Fact Files

Pakistan-Bangladesh Relations

Chief Editor
Muhammad Arshad Tariq
Editor
Sobia Haidar

When British India was partitioned and the independent dominions of India and Pakistan were created in 1947, the region of Bengal was divided along religious lines. The predominantly Muslim eastern half was designated East Pakistan — and made part of the newly independent Pakistan — while the predominantly Hindu western part became the Indian state of West Bengal. Pakistan’s history from 1947 to 1971 was marked by political instability and economic difficulties. Dominion status was rejected in 1956 in favour of an “Islamic republic within the Commonwealth.” Attempts at civilian political rule failed, and the government imposed martial law between 1958 and 1962, and again between 1969 and 1972.

Almost from the advent of independent Pakistan in 1947, frictions developed between East and West Pakistan, which were separated by more than 1,000 miles of Indian territory. East Pakistanis felt exploited by the West Pakistan-dominated central government. Linguistic, cultural, and ethnic differences also contributed to the estrangement of East from West Pakistan. Bengalis strongly resisted attempts to impose Urdu as the sole official language of Pakistan. Responding to these grievances, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman — known widely as ‘Mujib’ — in 1949 formed the Awami League (AL), a party designed mainly to promote Bengali interests. Mujib became president of the Awami League and emerged as leader of the Bengali autonomy movement. In 1966, he was arrested for his political activities.

After the Awami League won all the East Pakistan seats of the Pakistan national assembly in 1970-71 elections, West Pakistan opened talks with the East on constitutional questions about the division of power between the central government and the provinces, as well as the formation of a national government headed by the Awami League. The talks proved unsuccessful, however, and on March 1, 1971, Pakistani President Yahya Khan indefinitely postponed the pending national assembly session, precipitating massive civil disobedience in East Pakistan. Mujib was arrested again; his party was banned, and most of his aides fled to India, where they organized a provisional government. On March 26, 1971, following a bloody crackdown by the Pakistan army, Bengali nationalists declared an independent People’s Republic of Bangladesh. As fighting grew between the army and the Bengali Mukti Bahini (freedom fighters), an estimated 10 million Bengalis, mainly Hindus, sought refuge in the Indian states of Assam and West Bengal.

The crisis in East Pakistan produced new strains in Pakistan’s troubled relations with India. The two nations had fought a war in 1965, mainly in the west, but the refugee pressure in India in the fall of 1971 produced new tensions in the east. Indian sympathies lay with East Pakistan, and in November, India intervened on the side of the Bangladeshis. On December 16, 1971, Pakistani forces surrendered, and Bangladesh — meaning ‘Bengal nation’ — was born; the new country became a parliamentary democracy under a 1972 constitution.

U.S. Department of State, March 2000,

http://www.state.gov/www/background_notes/bangladesh_0003_bgn.html

A Case for Damage Limitation

The national interest of Pakistan, as indeed, that of Bangladesh, and the larger considerations of regional cooperation, peace and security demand that the entirely avoidable unpleasantness between Islamabad and Dhaka at the millennium session of the United Nations should be overcome as quickly as possible. The fact that the people of Pakistan have reacted more in sorrow than in anger to the incident speaks volumes for the permanence of love and esteem in which they hold the people of Bangladesh.

Those with a little more specialised knowledge of South Asian affairs are generally aware of the common agenda that the two countries should evolve not only for enhanced bilateral friendship but also for a coordinated approach to saving the dream called SAARC from fading away.

In fact, the saddest aspect of the millennium session was that South Asia seemed to be out of tune with its general ambiance, largely because the biggest South Asian power assigned a higher priority to its pursuit of isolating Pakistan in the international community and even more so, in the context of Prime Minister Vajpayee’s visit to the United States. The millennium session was noteworthy for the manner in which more than 150 heads of state and government dealt with the state of the world. Taken together, their addresses were a corrective to the exaggerated triumphalism of the post-cold war era.

I recently read a piece by Fouad Ajami in which in this very context he recalled Alexis de Tocqueville’s dictum: “Claim too great freedom, too much licence, and too great subjection shall befall you.” We have been told a million times about the final victory of the democratic ideals, of the market economy over command economies, of irreversible globalization of the economy and the internationalism that the Internet would irresistibly bring.

Only in recent years have we started conceding that the actual state of the world is far more complex and fragile. Fouad Ajami’s comment was: “There is a zone of peace, to be sure, but it is in the main in the industrialized world. There is an American primacy that underpins this new order, but there is no proof that Americans would willingly expend their blood and treasure to defend it. The market has triumphed over the command economy but the verdict is neither sacred nor necessarily permanent.”

The millennium declaration reflected this new awareness of global complexity and was a synthesis of high-minded rhetoric about a glorious future characteristic of such proclamations and a pragmatic perception of existing ground realities. It laid emphasis on the fight against poverty and illiteracy, showed a keen awareness of the dichotomies of globalization, and resolved to eliminate conflict and work for a just and lasting piece.

Pakistan’s offers to India from this solemn platform could not conceivably be dismissed as propaganda. In reacting harshly to these peace initiatives in a language so discordant with the symphonic flow of the session, India lost an opportunity to begin a genuine peace process in South Asia.

It was perhaps something inherent in this extraordinary atmosphere thoroughly vitiated by the vitriolic approach of the Indian prime minister that Sheikh Hasina Wajid’s comments took on the air of a calculated attack on Pakistan. That democracy is recognized as a universal value now cannot be disputed. Hasina Wajid could have articulated her decisive preference for democracy or parliamentary democracy in a different style and formulation. Statesmanship should have decreed that she differentiated her address from that of the Indians and that it would come through as a distinctive voice of the proud people of Bangladesh.

There is a possible role for Bangladesh in the present crisis in South Asia. It can help restore the interrupted dialogue between India and Pakistan. But much more important, it can take meaningful initiatives to save SAARC from extinction, as the BJP government is clearly risking, or from fragmentation that was implicit in too narrow an application of the Gujral doctrine. Admittedly, India has provided to Bangladesh opportunities for fitting into some sub-system, some triangle or quadrant of regional cooperation but such arrangements are always internally divisive in Bangladesh. Insofar as they limit the country’s choices, they exacerbate the tensions by heightening the apprehensions of a large percentage of the population that distrusts excessive dependence on India.

During my mission to Bangladesh (1982-86) my task was to re-build bridges and promote rapprochement between our two countries. The emergence of Bangladesh, one of the very few successful struggles for secession in recent history, was traumatic for both sides. We needed moral courage to transcend the bitterness of this bloody event by accepting the sovereignty of the breakaway state without any reservations. This meant seeking openings also to Sheikh Hasina and her party.

It was not easy but in the end I met her. She believed in the initial Bangladesh version of events though many of her own countrymen by then had developed a more objective view of them. Instead of exchanging polemics with her, I explained to her why I felt strongly that South Asia’s strategic situation warranted that Pakistan and Bangladesh should work together in the larger interest of the region. She did not contradict the argument for the future and rewarded my efforts to get through to her by coming to the Pakistan national day party along with several of her close associates for the first time after 1971. This was a major sensation in the capital and evoked much interest from the diplomatic community as well.

I believe we need to search for a common space where we should interact positively. Even in a normal calendar year, there are at least three occasions when Pakistan is subjected to much undeserved negative comment in Bangladesh. This is a mythological celebration of their struggle for independence and it does entail a certain cost, though happily a diminishing cost, in terms of bilateral relations. Admittedly, what happened at the United Nations could have struck as particularly provocative because of India trying to lead a massive diplomatic onslaught on Pakistan.

But we should take a judicious measure of it and set it in the perspective of the compulsions that are developing in South Asia.

Wherever these compulsions work to our disadvantage, we have to counteract them and not exacerbate them. We must also never forget that the people of Bangladesh have a great spirit of generosity and that a vast majority of them would prefer to have friendly relations between our two countries. Their own politics is highly entangled and polarized and these internal stresses occasionally work themselves out in posturing towards Pakistan.

Talking of common space, since the early eighties, Pakistan and Bangladesh have developed a substantial area for mutually beneficial cooperation. Their political discussions embrace a large spectrum of agreement and understanding though some issues like the question of assets and liabilities, and the repatriation to Pakistan of non-Bengalis ‘stranded’ in Dhaka invariably emerge as points of discord that still await reconciliation. Under any Awami League government, some elements in Bangladesh would also raise the issue of atonement for the events of 1971.

Moderate opinion in both countries is aware of the factors why atonement and total reconciliation are processes that have to be sustained over years. It is not easy to get up one day and stage a ceremony of mutual forgiveness even though such ritualistic events have their own symbolic value.

Historiography in both the countries has also not really helped significantly in establishing a correct sequence of events, much less their details. There are active political compulsions at work in both societies that stand in the way of truth. As we have seen recently the Hamoodur Rahman Commission report, without fail, gets caught up in these webs of special interests and its publication gets deferred. An Indian journal, India Today, put parts of it on the internet on August 11, this year and that version was widely circulated in South Asia.

