Untold Facts

Apology not one side: both sides to seek from each other

On 1971 episode between Bangladesh and Pakistan, seeking apology for misdeeds comes time and again. Bangladesh side does ask for it aggressively and Pakistan responses meekly as if all faults were theirs.

There should be definite rationale in the whole matter. Otherwise the issue would come and go repeatedly having no satisfactory resolution for future improvement of relations.
After four decades of the 1971 episode many facts have been lost and fictions remain in the air. The propagandists take the best advantage and earn fortune thereby. None seems to seek for the real truth behind.

Seeking real truth is not that easy and has difficulties. Further it would not serve the vested interests of particular variety who are flourishing by propagating the untruths earning businesses fortunes thereby.

The 1971 conflicts were not engineered by only one side. Two sides were actively involved, no matter willingly, unwillingly or circumstantially beyond one’s full comprehension and control. Both sides made excesses. The excesses that were made by the federal army are well known and documented. Thus was listed, no matter correctly or not, 195 such army men for crime against humanity. From the army side some one should have had sought apology. From the Pakistan side that was done as all knew about the response from Bangladesh head of the government right then in 1974. That made the chapter closed in the matter of seeking apology from their side. How could now any responsible person raise the issue afresh after over 36 years?

From the Bangladesh side similar seeking of apology was overdue. One that Bangladesh side as well did similar violations of human rights. The glaring example was the massacre of the ethnic non-Bengali people of the then East Pakistan not only during nine months from March to December 1971 but also beyond. They were massacred because they sided with the federal Pakistan and opposed secessionist movement that the top leader Mujib as well despised as he had many documented statements.

The other important and missing issue is that the federal army had sacred duties to maintain the federation. And by destroying the federation having no clear mandate of the people with active armed support from the enemy big neighbor India, Bangladesh owe also apology to Pakistan (remnant).

In case Bangladesh would seek no apology to Pakistan for one reason or another, it should seek penance for it turned seceded Bangladesh into a satellite of India, on the one hand, and smashed the biggest Muslim country in the world, even so a nuclear power now, and thus unfortunately earned ignominy for the Muslims of Bangladesh, 90% of the population, on the other.

If the either side fails to do the minimum needful through open dialogue and understanding, it is only the enemies from within and without that would continue to reap the harvest in detriment of both.

Author: BK Din