Bangladesh grills Pakistan envoy over Molla resolution

Published December 17, 2013
Abdul Quader Molla. – File Photo
Abdul Quader Molla. – File Photo

KARACHI: Bangladesh on Tuesday sought an explanation from Pakistan’s envoy in Dhaka regarding a resolution adopted by the Pakistani parliament condemning execution of Jamaat leader Abdul Quader Molla for his involvement in war crimes of 1971.

Bangladesh's foreign ministry, in a statement, said that Molla’s trial and punishment was the country’s internal affair and the resolution adopted by Pakistan’s National Assembly in this regard was uncalled for.

Pakistan’s high commissioner in Dhaka, Mian Afrasiab Mehdi Hashmi Qureshi was summoned to explain the matter in this regard, it said.

The 65 years old Jamaat-e-Islami leader was hanged on Thursday for his involvement in war crimes during Bangladesh’s war of independence from Pakistan in 1971.

The lower house of parliament in Pakistan on Monday blew hot and cold over the execution, ending up with just an expression of “concern” by a divided house at what Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said was “judicial murder.”

The government and its allies as well as the opposition Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) of Imran Khan tried hard for a show of parliamentary consensus on the 42nd anniversary of “fall of Dhaka” as they supported a resolution proposed by the opposition Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) seeking to condemn the execution of Bangladeshi Jamaat-i-Islami’s Abdul Quader Molla.

But the opposition Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) refused to sign the draft and openly opposed it for different reasons in speeches before the house passed a toned down resolution by voice vote.

Contrary to a mild comment made by the foreign ministry on Friday, Chaudhry Nisar used some tough language in the house, saying Mr Molla’s hanging had “opened old wounds again.”

The original JI draft had wanted the house to “strongly condemn” the hanging, but an amended draft that was moved by a party member from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, only “expressed concern” of the house over the hanging of Molla for what it called “supporting Pakistan in 1971.”

It urged the Bangladesh government to “not revive the issues of 1971” and “terminate all cases registered against the leaders of Jamaat-i-Islami, Bangladesh, in a spirit of reconciliation.”

Country-wide protests and funeral prayers in absentia were held by the activists and supporters of the JI in Pakistan following the hanging in Dhaka.

Pakistan’s armed forces are alleged to have carried out war crimes in1971 and the Bangladesh government has been seeking a public apology from Pakistan which is yet to abide by the demand of its South Asian neighbour officially.

Opinion

Editorial

Punishing evaders
02 May, 2024

Punishing evaders

THE FBR’s decision to block mobile phone connections of more than half a million individuals who did not file...
Engaging Riyadh
Updated 02 May, 2024

Engaging Riyadh

It must be stressed that to pull in maximum foreign investment, a climate of domestic political stability is crucial.
Freedom to question
02 May, 2024

Freedom to question

WITH frequently suspended freedoms, increasing violence and few to speak out for the oppressed, it is unlikely that...
Wheat protests
Updated 01 May, 2024

Wheat protests

The government should withdraw from the wheat trade gradually, replacing the existing market support mechanism with an effective new one over the next several years.
Polio drive
01 May, 2024

Polio drive

THE year’s fourth polio drive has kicked off across Pakistan, with the aim to immunise more than 24m children ...
Workers’ struggle
Updated 01 May, 2024

Workers’ struggle

Yet the struggle to secure a living wage — and decent working conditions — for the toiling masses must continue.