Modern states possess techniques of manipulating public opinion, which may in many cases induce collective amnesia about certain events. But the 1971 secession of East Pakistan from the country, in the founding of which it had played a crucial role, is not in the category amenable to such amnesia. Personally, I have been of the opinion that the publication of the report will question many exaggerated and incorrect versions of events that are taken as facts in Bangladesh and, therefore, the impact of publication will have mixed consequences, the positive ones probably outweighing the negative ones.

I think Pakistan and Bangladeshi diplomacy can address this issue. So much time has passed that some of the report’s recommendations are only of academic importance.

The two countries can discuss the issue in their quiet diplomacy and reach a common position on what needs to be done in this context. In Pakistan, the least we can do is to set up a special committee to study the pros and cons of publishing it and making appropriate recommendations to the National Security Council.

Together, Pakistan and Bangladesh can make an outstanding contribution towards saving the idea of regional cooperation from extinction. Only the other day, in the last week of August, the Bangladesh foreign secretary came to Islamabad as a special messenger of his prime minister. It would be fit and proper for Pakistan now to take the initiative in restoring normality after successfully negotiating the air pocket hit in New York.

The incident, caused by factors germane to the latest trends in South Asian politics and also by virtually gratuitous factors, can and should be reduced to correct proportions.

Tanvir Ahmad Khan, Dawn, September 25, 2000,

http://www.dawn.com/2000/09/25/op.htm#2

Bangladesh Pakistan Relations

Thirty years after its liberation from Pakistan, Bangladesh has a strong desire to strengthen relations with Islamabad despite the unpleasantness of the past. The recent visit of Pakistan’s commerce minister Mr. Abdul Razak Dawood to Bangladesh and his negotiations in Dhaka aiming to broaden trade relations between the two countries is another example to prove the depth of positive feelings held in Islamabad to review its relations with Dhaka, primarily in the realm of trade and commerce.

The present volume of trade between Bangladesh and Pakistan is merely 133 million dollars of which the balance is in favour of the latter. Because of the presence of huge gap, which exists in trade relations between the two countries, Bangladesh since long has been trying to persuade Islamabad to provide duty free access to 21 items, including Jute and tea in Pakistani markets. Pakistan’s commerce minister has promised to consider giving duty free access to jute and tea and has called for the diversification of trade between the two countries. The visit of Pakistan’s commerce minister to Bangladesh was the first high-level contact between the two countries after the unpleasant episode of Pakistan’s Deputy High Commission, Mr. Iran Raja in December last year when he was expelled on occasion of his alleged remarks against the liberation movement. Moreover, in the last year of Awami League’s rule, bitterness between Pakistan and Bangladesh reached its peak when Prime Minister Hasina Wajid referred to military rule in Pakistan. The question of tendering apology on account of excesses committed during the military operation of March-December 1971 also remained a major areas of discord between the two countries. Before the visit of Pakistan’s commerce minister to Dhaka, Barrister Shahida Jamil, minister of parliamentary affairs had also paid a visit to Bangladesh and a meeting also took place between President Musharraf and Prime Minister Khalida Zia on the occasion of 11th SAARC summit in Katmandu in early January this year. It seems that with the coming into power of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in elections held in October last year, relations between Islamabad and Dhaka are gradually improving, particularly in trade and other areas. The reception which Pakistan cricket team got in its recent visit to Bangladesh is also a reminder to the fact that there exists strong pro-Pakistan feelings in that country and notwithstanding the bitterness of the past, a great degree of urge exists in Dhaka to move in the direction of cooperation with Islamabad.

Bangladesh-Pakistan relations, viewed from a rational standpoint are still a victim of past legacy. The memories of 1971 still haunt the concerned circles of the two countries and any effort which is carried out in the direction of bettering relations is some how or the other impeded by what the Bangladeshis call ‘genocide’ by the Pakistan Army and what the Pakistanis call ‘betrayal’ by the Bengalese. Be as it may, the new generation of the two countries is not exposed to the trauma of 1971 and they want to move ahead and formulate relations on the basis of pragmatism. Trade and technology are the areas, which Bangladesh and Pakistan can surely explore in order to strengthen their own economies. As Daily Bangladesh Observer in its editorial ‘Bangladesh-Pakistan Trade Prospects’ of January 30 rightly pointed out that “all concerned should take note of the fact that trade is an economic issue and it should not be confused by politics by either side.” However, the reality is, because of past bitterness and suspicions, trade and commercial relations between Pakistan and Bangladesh have remained at the lowest. Such a trend needs to be changed by adopting a forward looking approach in which the two countries make sure that they will not be victim of vested interests groups any more and keep political issues out of economic matters.

Still there are strong factors, which prevent and discourage the formulation of meaningful ties based on mutually beneficial relations between the two countries. From Pakistan’s point of view, two important factors tend to make things difficult for close relations with Bangladesh. First, the existence of strong anti-Pakistan elements who leave no opportunity in launching a tirade against Islamabad. The fact that Bangladesh won its independence from Pakistan as a result of a violent liberation movement is sufficient to give legitimacy to such people who in view of the bitterness of past wouldn’t like to see any existence of Pakistan on their soil. Second, as pointed out by the visiting commerce minister, the biggest hurdle in expanding trade relations with Bangladesh is the Indian role. That India, because of its strong influence, would never allow a situation in which Pakistan and Bangladesh are able to get closer and will destabilize such efforts in this regard. But, the question is why are Dhaka and Islamabad influenced by the Indian factor? If there exists will and determination on the part of the two sides to improve their relations, they should not be coerced by any third party. As far as the existence of anti-Pakistan elements in Bangladesh is concerned, it is a serious matter because the memories of 1971 military operation against civilian Bengalese are still strong and over the years, in scores of places in Bangladesh, monuments depicting atrocities committed by the Pakistan Army against Bengali people have been built which are a cause of tremendous shame and embarrassment for Pakistan. What can Islamabad do to deal with the burden of history (1971)? Should it formally apologize to the people of Bangladesh for the excesses committed by the Pakistan Army during 1971 or should it continue with the same policy of not acknowledging the killing of its own people in military operation. It seems as long as the question of apology is not sorted out, there is little likelihood of going beyond the present state of Bangladesh-Pakistan relations.

As far as Bangladesh’s perception vis-à-vis Pakistan is concerned, it is divided into three visible groups. First, there are those who belong to the liberation league and are quite critical and suspicious of having links with Pakistan. They can be called as nationalists who quote the atrocities committed during 1971 by Pakistan army as a major factor deterring cordial relations with Islamabad. Granting of apology by Pakistan is considered essential by that group for seeking an acceptance to Islamabad’s role in Bangladesh. Second, is the pro-Indian lobby supposed to be under the shadow of Awami League, which is also against establishing warm and friendly relations with Pakistan. That group is considered to have direct links with New Delhi. Third, is the overwhelming majority of people who want brotherly and friendly relations with Pakistan but feel that regret by Islamabad of army’s atrocities in 1971 is essential for clearing the burden of history. Their support for Pakistan is because of India’s policy to humble Dhaka and New Delhi’s covert support to insurgency in Chittagong Hill Tracts. That group believes that better relations with Pakistan can help Dhaka withstand the Indian pressures. Moreover, on account of historical and religious factors, people belonging to that group have a soft corner for Pakistan.

Can Pakistan seize the opportunity, which exists in the presence of a vast silent majority who are willing to institutionalise Bangladesh’s relations with Pakistan despite past unpleasantness? President Musharraf can take the initiative and with the support of Dhaka take measures, which can help heal past wounds and unleash the process of goodwill and cooperation between the two Muslim countries. For that matter, he will have to respond to the sentiments of the people of Bangladesh who simply want the apology from Islamabad that the policy of genocide which was pursued by the then military rulers against the people of East Pakistan, particularly its native people was wrong.

Of course, apology doesn’t mean that Pakistan’s honour will be sacrificed because such a step will not be taken in front of any enemy state but with those people who were once part of the same country and belong to the same religious faith. A compromise may be reached if apology is given by both sides, i.e. Dhaka and Islamabad for the shameful acts committed during 1971. Undoubtedly, either because of the military action or retaliation acts of Mukti Bahini against Urdu speaking people in the then East Pakistan the ultimate sufferers were the innocent people who lost their lives and property to the madness which was going on in 1971. However, it is certain that as long as the question of apology is not settled, the people of Bangladesh, who have still not forgotten the bitter memories of 1971 military operation, will not be able to forgive the loss of their honour and lives during the liberation war. Similarly, a similar expression by Bangladesh to regret the loss of innocent lives during 1971 will also help unleash the healing process leading to the formulation of close ties between Pakistan and Bangladesh. Both sides should act above their ego and resolve contentious issues in a rational manner.

Dr. Moonis Ahmar, Pakistan-Bangladesh Forum,

http://www.pak-bd.org/

Pakistan Tells Bangladesh to

Forget ‘Tragic Past’

Pakistan urged Bangladesh on Tuesday to put the ‘tragic past’ aside and forge ahead with stronger relations, as angry protests erupted in Dhaka over allegedly insulting remarks by a Pakistani envoy.

