It is indeed gratifying to note that relations between Pakistan and Bangladesh which have remained frozen for too long marked by mistrust, missed opportunities and painful shared past are now poised for renewed bonhomie between them as transpired during the recent visit Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar to Dhaka.
The commitments made during the visit – ranging from enhancement in trade and investment, energy cooperation to education and tourism indicate that there is an encouraging intent to build a multidimensional relationship. Both sides have emphasized people-to-people contact and connectivity, including progress on easing visa protocols and resuming direct air links. This is a rather substantive beginning of what should be a strategic realignment. The visit coming in the backdrop of fall of Hasina Wajid’s government which was decidedly pro-India has surely provided a unique opportunity to both the countries to make a new beginning in their relations to their mutual advantage. However that would depend on following through sincerely on the commitments made by both sides.
The people of Pakistan and Bangladesh are linked by culture, language and history and stand to gain immensely if their leaders choose pragmatism
The people of Pakistan and Bangladesh are linked by culture, language and history and stand to gain immensely if their leaders choose pragmatism and vision. Nevertheless the visit was a right step in the right direction considering the change in the regional politics and new realignments.
While all the foregoing developments have triggered positive vibes regarding improvement of ties between the two countries, the statement issued by foreign ministry of Bangladesh calling for formal apology by Pakistan for the events of 1971, settlement of unresolved issues of asset division, foreign aid and repatriation of stranded Pakistanis, have surely thrown a spanner in the works. That should have been avoided. I think Dar’s invocation of the 1974 tripartite agreement and former President Musharraf’s expressions of regret during his visit to Bangladesh in July 2002 should have been enough to overcome the bad legacies. The way forward is by not allowing the history to undermine the new opportunities that have come their way to consolidate the new bonhomie. History must not become a perennial roadblock.
The world history is replete with examples of countries with much bitter and bloodier past having reconciled and working together for prosperity of their regions. The countries of Europe coming together after the world war-II provides the best example of the benefits that accrue from forgetting the painful past and making a new beginning for progress and peaceful co-existence. The leadership of both the countries must show the vision and required commitment to tread the newly charted course unruffled by the past history and other inimical distractions. That would be in the best interest of the two countries and regional political environment. I think since the Bangladeshi foreign ministry has committed the indiscretion of referring to the traumatic incidents of 1971 there is an imperative need to clear the haze on some of the false myths that were created regarding events of 1971. It was claimed that nearly three million Bengalis were killed and thousands of women were raped by Pakistan Army personnel Another myth bandied around was that it was not Mujib, who orchestrated secession of Bangladesh from Pakistan, but the West Pakistani politicians and the army; a conclusion based only on the events that followed after the 1970 elections.
Both myths needed corroboration by independent sources. The reality is that these sources vehemently denied the foregoing mythical narratives. Dr. Sarmila Bose, a Bengali intellectual in her book “Dead Reckoning: Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh War” argued that the number of Bengalis killed in 1971 was not three million, but around 50,000 while Bengalis were equally involved in the bloodshed of non-Bengalis. In regards to the much trumped-up Jaysore massacre, she maintained that it was engineered and conducted by Mukti Bahni wearing army uniforms and the charges of rape are based on propaganda as no rape incident occurred at the hands of Pak Army personnel.
The contentions of Dr. Bose were endorsed by none other than General Manek Shaw, who claimed that he recruited 80,000 Hindus to create the Mukti Bahni, who dressed up in Pakistan Army uniform and raped and pillaged Bengalis. They also dressed up as civilians and carried out acts of sabotage against the civil and military Government of Pakistan.
The fact is that Mujib was harbouring the idea of an independent Bangladesh for more than two decades before the 1971 war, which he publicly expressed when the Indian forces occupied East Pakistan, by saying that his dream of 24 years for an ‘Independent Bangladesh’ has been fulfilled.
The Agartala Conspiracy Case instituted by Ayub Khan, which had to be withdrawn under intense pressure from the agitation led by Mualana Abdul Hamid Bhashani in East Pakistan and an unremitting demand by the politicians from the West Wing, was a reality and not a setup to discredit Mujib as claimed by his supporters. The Deputy Speaker of Bangladesh Assembly, Shaukat Ali, who was one of the accused of the Agartala Conspiracy, on a point of order in the Assembly in 2010, confessed that charges read out to them were true stating that they formed a Shangram Parishad under Sheikh Mujib for secession of East Pakistan. The foregoing facts leave no doubt in drawing the inference that India used Mujib to dismember Pakistan by providing training facilities to the Mukti Bahni, conducting murders and rapes to malign Pakistan Army and prepare ground for eventual assault. Tripura was actually the launching pad for offensive against the Pakistan Army for the Mukti Bahni and the Indian army. When Sheikh Hasina visited Tripura from January 11-12 in 2009, a Bangladeshi journalist Haroon Habib in an article published by The Hindu said that by visiting the state she was revisiting history as Tripura was the unofficial headquarter of the war of liberation.
They also explode the myth regarding killings and rapes by Pakistan Army Personnel and the dishonest and deliberate effort to malign it. Therefore in the back drop of realities unraveled by independent sources and circumstances surrounding the Dhaka debacle, there is no justification for Bangladesh to demand an apology from Pakistan.
The writer is a former diplomat and freelance columnist.