Sir: The series of executions in Bangladesh, for the 1971 war crimes, is indeed deplorable. For us in Pakistan, however, the introspection is missing. For every execution in Bangladesh the Foreign Office in Islamabad comes out with its usual sanctimonious sermon, admonishing Bangladesh, lamenting the purportedly sham trials that victimise political opposition. Cherry picking quotes from the April 1974 tripartite agreement “On the Repatriation of Prisoners of War and Civilian Internees”, Bangladesh is advised to ‘forget the past and make a fresh start’. It seems that we in Pakistan are in a habit of forgetting the past, all too conveniently. What gets lost in this misdirected angst at the ongoing internal political upheaval of a sovereign country is the fate of less than half a million of our own Pakistanis stranded there, languishing in subhuman conditions, now for over 45 years. It is customary and expedient now to say that those stranded in Bangladesh have been accommodated through the courts there. Our own responsibility in this matter is disregarded. The same tripartite agreement states, “in respect of non-Bangalees … the Pakistan side reiterated that all those who fall under the first three categories would be received by Pakistan without any limit as to numbers. In respect of persons whose application had been rejected … any aggrieved applicant could, at any time, seek a review of his application … the claims of such persons would not be time-barred.” It seems that from the passing of resolutions in the National Assembly, to foreign office statements, to religious party fanatics who advocate murder here, to mainstream editorials and to hyper nationalist media anchors our fragile sensibilities are ruffled by the actions taken in Bangladesh. What is a greater travesty, the executions by a sovereign country deemed political by us or our willful and criminal neglect in the act of abandonment of our own citizens and condemning them to a life of perpetual squalor? HASAN BIN HAMZA Gilberton Australia