“As Gen Pervez Musharraf has said, we have to move away from the tragic past and build a strong relationship for which all the goodwill exists between the two countries,” a foreign office spokesman said.

Leftist activists on Tuesday torched a Pakistani flag in anger over a diplomat’s comment that atrocities during the 1971 independence war were committed not by Pakistan’s army but by the ruling party ‘Awami League miscreants.’

Members of the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal torched the flag in front of the National Press Club, shouting anti-Pakistan slogans, witnesses said.

The comment by Pakistani deputy high commissioner Irfan-ur-Raja has led to calls for declaring him ‘persona non grata.’

The Bangladesh foreign ministry summoned Pakistani High Commissioner Iqbal Ahmed Khan and told him Dhaka ‘has taken strong exception’ to the remarks made by his deputy.

He was told that his deputy’s comments “reflected a total lack of understanding of the history of the freedom movement of Bangladesh.” “I am angry, I express my anger and condemnation at the audacious and derogatory remarks,” Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Abdus Samad Azad said.

The Pakistan foreign office spokesman in Islamabad, in comments said the events of 1971 were “a tragedy both for Pakistan and Bangladesh.”

“The people of both countries have suffered because of the tragedy,” he said. Dhaka-Islamabad ties have been strained since Sheikh Hasina spoke against military dictatorships at the United Nations this year and later went on to demand Pakistan’s apology for the 1971 crimes.

Dawn, November 29, 2000,

 http://www.dawn.com/2000/11/29/top4.htm

Moin for Better Ties with BD

Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider on Saturday called for improvement in Pakistan-Bangladesh relations to remove ‘misgivings’ between the two countries.

“The relations between Pakistan and Bangladesh should be advanced on solid lines to remove misunderstandings,” he said while speaking at a function. With regard to the Hamoodur Rehman Commission report, he said, the government would fulfil its promise in this respect.

Gen (Retd) Rao Farman Ali was of the view, that the then West Pakistan also greatly contributed to the tragedy. “We all including politicians, the civilians and the military leaders and individuals have our share.”

Mr. Ali said not much efforts were made to correct the point of view of the Bengalis that they were exploited by the West Pakistan. He also held India responsible for the tragedy who violated the international norms and meddled in Pakistan’s internal affairs.

Kamal Mattiuddin said, “we all including, politicians, government officials, incompetent civilian and military rulers are responsible for the East Pakistan tragedy.” But, he said, misgivings of some Bengalis also contributed to it.

Supporting the military action on March 25, 1970, he did not agree with the strategy, saying, the action should have been selective.

Dawn, December 17, 2000,

 http://www.dawn.com/2000/12/17/top5.htm

Musharraf Cancels Meeting with Hasina

Pakistan-Bangladesh relations suffered a major setback on Friday when General Pervez Musharraf cancelled a scheduled meeting with BD PM Hasina Wajid.

At a press conference, the chief executive confirmed that his meeting with Ms Wajid had been ‘postponed,’ and the decision had been made after she had obliquely attacked Pakistan in her United Nations address and demanded suspension of Pakistan from the United Nations following the Commonwealth example.

When Gen. Musharraf was asked what had happened, he said the meeting had been postponed and referred to Hasina Wajid’s remarks about the bitter past of Pakistan. “We should forget the past. We should move on and look to the future,” the chief executive said, adding that the Pakistanis still loved the Bangladeshi people.

Dawn, September 9, 2000,

 http://www.dawn.com/2000/09/09/top4.htm

An Unfortunate Outburst

Mrs Hasina Wajid’s outburst at the U.N. Millennium Summit was not only uncalled for but it left us wondering whether she was the ventriloquist or the ventriloquist’s dummy. It seemed a singularly inappropriate forum to open old wounds and it earned her a snub from General Pervez Musharraf who cancelled a meeting with her.

No one is proud of what happened in East Pakistan in 1971 but the Bangladesh prime minister overlooks one central fact. East Pakistan was an integral part of Pakistan and her father openly led a violent movement for secession. What was the Pakistan government expected to do? Nor does she mention in her outburst, events that led to the military crackdown.

The reign of terror unleashed by the Awami League, the indiscriminate killings, the torching of public buildings and private properties, this madness preceded the military madness. The Pakistan Army did not just go berserk. There was a grave provocation. But this too is a part of opening old wounds. It would have been more prudent had the Bangladesh prime minister not raked up the past and concentrated on the present.

She, herself, seems to be out of touch with Bangladeshi sentiments. She is a great cricket fan and she was present at all the Asia Cup matches and would have seen for herself the tremendous crowd support for the Pakistan team and the sea of Pakistani flags. This was the ordinary man and woman letting his heart do the cheering.

I have been to Bangladesh on a few occasions and found not a trace of bitterness and I was welcomed with open arms and met some old friends who got misty-eyed at the reunion. No one brought up the tragic events of 1971. I do not want to speculate on what prompted Mrs Hasina Wajid to say what she did. It would be unfair to say that our Foreign Office was caught napping. I would think that even the people of Bangladesh were caught napping. They may or may not have been embarrassed by the tirade but they must certainly have been surprised at what appears to be a hundred and eighty degree shift in policy.

What has triggered the shift? Surely it can’t be the Hamoodur Rehman Commission Report? There is nothing in the excerpts that have been published to warrant such a hysterical reaction? Most of it is old hat and though the official report still remains under wraps, a classified document, parts of it have been appearing in the newspapers from time to time.

The timing of the Bangladesh prime minister’s remarks is fiendish. The remarks seem to dovetail neatly with the ferocious verbal assault of the Indian prime minister. Do we smell some kind of collusion? If so, to what purpose? Why would Bangladesh want to become a puppet of India? Bangladesh has problems of its own and it is not in its interest to get sucked into the BJP agenda for the subcontinent. The ailing Indian prime minister Mr. Vajpayee gave ample clues of what the agenda was when he lashed out at Pakistan but betrayed the BJP mindset with his references to ‘jihad’ and equating it with terrorism and to the values of the medieval age.

He made no reference nor did he deplore the demolition of the Babri Mosque, the storming of the Golden Temple in Amritsar and the burning of churches and attacks on Christian missionaries. If Bangladesh, which is a Muslim country, believes it is a natural ally of India, it need only to look at the treatment meted out to Bangladeshi migrants in India who are persecuted and hounded.

Bangladesh has recently been admitted to elite club of cricket test playing nations. No country worked harder to get this membership than Pakistan. We even offered to play an inaugural test match with them. It was our way of offering a hand of friendship and the Pakistan Cricket Board has indicated that any assistance we can give in the development of cricket in Bangladesh will be forthcoming.

Cricket may seem something trivial in the larger scheme of things but one has to visit Bangladesh to know what the game means to the people there. When Bangladesh beat Pakistan in the World Cup in 1999, the celebrations took on the form of a national festival and when it was given test status all but a public holiday was declared.

Whether or not General Musharraf did the right thing in cancelling his meeting with the Bangladeshi prime minister is something only he and his advisers will be able to elaborate on. Personally, I think he should have met her, if only to ask her why she found it necessary to fly off the handle. Pakistan was owed an explanation, as indeed are the people of Bangladesh who must be perplexed by what appeared to be a wholly irrelevant speech in the wrong forum. She was, after all addressing the United Nations Millennium Summit and not a public meeting at Paltan Maidan.

I don’t think that her speech has unduly upset people here. We are more sorry than angry. But it would be interesting to find out what the reaction in Bangladesh has been to her speech. References to the 1971 events may strike an emotive chord but they are not likely to be helpful in her domestic difficulties. It is no longer an issue. The people of Pakistan wish Bangladesh well and are happy that the country is making steady progress. The subcontinent shares many common problems of which the grinding poverty of its people is the most prominent and the most urgent. This should be the highest priority in all the countries that make up the subcontinent. Everything else is a sideshow. We should not allow ourselves to be diverted from this main event. I hope the Bangladesh prime minister has realized that she spoke in haste. I don’t think it was her intention to derail Pakistan-Bangladesh relations. It is not in the interest of either country that these relations should be anything else but cordial.

Omar Kureishi, Dawn, September 19, 2000,

 http://www.dawn.com/2000/09/19/op.htm

Pakistan to Publish War Report

Pakistan’s military ruler, General Musharraf, says he will publish a version of a long-withheld report on the events of 1971 when Bangladesh broke away to become an independent state.

In comments late on Monday, General Musharraf said the report would be published except for sections dealing with international relations.

The report dates back to the 1970s when the then Prime Minister, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, appointed a commission under Supreme Court Chief Justice Hamoodur Rehman to look into the war.

The inquiry was completed in 1974 — but successive governments, citing national interest, did not make the report public. However, its findings were recently published by the Indian magazine, India Today.

Their version showed the report heavily criticising several top-ranking Pakistani army personnel, calling for them to be court-martialled. The war ended in December 1971, with some 90,000 Pakistani personnel in Bangladesh surrendering after India intervened.

