Daily Times

In the case of Bangladesh, justice delayed is not justice denied. The International Crimes Tribunal set up by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has sentenced its 11th Islamist to death for the war crimes during the separation of East and West Pakistan. In addition to Islamist leaders, particularly those belonging to the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), a former minister of the main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, has also been sentenced to death. The latest on the sentencing deck is none other than the assistant secretary general of the JI, A T M Azharul Islam. He has been convicted for the massacre of as many as 1,200 people in the district of Rangpur. What Bangladesh is doing is reversing the travesty of justice that was the complete and utter disregard for the devastation and lives lost in 1971. What Bangladesh is doing is also attracting the ire and criticism of many human rights organisations and judicial bodies because, apparently, this tribunal is not associated with the UN nor does it seem to be following due process. However, the Bangladesh government is having none of this. It has decided that more than enough time has gone by and that justice must be served. What happened in Bangladesh was a genocide — there are no two ways of looking at this situation. Despite the criticism of procedure, the ends of justice are finally being met. The reason behind the criticism seems to be the fact that only the judiciary of Bangladesh is conducting the trials with no input needed from outside bodies and other legal means. What is a court to do when solid evidence is brought in to prove the slaughter of 1,200 innocent people?

This is in stark contrast to the way Pakistan has handled the memories of 1971. We have expunged all trace of the separation of our eastern wing from collective memory. Sweeping everything under the rug, we have gone so far as wiping out everything about East Pakistan from our textbooks related to the subject. This is the extent of our ability to learn from our mistakes: never accepting that we made a mistake in the first place when we refused to accept the mandate and verdict of the elections of 1970. What happened in 1971 was a mistake but we still have not tried to rectify it. Bangladesh is on course correction and it is understandable what it is doing despite the heavy criticism being heaped on it. *