Bangladesh has asked Pakistan to apologise for atrocities committed by its forces in 1971. The matter came up during the meeting between Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen and Pakistan’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar in Sri Lanka where the ministers were present to attend the Independence Say celebrations of the island nation.
A readout released by Bangladesh Foreign Ministry said, “Pakistan should formally apologise for the atrocities perpetrated against unarmed Bangalees in 1971”.
In 1971, the then East Pakistan, which later became Bangladesh, saw a brutal crackdown by forces of West Pakistan. The protest started after the results of the national elections, which saw the Awami League, a political party based in East Pakistan, wining a majority in country’s parliament. However, the military government in West Pakistan refused to hand over power to the Awami League, sparking widespread protests and unrest in East Pakistan.
During this time, tens of thousands of civilians were killed and other forms of violence and persecution was carried out by Pakistani forces. By December 16, 1971, the independence of Bangladesh was declared, with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the leader of the Awami League, becoming its first president.
The meeting is the first such ministerial meeting between the two sides in years. The two South Asian countries haven’t seen much engagement. Last year, Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had made a stopover in Chittagong while going to Cambodia and was received by Bangladesh’s Information minister Hasan Mahmood.