General Musharraf indicated that he did not believe action was called for against former senior officers.

“What happened in ’71 was a disgrace to the nation. Should we remember such disgraces?” he asked. “Why the hue and cry now when most of the people are not alive?”

The report was recently at the centre of a row between Pakistan and Bangladesh over calls from Dhaka for Pakistanis allegedly involved in war crimes in 1971 to be put on trial.

General Musharraf criticised the Bangladesh Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, for her comments on the matter, and remarks she made at the U.N. against military regimes.

Dhaka says at least three million Bengalis were killed in 1971 when Pakistani forces attempted to suppress Bengali nationalist agitation. Pakistan has asked Bangladesh not revive memories of the war, saying they could damage future relations.

The BBC’s Zafar Abbas in Islamabad says the decision to publish parts of the report has less to do with pressure from Bangladesh than with calls from politicians and intellectuals in Pakistan. He says that ever since excerpts appeared in India Today, demands have grown in Pakistan for the report to be published, and pressure may now increase for its recommendations to be implemented.

BBC, October 3, 2000,

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/954372.stm

Bangladesh ‘Atrocities’ Row

Bangladesh has reacted angrily to remarks by a senior Pakistani diplomat about war crimes allegedly committed in 1971 when Bangladesh broke away to become an independent state.

Pakistan’s Deputy High Commissioner in Dhaka, Irfan-ur-Raja, ignited the latest row over the issue by saying that Bangladeshi fighters, not the Pakistani army, were to blame for the atrocities.

His intervention sparked angry protests on the streets of Dhaka, and a swift response from the Bangladesh Government which summoned Pakistan’s high commissioner to explain his deputy’s “uncalled for and provocative” remarks.

Dhaka says at least three million Bengalis were killed when the Pakistani army attempted to suppress Bengali nationalist agitation in 1971, and wants Pakistanis to stand trial for crimes against humanity.

“I express my anger and condemnation at the audacious and derogatory remarks,” Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Abdus Samad Azad said. “I hope the Pakistani Government will take immediate action to arrest the irreparable damage done to bilateral relations.”

Pakistan’s High Commissioner, Iqbal Ahmed Khan, was told his deputy’s remarks “reflected a total lack of understanding of the history of the freedom movement of Bangladesh.”

Mr. Raja told a seminar in Dhaka on Monday that atrocities committed during the 1971 war were started by ‘miscreants of the Awami League’ — Bangladesh’s current ruling party — and not by the Pakistani army.

He also quoted a recently-published Pakistan judicial commission report into the conflict, which put the number of dead at only 26,000 — not the three million claimed by Bangladesh.

Angered by his comments, Bangladeshis took to the streets of Dhaka, torching a Pakistani flag and shouting anti-Pakistan slogans. They want Mr Raja to be expelled.

Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan, won independence after a bloody nine-month war led by the Awami League and headed by the country’s founder, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of the current Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina.

The relationship between Bangladesh and Pakistan has been strained since September when Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf cancelled a meeting with Ms Hasina on the sidelines of U.N. millennium summit in New York. In the summit, Sheikh Hasina spoke against military dictatorships, and later went on to demand Pakistan’s apology for the events of 1971.

Pakistan told Bangladesh not to revive memories of the war, saying they could damage future relations.

BBC, November 28, 2000, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1045066.stm

Hovering Shadow of 1971

Tension continues to fester in Pakistan-Bangladesh relations even after a lapse of 29 years. In the past few months there have been two unpleasant incidents between them in quick succession. First, there was the abrupt cancellation of a scheduled meeting between the Bangladesh prime minister and our Chief Executive during the U.N. Millennium Summit in New York because of a statement by Bangladesh prime minister on which we took umbrage and recently our deputy high commissioner made some ill-advised remarks at a seminar in Dhaka which provoked such a storm of protest by the people and government of Bangladesh that Pakistan had to recall the diplomat concerned.

However, even after that there have been demonstrations in front of the Pakistan high commission and incidents of burning the Pakistan flag. A leading Bangladesh poet, Shamsur Rahman, has even demanded that Bangladesh should sever relations with Pakistan and declare it an enemy country.

The current spate of bitterness and anger of the people and government of Bangladesh centres round the Pakistan army action of 1971 in what was then East Pakistan. However, what happened in 1971 has a long history, which we will presently discuss. It is important for the post-break up generation of Pakistanis to know what led to the break-up. Our bitterness and anger stem from the break-up of Pakistan and the emergence of Bangladesh as an independent country.

It is evident from what happened at the seminar where the unpleasant incident occurred. Referring to the Bangladesh demand that Pakistan should apologize for the events of 1971, the deputy high commissioner is reported to have said: “Why should Pakistan apologize when we lost half of our country?” He made it worse by calling the Mukti Bahini as bunch of ‘Awami League miscreants.’

This is a common sentiment among the people in Pakistan and is indicative of a perception which is totally different from the perception of the people in Bangladesh. The emergence of Bangladesh was, for the East Pakistanis of 1971, the breaking away from the shackles of ‘colonial rule.’ What we regard as an insurgency was for them their ‘War of Liberation.’ True, the Indian military intervention was responsible for the physical act of dismemberment of Pakistan, but it is also true that the ground for it had been prepared earlier by our acts of omission and commission over the years.

The demand for provincial autonomy in East Pakistan, which eventually developed into a secessionist movement, had a whole set of political, economic and cultural reasons. It was the agitation for the Bengali language which turned out to be the first schism in the Centre-East Pakistan relationship. The agitation in question was afoot within months of the inception of Pakistan and, in fact, immediately after the Quaid-i-Azam had declared in a speech in Dhaka on March 21, 1948, that Urdu and Urdu alone would be the official language of Pakistan.

A crucial point, however, came four years later, on February 21, 1952, when police opened fire on a demonstration in favour of the Bengali language and three students of Dhaka University were killed. Later a monument called Shaheed Minar was built to commemorate their martyrdom and February 21 was regularly observed as Bengali Language Day in East Pakistan with great fervour.

Another crucial point in the history of the Centre-East Pakistan relationship came in 1954 when the party in power at the centre, the Muslim League, was completely routed in the East Pakistan provincial election and the United Front of the opposition parties won an overwhelming majority. The United Front fought the election on a 21-point programme. The first and foremost was the demand for the adoption of Bengali as one of the state languages followed by provincial autonomy so wide as to restrict the Centre’s authority to three subjects only: defence, foreign affairs and currency.

The venerable old leader of East Pakistan, Maulvi Fazlul Haque, who had moved the Pakistan Resolution at the Lahore session of the Muslim League in 1940, became the chief minister and formed the first non-Muslim League government in Pakistan. Within two months, he was dismissed having been charged with treason, complicity with India, secessionism, etc. Governor’s rule was imposed in the province and Iskander Mirza was appointed governor.

The fact of the matter is that the West Pakistan power elite did not trust East Pakistani leaders, even people like Fazlul Haque and Suhrawardy — Mujibur Rahman of the late ’60s and early ’70s was a different kettle of fish.

To come back to our survey of events leading to the break-up of Pakistan, it was Fazlul Haque and Suhrawardy who, in spite of what happened in the preceding years, cooperated with the West Pakistan leaders and the Constituent Assembly and produced the 1956 constitution, in which Bengali was recognized as a state language. Two years later, in October 1958 Ayub Khan abrogated it and imposed martial law, which in retrospect can be seen as a watershed in the history of Pakistan, particularly in the context of the relationship between the two wings of the country.

The great merit of the 1956 constitution was that it represented a consensus between the political leaders of East and West Pakistan. East Pakistan surrendered its numerical advantage as a majority province by agreeing to the principle of parity with West Pakistan at the national level. Ayub Khan’s martial law upset the entire scheme of things. It confirmed the worst fears of East Pakistanis which they had started entertaining earlier, noticing some straws in the wind blowing at the centre. Three of the prime ministers hailing from East Pakistan — Khawaja Nazimuddin, Mohammad Ali (Bogra), and H. S. Suhrawardy — had either been dismissed or manoeuvred out of office by the West Pakistani power elite. Ayub Khan’s martial law proved to be the proverbial last straw.

This was the impression I gathered some ten years later when I served in East Pakistan as a federal government official in a position which brought me in contact with intellectuals, writers and journalists of that part of the country. In their perception at that point in time, the abrogation of the 1956 constitution and the imposition of martial law were unmistakable signals that the West Pakistani power elite was not prepared to share power with the majority province of East Pakistan even on a fifty-fifty basis. In fact, it did not want East Pakistanis to participate meaningfully in the political process; it just wanted to rule over them. One frequently heard in the Dhaka of those days East Pakistan being referred to as a ‘colony’ of West Pakistan, sometimes in angry protest and sometimes in friendly jest, but in both cases it clearly showed how the relationship between the two wings was being perceived.

