DHAKA, Sept 23: Justice Javed Iqbal, a former judge of the Supreme Court, believes that Pakistan could have avoided dismemberment had the politicians been on the ‘right path’.

“If they (the politicians) were on the right path, such a disaster could have been avoided,” said Justice Javed, son of Allama Iqbal, while talking to newsmen on the sidelines of a seminar. “As a Pakistani, I am sorry for the military atrocities committed in this country (Bangladesh) in 1971.”

He is in Dhaka for the first time since Pakistan’s break-up in 1971, having made his last visit to the city in the mid-1960s.

Justice Javed sees a radical change among the people of Dhaka and in the city itself. “It was not so large then,” he said.

He said the Two Nation Theory was still politically correct.

“Had the concept not been correct, Bangladesh would have merged with West Bengal of India,” Justice Javed said.

He observed the absence of democracy in Muslim countries was the biggest impediment to their economic development.