writes.

The columnist also questions why Pakistan is so worried about the integrity of Bangladesh’s judicial process. “And why does our government care so greatly about the death of another country’s citizen — one accused of heinous crimes?

The answer: when it comes to Bangladesh, Pakistan remains chained to its past.”

“Abstract concern for human life cannot explain why the Foreign Office expressed such strong feelings. Certainly, the death sentences passed on countless people around the world meet with complete indifference.

“Those horrors have not elicited even a murmur of protest from Pakistan’s civil and military establishments.

“In fact, the killing of Pakistan’s own citizens in foreign lands meets with silence,” Hoodbhoy argues.

“Think of the long list of Pakistanis beheaded in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for drug smuggling after being tried there by kangaroo courts.”

He suggests that rather than try to defend war criminals, Pakistan must “normalize” relations with Bangladesh.

He notes that Pakistan needs to do far more than Bangladesh.

“As a starter, it must no longer allow young Pakistanis in schools to be filled with wildly distorted versions of history.

“These ignore the horrors West Pakistan inflicted upon the Bengalis. Rather than defend war criminals or deny what happened in 1971, Pakistan should seek to normalise relations with Bangladesh. Truth and reconciliation is what is needed,” he suggests.

Islamabad has been vocal against the war crimes trial since the beginning in 2OO9, as the convicts are mostly the leaders of the Jamaat-e-Islami that sided with Pakistan in 1971 to thwart Bangladesh’s birth.