The feeling of alienation in East Pakistan continued to aggravate during the Ayub years. Ayub’s election as President in January 1965 was considered a hoax. He was elected, in spite of a hostile popular sentiment, under a system of his own making, called Basic Democracy, by an electoral college which could easily be manipulated. Having spent seven years under Ayub’s military and civil dictatorship, another five-year term for him as President was not seen as a palatable prospect. It only added to the feeling of frustration in East Pakistan.

Then came the Indo-Pakistan war of 1965, which took place along the borders of West Pakistan, and East Pakistan was totally cut off from rest of the country.

The Pakistanis in that wing of the country felt undefended and completely abandoned to their fate. The theory that the defence of East Pakistan lay in West Pakistan only added to the feeling of isolation and alienation in East Pakistan. No wonder, after the war when the dust settled Shaikh Mujibur Rahman came up with his Six-Point formula at an opposition leaders’ meeting in Lahore in January 1966.

Unfortunately, no attempt was made by Ayub Khan who held the reins of government for eleven years to engage Mujibur Rahman in a dialogue with a view to finding out what exactly the Six-Point programme implied and how a compromise formula could be evolved. He was continually treated as a political outcast and then as a traitor when he was implicated in the Agartala Conspiracy case. Finally, when the tide against Ayub turned, the case was withdrawn during the anti-Ayub movement. Mujib was invited by Ayub Khan to the Round Table Conference in 1969.

By then the Six-Point programme had become a clarion call and Mujib as a charismatic leader of East Pakistan was a power to be reckoned with. Yahya Khan who succeeded Ayub Khan as president and martial law administrator did not have it in him to deal with the situation politically. He, therefore, resorted to army action in East Pakistan, with accompanying atrocities on the civilian population. It is this which Bangladeshis cannot forget or forgive.

We often ask Bangladeshis to forget the past. But we also need to forget about our ‘loss,’ which they consider their gain, and accept Bangladesh with good grace, as another independent Muslim country of the subcontinent.

Dr Aftab Ahmed, Dawn, December 16, 2002,

http://www.dawn.com/2000/12/16/op.htm

What Prudence Demanded

The expulsion of Pakistan’s deputy high commissioner in Bangladesh, under sharp criticism in that country for his utterances on the tragic happenings of 1971, may have lent a touch of bitterness to the friendly relations between the two countries. In a statement by the foreign ministry spokesman, the Pakistan government rejected as ‘baseless’ the allegations made by the Bangladesh government that the deputy high commissioner had carried out activities incompatible with his status as a diplomat.

What makes Bangladesh’s decision particularly surprising is that the DHC had already been called back by Pakistan in response to a demand by Dhaka for his recall and was preparing to leave in the next few days. This, in other words, was an acknowledgement of the embarrassment caused to Islamabad by the diplomat with some of his indiscreet remarks at a seminar in Dhaka on November 27.

But it also showed that Pakistan had made efforts to salvage the situation and avoid any unnecessary prolongation of the tiff. It would have been better if the matter had ended there. Moreover, Dhaka had already expressed its hurt feelings earlier through a protest note to Islamabad on the Pakistani diplomat’s utterances. There was no demand for his withdrawal in that communication. Precisely what compulsions weighed in behind his peremptory expulsion on Friday is not clear, but coinciding as it does with remembrances of the unfortunate events of December 1971. There are reasons to believe that the controversy sparked by the diplomat’s remarks at the seminar did acquire a particularly emotive tone and tenor. In a way, this was also understandable since killings during the war was a sensitive subject on which unguarded remarks should have been avoided, nor an issue made of certain accusations made against Pakistan.

There had been vociferous calls for the Pakistani diplomat’s immediate expulsion soon after his controversial utterances from political quarters in Bangladesh, including leading figures of the ruling Awami League. Otherwise, too, the deputy high commissioner’s remarks had touch off strong denunciations and demonstrations in Dhaka. Last month some 3,000 men and women belonging to a political organization had demanded that war criminals be put on trial and the Pakistani diplomat expelled. The Bangladesh government may have acted out of sheer self-interest by expelling the diplomat in order to placate those who were out to create difficulties for it. However, in view of the mood prevailing in that country on the sensitive issue of war killings, it would have been prudent to have the diplomat recalled soon after a decision had been taken to do so — instead of allowing him to unnecessarily prolong his stay there.

Dawn, Editorial, December 17, 2000,

http://www.dawn.com/2000/12/17/ed.htm

Pakistan to Boost Trade Ties with BD

The visiting Pakistani minister for commerce, industry and production Abdul Razzak Dawood, who reached Dhaka, hoped that the trade transaction between Pakistan and Bangladesh would increase in course of time.

Mr. Dawood is on a five-day tour to Bangladesh and leads a 29-member delegation representing a broad spectrum of business interests who will explore avenues for further expansion of the trade and economic relations with Bangladesh.

In a joint press briefing on Sunday afternoon at Bangladesh Secretariat along with his Bangladeshi counterpart Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, Mr. Dawood said, Pakistan has every sympathy for Bangladesh and efforts will be taken to reduce the trade gap that exists in favour of Pakistan.

Mr. Dawood described his talks with Bangladesh commerce minister Amir Khasru Mahmood Chowdhury as “fruitful and mutually beneficial.”

He said, he was deeply impressed by the strong desire and the commitment on the part of Bangladesh government as to strengthen not only the economic and commercial ties but the overall relations in a big way.

Dawn, January 28, 2002,

http://www.dawn.com/2002/01/28/top11.htm

Seminar Calls for BD-Pak Interaction

The Bangladesh-Pakistan Forum (BPF), formally launched in April, held a day-long seminar on Monday on prospects for closer ties between the two countries.

Maj Gen Mohammad Ibrahim, who fought against the Pakistan army in 1971, presented a paper entitled “Strategic dynamics of Pakistan-Bangladesh relations.” Pakistan’s High Commissioner in Dhaka, Mr Iqbal Ahmed Khan, was also present on the occasion.

Discussing Bangladesh’s geopolitical compulsions, Gen Ibrahim, in his paper, said: “If 30 years is a generation, it’s time to look back at the events of 1971 and learn lessons for the future.” He said although India is not a member of the OIC, it houses the second largest number of Muslims in the world. He said that as New Delhi had worked for the emergence of Bangladesh, it had a strong basis to claim priority in friendship with Dhaka.

On the other hand, he added, Bangladeshis had an emotional attachment with the Muslim bloc, especially Pakistan, because it was the only Muslim country with nuclear capability.

Gen Ibrahim said that one group of people in Bangladesh is against any rapprochement with Pakistan, while there are others who advocate friendly relations with Islamabad.

He concluded by saying that “some way must be found whereby sentiments of the Bangladeshi people about the wrongdoings in 1971 are taken care of, and the issues of division of assets and the stranded Pakistanis are settled.”

Pakistan’s High Commissioner, Mr Iqbal Ahmad Khan, admitted both the countries have a complex relationship. He stressed the need for more cooperation between both the countries.

Professor Imtiaz Ahmed said that it is necessary to form a joint court by Bangladesh and Pakistan to probe the 1971 tragedy.

Professor Ms Dilara Chowdhury urged the Pakistan authorities to take into consideration the concerns of the people of Bangladesh with regard to the 1971 crisis if they (Pakistanis) wanted to promote relations between the two countries. Prof Moonis Ahmar of Karachi University pointed out that with “fair intentions, substantial will and determination,” both countries can overcome the present stalemate.

Dawn, June 15, 2002,

 http://www.dawn.com/2002/06/15/int3.htm

Pak-BD Reconciliation

If 30 years is a generation, it is time now to look back through the tunnels of history at the events of 1971 with a view to draw lessons for the present. This is what Maj Gen (Retd) Syed M Ibrahim, Executive Director, Centre for Strategic and Peace Studies, Dhaka said in his presentation at a one-day seminar on “Bangladesh-Pakistan Relations: Future Prospects,” held at the International Relations Department, University of Dhaka on June 8.

The seminar, organised by the Bangladesh-Pakistan Forum, a newly created organisation at Dhaka University, provided a valuable opportunity to people belonging to a cross section of society to discuss in depth different dimensions of BD-Pak relations and then come up with pragmatic suggestions to unleash the process of reconciliation and cooperation between the two brotherly Islamic countries of South Asia.

Bangladesh-Pakistan reconciliation is hostage to the tragic events of 1971, which still overshadow efforts to bring the two countries closer. As rightly said by General Ibrahim as long as the freedom fighters of Bangladeshi Liberation War and Officers and Soldiers of Pakistan military, who were involved in suppressing the freedom movement, do not shun their ego, little can be done to make headway for better relations between Bangladesh and Pakistan. For Pakistani people and its establishment, the tragic events of 1971 may be one of the unpleasant issues blocking BD-Pak reconciliation, but for each and every Bangladeshi, whether belonging to the generation which fought in the 1971 liberation war or the post-liberation generation, atrocities committed by the Pakistani Army against innocent Bengalis is ‘The Issue’ impeding the process of reconciliation between Islamabad and Dhaka.

