Bangladesh asks Pakistan to apologise for 1971 killings to improve ties

New Delhi, February 6

Bangladesh has asked Pakistan to apologise for the atrocities committed by its armed forces in 1971 in order to enhance ties between the two countries.

The issue was raised during a meeting between Bangladeshi Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen and Pakistan Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar in Colombo where they attended the Sri Lanka’s Independence Day.

“Pakistan wants to increase diplomatic relations with Bangladesh. I told her that you have to apologise publicly first. If you do that, I will advocate this for you. Otherwise, we have a political reason,” Momen told newspersons in Dhaka after returning from Colombo where he had met Rabbani on Saturday.

Asked about her reply, he said Rabbani had avoided a direct answer and said, “We have some limitations.”

Dhaka has also sought the withdrawal of anti-dumping duties to allow Bangladesh to export more to Pakistan. Rabbani showed a positive attitude for expanding diplomatic relations with Bangladesh, he added.

Then East Pakistan and today’s Bangladesh saw a brutal crackdown by security forces largely drawn from West Pakistan to quell protests after the local party Awami League swept the national elections but was not allowed to form the Government.

During this time, tens of thousands of civilians were killed and other forms of violence and persecution was carried out by Pakistani forces. By December 16, 1971, the independence of Bangladesh was declared, with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the leader of the Awami League, becoming its first president. The meeting was the first ministerial engagement between the two sides in years.

Last year, Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had made a stopover in Chittagong while going to Cambodia and was received by Bangladesh’s Information minister Hasan Mahmood.