Pakistan has severely criticised Bangladesh for executing Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami assistant secretary general Abdul Quader Mollah, but recognised that Mollah remained supporter of a united Pakistan till the very end before the creation of Bangladesh.“It would have been better if the Bangladeshi government had shown farsightedness, bigheartedness and magnanimity instead of opening old wounds,” said Federal Minister for Interior Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan in a statement on Friday.
Expressing ‘deep grief’ and concern over the execution of Mollah, the Pakistan Minister said every Pakistani is saddened and grieved on his death, reports Pakistan’s influential daily Dawn. In the statement, he also said executing Mollah after a delay of 42 years to the events of 1971 was very unfortunate and tragic and some circles are declaring it a judicial murder.
Mollah became the first person to be hanged for his role in the country’s bloody 1971 war of independence when he was sent to the gallows at a prison in the capital Dhaka late Thursday. The country was rocked by a new wave of deadly violence led by Jamaat Shibir supporters went on a rampage to vent their fury at the execution.
The Pakistani interior minister said the Jamaat leader was undoubtedly hanged because of his loyalty and solidarity with Pakistan in 1971. “Till the very end before creation of Bangladesh, he (Molla) remained supporter of a united Pakistan and today every Pakistani is saddened and grieved on his death.” Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said abiding by the demand of international relations, solidarity of international Islamic community and wisdom, conditions and events of the past should be put behind, starting a new era.
“But with this unfortunate incident, an effort is made to revive old wounds of the past.” “In reality, whenever any country regrettably falls victim to a civil war, then all sides in the conflict resort to violence,” he said. The minister said it was necessary for peace and brotherhood that strategy of tolerating each other should be adopted in the larger national interest.
Meanwhile, State Minister for Home Affairs Shamsul Haque Tuku told UNB what the Pakistan minister said was his personal opinion, but Quader Mollah has been punished for his crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971. “The court punished him for his crimes through transparent trial and the government has nothing to do with it…It’s solely the matter of the court.” – UNB