Even after fifty years, the hearts and minds of Bangladeshis will be obsessed with the atrocities of Pakistan Army in 1971 because millions of innocent people had suffered from that thoughtless operation. True, non-Bengalis also faced the wrought of Mukti Bahini (freedom fighters) and supporters of Awami League during 1971, but atrocities committed by a professional army against its own people cannot be justified on any account. Political matters emanating after December 1970 elections should have been resolved through negotiations instead of brutal use of force against civilians. As long as there exists perception in a section of Pakistani society and establishment that Bangladesh was the creation of India and the Pakistan military did a wonderful job by killing non-conformist Bengalis, there cannot be any scope of reconciliation between Bangladesh and Pakistan. Here the mindset of a powerful section of Pakistani military and bureaucratic establishment vis-à-vis the tragic events of 1971 require a serious rethinking because till the time that elite, which controls the bulk of Pakistan’s policy-making process has a myopic view of causes leading to the emergence of Bangladesh and the break-up of Pakistan, there is little hope of BD-Pak reconciliation. Independent studies have also confirmed countless acts of atrocities committed by the Pakistan Army against innocent people of the then East Pakistan. But, it doesn’t mean that the two countries should remain bogged down in the past and as the second and the third largest Muslim nations remain suspicious and hostile to each other.

While the question of an apology from the Government of Pakistan to the people of Bangladesh on the brutal military operation of March-December 1971 is key to BD-Pak reconciliation, researchers, journalists, businessmen, women and youth activists, students, teachers and other segments of the civil society of the two countries can certainly play an important role in moving beyond the bitterness of the past and through better people to people interaction proceed to develop mutually beneficial relations in different areas.

The suggestions given by Prof Dr. Imtiaz Ahmed, Chairman Department of International Relations, Dhaka University in his address in the seminar that the time has come to jointly (composed of Pakistani and Bangladeshi nationals) rewrite history on the basis of objective facts and form a joint tribunal to probe into the tragic events of 1971 is commendable. Pakistan High Commissioner to Dhaka, Mr Iqbal A Khan was right when in his address as the Chief Guest of the inaugural session of the seminar he said that “Pakistan and Bangladesh have a shared history, some of it regrettably tragic, common interests, customs and traditions and are linked by the bond of our glorious faith.” But after more than 31 years of separation, the time has come to revive old ties through a process of reconciliation, involving the younger generation and various other segments of society.

At a time when the visit of President General Pervez Musharraf to Dhaka is in offing, there is a need to examine the pros and cons of BD-Pak reconciliation because unlike the past bilateral visits from the two sides which failed to address key issues between the two countries, the forthcoming visit of President Musharraf should be path breaking and lead to the resolution of outstanding issues. It all depends if President Musharraf can take a courageous step in his visit by saying sorry to the people of Bangladesh for the sufferings they had experienced as a result of the brutal military operation from March-December 1971. Through that gesture, it is expected that more than 80% of the unpleasantness, which is present in Bangladesh against Pakistan, will be removed. Most important, the Pakistani leadership should act above ego and side with justice, which requires a categorical and honest apology from their side of what had happened during the military operation so that a sad chapter in BD-Pak relations is over and a major impediment to reconciliation is removed.

Hamoodur Rehman Commission Report, released by the Government of Pakistan last year, gives plenty of information on that issue. Prof Dilara Chowdhury of Political Science Department, Jahangirnagar University in her presentation rightly urged the Pakistani authorities to take into consideration the concerns of the people of Bangladesh with regard to the War of Liberation issue if they (Pakistanis) wanted to promote relations. This is the key to BD-Pak reconciliation and it will neutralise all such elements in Bangladesh who on account of vested interests and external links keep on exploiting the brutalities of Pakistan Army so as to prevent any betterment in BD-Pak relations. Apology from Pakistan will certainly make a difference because the silent majority of the people of Bangladesh hold substantial goodwill for Pakistan but because of the tragic events of 1971 are unable to openly express their gesture.

About the remaining 250,000 stranded Pakistanis, it is clear that because of time bar and political reasons they cannot be repatriated to Pakistan. Strong political interests by some groups in Pakistan have successfully blocked their repatriation. What is possible in order to deal with that humanitarian issue is to create a fund from the resources lying with the Rabita-i-Alam Islami and mobilised by other philanthropic organizations and ensure the distribution of such resources through some credible NGO based in Bangladesh among such people for their rehabilitation and welfare. Such unfortunate people who are still stranded in 66 camps all over Bangladesh and who became a victim of 1971 tragedy and internal politics of Pakistan can be helped from that fund. Moreover, there is no problem for them in getting the nationality of Bangladesh because two of their generations belong to that land.

The package of BD-Pak reconciliation apart from including the political dimension, also has economic, cultural, educational and communication aspects. What is needed is the following of bold, imaginative, pragmatic, proactive and forward-looking approach by Islamabad and Dhaka on improving relations with each other. For long, because of political and bureaucratic reasons the two countries have neglected each other but the bonds of religion, common past and culture are such that despite geographical barrier and past unpleasantness the people of Bangladesh and Pakistan cannot follow an indifferent approach. Strategic, political, religious and cultural factors are enough to compel the leaders of Bangladesh and Pakistan to follow a pragmatic approach in bettering relations by easing visa restrictions, starting passenger and cargo shipping service, encouraging people to people interaction, removing undue restrictions on business and trade, launching joint ventures in tourism, women emancipation, industry, agriculture, promoting exchange programmes in education and culture and most important encouraging interaction among those who belong to the post-1971 generation. If the intentions of the two governments are fair with proper will, determination and are above ego, much can be done to fill the huge gap which has existed between the people of Pakistan and Bangladesh since December 1971. There should be mutual respect and sincerity on the part of the policy makers of the two countries so that the bonds of friendship are again restored and the second and third largest Muslim countries, who were together for around quarter of a century, are able to forge close relations on the basis of sovereign equality and mutual respect.

Dr Moonis Ahmar, The News, June 25, 2002,

http://www.jang-group.com/thenews/jun2002-daily/25-06-2002/oped/o5.htm

Dhaka-Islamabad Relations and SAARC

Pakistan’s President General Pervez Musharraf is on an official visit in the capital. Reports published in the local press indicates that during this visit a number of important bilateral issues will be tabled for discussion. Besides, Pakistan might offer some cooperation to Bangladesh in developing the energy and telecommunication sector.

The visit of President Pervez Musharraf is talking place at a time when the sub-continent is in the grip of a crisis. Bangladesh favours de-escalation, and the resumption of a peaceful dialogue, to avert the threat of war that could turn nuclear. There is sympathy among the people of Bangladesh for the struggle of the people of Kashmir. Thus, while maintaining a discreet attitude of avoiding involvement in Indo-Pakistan issues, Bangladesh has attained the high moral ground by favoring a peaceful dialogue, and underlining the need for finding a settlement of the festering Kashmir dispute.

Bangla-Pak Relations: Situated in the Northwest and Northeast of South Asian sub-continent, Bangladesh and Pakistan share common perceptions and interests on significant aspects of bilateral, regional and global interaction. These provide credible basis for close and friendly relations. History, geography, and a shared culture make it imperative for them to cooperate for mutual benefit and to work together to promote regional peace and stability in South Asia.

The people living in the two countries share a long history during which Islam entered the sub-continent from the west, by sea and by land, spreading westwards. After colonisation by the British, which spread from the east to the west over the 18th and 19th centuries, the Muslim populations concentrated in the two extremities of the peninsula and became partners in the struggle to safeguard their rights. Pakistan and Bangladesh share important foreign policy objectives. These include the safeguarding of national security, betterment of the life of their people through economic development, promotion of peace and stability in their region and the world, and advancing their national ideology and prestige. The two countries have adopted the path of non-alignment, but at the same time are wedded to the concept of progress through international cooperation. This extends from the regional level, through SAARC, to the expanding spheres of commonalties in the Islamic context through the Organisation of Islamic Conference, and the worldwide group of developing countries, to face the challenges of globalisation.

The SAARC: Pak-Bangla interaction since the emergence of Bangladesh has passed through several phases. In particular, the respective political evolution in the two countries after 1971 has influenced their mutual relations.

One of the main accomplishments of President Ziaur Rahman was to launch Bangladesh on an independent path and to establish linkages more in harmony with the history and ideology of its people. He developed closer links with Islamic countries including Pakistan, as well with the major powers ranging from the United States of America and Europe to China. His most important contribution was the initiative he took in 1980 to launch the concept of SAARC, for which he was able to win the support of the leaders of both India and Pakistan.

Bangladesh-Pakistan relations have acquired a momentum of their own. Trade and various forms of cooperation have developed. Friendly relations reflect the basic interests. The position of Bangladesh as the third largest country in South Asia, with a predominantly Muslim population, makes it an important neighbour of Pakistan. Their links of common faith and history and similarity of perceptions on a wide range of regional and international issues provide basis of a cordial and mutually beneficial relationship. This friendship is not only a source of strength to them, but is also a factor of stability in the regional balance of power. Significant all-round cooperation has developed between them in the context of such multilateral bodies as SAARC, OIC, NAM, D-8 and the United Nations and its specialised agencies. They have also benefited from each other’s experience in tackling similar issues, such as family planning, and rural micro-credit.

Bangladesh and Pakistan have taken similar stands on terrorism. Both are equally strongly opposed to this menace. They condemn it unreservedly and fully support the U.S.-led fight against terrorism. They were among the first few states to permit multinational forces to use their airspace, seaports, airports, as well as refuelling facilities to combat terrorism. Dhaka has won due acknowledgement from the international community for its strong stand on combating terrorism.

The economic cooperation between the two countries has been growing and they have set up a Joint Economic Commission, which last met in 1998. Mr. Abdur Razzak Dawood, Minister of Commerce and Industries of Pakistan visited Bangladesh during the beginning of this year. The balance of bilateral trade has been in favour of Pakistan. Its exports were worth U.S.$ 133 million last year against imports of only U.S.$ 33 million. It has been agreed that measures would be taken to increase imports from Bangladesh.

Keeping all the above points in mind, it is expected that the visit of President Musharraf will further consolidate the friendly relations existing between the two countries. Apart from increasing bilateral cooperation in various fields, special attention would doubtless be given to developing regional cooperation in the framework of SAARC. Bangladesh has a special interest in the revival of its activities as the group was formed at its initiative. South Asia was a late starter in developing regional cooperation, a trend that has served to promote peace and progress in many parts of the world. The European Community emerged in 1957. ASEAN was founded in 1967. It was not till 1980 that President Ziaur Rahman launched the initiative to promote multilateral cooperation among the seven states of the sub-continent.

The Charter of the organisation incorporated the two conditions on which India has insisted at the preparatory stage, namely that all decisions would be taken on the basis of consensus of all members, and that contentious political issues would be excluded. It was decided to hold annual summit meetings by rotation in the capitals of the member states. Specific area of cooperation were decided, to which additions were made in subsequent summits.

It is undoubtedly endorsed by all that the onus for making a success of any such regional organisation mainly lies with the largest constituent. It was essentially on account of Indonesia, which respected the principle of sovereign equality in the context of ASEAN that South East Asia was able to take off. Similarly in Europe, the policies of Germany and France did not create any undue concern among their smaller neighbours. Regrettably, in the context of SAARC this has not happened, thereby leading to mistrust and suspicion. The asymmetrical nature of SAARC and the existence of fostering disputes, for which no resolution mechanism exists, have hampered the growth of South Asia’s premier regional organization.

It is clear from the experience of other regional groupings, that there has to be a readiness to resolve disputes among members in a spirit of accommodation, paying due regard to principles and obligations under the U.N. Charter, to which all members of the U.N. subscribe. In certain quarters there is a feeling that the exclusion of contentious issues harms the prospects of SAARC. Regional cooperation and integration of the type achieved by the European Union and ASEAN is facilitated by the solution of political problems. SAARC had set up an Eminent Person’s Group to come up with ideas on how the organisation could be made more effective. Their report has not been given due attention so far, but the opportunities that SAARC provides for informal discussion of bilateral and regional issues need to be availed, in a world transformed by the terrorist attacks of 11 September.

SAARC is a grouping that can contribute materially to the economic development of a region that contains nearly two-third of the world’s absolutely poor people. With 22 percent of the world’s population, it accounts for only 2 per cent of the global trade. The lack of mutual interaction is reflected in the fact that intra-regional trade accounts for only 4 per cent of the trade of the member countries. The world is being shaped increasingly by the inexorable forces of globalisation. Regional groupings such as SAARC can not only promote the well-being and progress of their member states but also serve to give a greater competitive edge to them in the global economy.

The prospects for SAARC can certainly improve if all its members demonstrate their resolve to enlarge the scope of the grouping, and to use it for creating an environment of harmony and peace in the region.

Pakistan is the host of next SAARC summit, and important preparatory meetings at the official and ministerial level are planned in Islamabad during August 2002. At such an important time we are expecting President Pervez Musharraf’s visit to Bangladesh. Let us hope that with this visit, Dhaka-Islamabad relations will gain new momentum and the spirit of SAARC will be further boosted which will ultimately bring lots of positive impacts for the countries in this region.

Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, July 2, 2002,

http://www.nation-online.com/200207/30/n2073002.htm#BODY4

Musharraf’s Visit

When Pakistan President Parvez Musharraf arrives here today on a state visit — his first to Bangladesh — red carpet will be unrolled to accord him a warm welcome. The government has drawn up an elaborate programme for the president befitting a state visit by the leader of a friendly neighbouring country. He will also get an opportunity to meet some of his old batch-mates of the Pakistan Military Academy, with whom he embarked on his distinguished career in the army way back in 1964. He climbed to the top position in the army, becoming in due course its Chief of Staff, and later, like some of his predecessors, gained control of the statecraft through a military coup. He has since initiated a series of measures to restore democracy in Pakistan, albeit his own brand of it. President Musharraf, by all accounts, is a tough man who has weathered many a crises and is still facing a tough time. It goes to his credit that he has succeeded in steering his country skilfully through most difficult times. When he thought it prudent to do so, President Musharraf made a 180 — degree turn to distance Pakistan from the Taliban, once its protégé, and throw all out support to the US-led invasion of Afghanistan against the Taliban regime and Al Quaeda. And although he was subjected to criticism at home for this policy shift, it paid rich dividend to Pakistan and earned American gratitude and support in its strained relations with India.

The bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Pakistan are not inhibited by the same considerations that affect the latter’s relations with India. Both Bangladesh and Pakistan are SAARC partners and are members of the OIC and other international agencies. Yet, frankly speaking, there still remain some irritants which should be put out of the way for ensuring a better friendly ties between the two countries. The people here strongly feel that Pakistan needs to address the issues of (1) repatriation of the stranded Pakistanis who have been living in camps for the last 32 years and (2) assets and liabilities; and last but not least, express regret for the atrocities and genocide committed by the Pakistan army in 1971. The sooner these issues are resolved satisfactorily, the better.

Bangladesh is also expected to ask for duty-free access of its commodities to Pakistan’s market as well as increased co-operation in other areas. Musharraf’s visit, hopefully, will put Bangladesh-Pakistan bilateral relations on a stronger footing through imaginative and pragmatic steps.

The Independent, Editorial, July 29, 2002,

 http://www.independent-bangladesh.com/news/jul/29/29072002ed.htm#A2

Pakistan-Bangladesh Relations

Situated in the Northwest and Northeast of South Asian sub-continent, Pakistan and Bangladesh share common perceptions and interests on significant aspects of bilateral, regional and global interaction. These provide credible basis for close and friendly relations. History, geography, and a shared culture make it imperative for them to cooperate for mutual benefit and to work together to promote regional peace and stability in South Asia.

The peoples living in the two countries share a long history during which Islam entered the sub-continent from the west, by sea and by land, spreading westwards. After colonization by the British, which spread from the east to the west over the 18th and 19th centuries, the Muslim populations concentrated in the two extremities of the peninsulas became partners in the struggle to safeguard their rights. The All India Muslim League was founded in Dhaka in 1906, which reflected the fact that Muslim Bengal was in the forefront of the freedom movement. The Pakistan Resolution was introduced by the Lion of Bengal, Mr. A.K. Fazlul Haq on 23 March at the historic session of the Muslim League held in Lahore on 23 March 1940.

Political errors were made during the first two decades of Pakistan's existence. They were exploited and Pakistan split in 1971, amid circumstances that resulted in negative historical baggage. However, though the separation of former East Pakistan as Bangladesh took place rather painfully, the relationship between Pakistan and Bangladesh has overcome psychological barriers. It has turned into a genuine friendship, as reflected in a mutually beneficial, growing cooperation in many fields. Pakistan recognized Bangladesh during the Second Islamic Summit that was held at Lahore in February 1974. Since then, relations between them have acquired content and momentum of their own.

Pakistan and Bangladesh share important foreign policy objectives. These include the safeguarding of national security, betterment of the life of the people through economic development, promotion of peace and stability in their region and the world, and advancing their national ideology and prestige. The two countries have adopted the path of non-alignment, but at the same time are wedded to the concept of progress through international cooperation. This extends from the regional level, through SAARC, to the expanding spheres of commonalties in the Islamic context through OIC, and the worldwide group of developing countries, to face the challenges of globalisation.

Pak-Bangla interaction since the emergence of Bangladesh has passed through several phases. In particular, the respective political evolution in the two countries after 1971 has influenced their mutual relations. After a period of turbulence General Ziaur Rahman emerged as the President of Bangladesh and remained at the helm till his assassination in 1981. One of his main accomplishments was to launch Bangladesh on an independent path and to establish linkages more in harmony with the history and ideology of its people. He developed closer links with Islamic countries, including Pakistan, as also with the major powers ranging from the U.S. and Europe to China. His most important contribution was the initiative he took in 1980 to launch the concept of SAARC, for which he was able to win the support of the leaders of both India and Pakistan.

Gen. Ziaur Rahman was assassinated in May 1981, and after a period of instability, a second Martial Law regime emerged in Bangladesh under Gen. H.M. Ershad that ruled Bangladesh till 1991. However political opposition grew and the leadership of the main parties, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Awami League was assumed by two ladies, Begum Khaleda Zia, widow of Gen. Ziaur Rahman, and Mrs. Sheikh Hasina Wajed, daughter of Mujibur Rahman. They have dominated the political scene since 1991, Begum Khalida Zia winning the popular mandate in 1991, and 2001, while Sheikh Hasina Wajed ruled between 1996 and 2001. However Pakistan Bangladesh relations have acquired a momentum of their own. Trade and various forms of cooperation have developed. Friendly relations reflect the basic goodwill existing between their peoples and all-round cooperation serves their mutual interests.

The position of Bangladesh as the third largest country in South Asia, with a predominantly Muslim population, makes it an important neighbour of Pakistan. Their links of common faith and history and the similarity of perceptions on a wide range of regional and international issues provide basis for a cordial and mutually beneficial relationship. This friendship is not only a source of strength to them, but is also a factor of stability in the regional balance of power. Significant all-round cooperation has developed between them in the context of such multilateral bodies as SAARC, OIC, NAM, D-8 and the U.N. and its specialized agencies. They have also benefited from each other's experience in tackling similar issues, such as family planning, and rural micro-credit.

Pakistan and Bangladesh have taken similar stands on terrorism. Both are strongly opposed to this menace. They condemn unreservedly and fully support the U.S.-led fight against terrorism. They were among the first few states to permit multinational forces to use their air space, seaports, airports as well as refuelling facilities to combat terrorism. Pakistan has been in the vanguard of that fight. In the case of Bangladesh, its offer of facilities for the U.S.-led operates was not utilised. Yet it has won Dhaka due acknowledgement from the international community.

The economic cooperation between the two countries has been growing and they have set up a Joint Economic Commission, which last met in 1998. Mr. Abdur Razzak Dawood, Minister of Commerce and Industries visited Bangladesh in January 2002. The balance of bilateral trade has been in favour of Pakistan. Its exports were worth $133 million last year against imports of $33 million. It has been agreed that measures would be taken to increase imports from Bangladesh.

The visit of President Musharraf to Bangladesh is taking place at a time when the sub-continent is in the grip of a crisis. The government of Bangladesh favours de-escalation, and the resumption of a peaceful dialogue, to avert the threat of war that could turn nuclear. There is sympathy among the people of Bangladesh for the struggle of the people of Kashmir. Thus, while maintaining a discreet attitude of avoiding involvement in Indo-Pakistan issues, Bangladesh has attained the high moral ground by favouring a dialogue, and underlining the need for finding a settlement of the festering Kashmir dispute. President Musharraf’s visit can be expected to further consolidate the friendly relations existing between the two South Asian Muslim states. Apart from increasing bilateral cooperation in various fields, special attention would doubtless be given to developing regional cooperation in the framework of SAARC. Bangladesh has a special interest in the revival of its activities as the group was formed at its initiative. A deepening of Pakistan-Bangladesh relations would serve their interests as well as the cause of regional peace and security.

Maqbool Ahmad Bhatty, The New Nation, July 29, 2002, Volume 2 Number 641,

 http://www.nation-online.com/200207/29/n2072909.htm

Bangladesh’s Emotional Scars

Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf’s three-day visit to Dhaka will highlight the sensitive nature of relations between the two countries. Although Pakistan is keen to develop ties with Bangladesh because of its rivalry with India, the legacy of Bangladesh’s war of independence in 1971 still casts a shadow over relations.

Several Bangladeshi groups including the main opposition Awami League have said a ‘military dictator’ who removed an elected government should not be received as a state guest.

Bangladesh’s Foreign Secretary Shamsher Mubin Chowdhury told the BBC that Dhaka would raise issues “on which there is discord, as well as those on which there is accord” during President Musharraf’s visit. Mr. Chowdhury said successive Bangladeshi governments had sought the repatriation of so-called ‘stranded Pakistanis.’ They are a 250,000-strong, Urdu-speaking community which has lived in miserable conditions in camps across Bangladesh since Pakistani forces surrendered in December 1971.

The other difficult issue relates to Dhaka’s demand for what it claims to be its share of national assets amounting to billions of dollars, held by Islamabad since 1971. These differences, however are unlikely to undermine the significance of President Musharraf’s visit.

Despite the bitter legacy of the civil war, Pakistani leaders have sought to cultivate friendly relations with Bangladesh, and other neighbours, since their country was reduced in both stature and capability in its perennial rivalry with the regional big power, India.

General Musharraf is the fifth Pakistani head of government to visit Bangladesh, and his short break in Colombo on his way back from Dhaka, underscores the regional nature of this diplomatic exercise. Pakistani analysts acknowledge the value of these visits to Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts to strengthen its hand in its competition with India.

“Both countries are considered to be within the Indian sphere of influence, and a high-profile visit by a Pakistani president will not be liked by India,” says Khalid Mahmood, a Pakistani political scientist. Although Bangladesh’s foreign secretary says talks between President Musharraf and the Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia will focus on improving trade links, the strategic nature of relations is difficult to ignore.

Islamabad gave several squadrons of F-6 fighter aircraft as a gift to the Bangladeshi air force in the late 1980s although most of these were destroyed in a cyclonic storm which hit coastal Bangladesh in 1991.

Both Pakistan and Bangladesh are close allies of China and rely heavily on Chinese military equipment — they could be discussing further developing diplomatic and military collaboration.

Shared anxiety about Delhi’s regional policies... is unlikely to remove entirely the bitterness born of the 1971 war. For many Bangladeshis, the vexed question of whether they are Bengali-Muslims or Muslim-Bengalis remains unresolved, and debates over identity are almost as bitter now as they were three decades ago.

Influential sections of the Bangladeshi middle classes also hold Pakistan’s military responsible for the death and destruction caused in the nine-month long civil war in which, Bangladeshis say, three million people were killed. Pakistan rejects the figure as a highly exaggerated claim, saying atrocities were committed by both sides in 1971.

Estimates made in the early 1970s suggested that a third of Bangladesh’s then-$10 billion-economy was destroyed or damaged in the war although foreign assistance received since then would have, if partially, compensated for this.

But emotional scars heal less easily.

Some opposition groups say as a Pakistani soldier in 1971, General Musharraf took part in Pakistan’s violent response to Bangladesh’s nationalist aspirations.

Pakistani sources say General Musharraf commanded a Special Services commando unit in 1971 but was deployed in Pakistan rather than in Bangladesh. But these tensions may largely be allayed by President Musharraf’s first official engagement in Dhaka — a symbolic visit to the national martyrs’ memorial outside the capital.

Mahmud Ali, BBC, July 29, 2002,

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2158900.stm

President Regrets ’71 War Excesses: Trade Accords to be Signed Today

President Pervez Musharraf regretted on Monday the excesses committed during Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence, but called for burying the past in the spirit of friendship.

“Your brothers and sisters in Pakistan share the pains of the events of 1971. The excesses committed during the unfortunate period are regrettable,” President Musharraf wrote in the official visitors’ book after laying a wreath at the National Martyrs Memorial outside Dhaka, dedicated to those killed in the war.

“Let us bury the past in the spirit of magnanimity. Let not the light of the future be dimmed. Let us move forward together,” Musharraf said, adding that “courage to compromise is greater than to confront.”

President Musharraf, according to official BSS news agency, also spoke of the sincere greetings and good wishes he carried from the people of Pakistan for “their Bangladeshi brothers and sisters.”

“We wish this land and its people peace, progress and prosperity,” he said and expressed confidence that with “our joint resolve, the friendship between Pakistan and Bangladesh will flourish.”

Earlier on his arrival in Dhaka, President Pervez Musharraf blasted India for ‘vitiating’ regional security through its military deployment.

President Musharraf said he would talk to his Bangladeshi hosts about “the tension caused by the massive build-up on the border and ways to defuse it.” “This situation is vitiating peace and security in South Asia,” President Musharraf said in a statement on his arrival at Dhaka airport.

“I intend to brief Bangladesh’s president and prime minister on our initiative to defuse tension caused by the massive Indian military build-up on our border,” the president said. Musharraf said the main purpose of his three-day visit was to discuss ways of further strengthening relations between the two countries.

“The primary aim of the visit is to discuss with Bangladesh Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia ways and means to augment bilateral relations...as well as to hold consultations on global and regional issues,” he said.

Musharraf said Pakistan and Bangladesh enjoyed a close identity of views on matters of regional and international concern.

“Such consultations facilitate greater understanding and coordination between friendly neighbours like our two countries,” he said. During his visit, the president said, a number of agreements were expected to be signed. He expressed the hope that these would help further reinforce the fraternal relations between the two countries.

Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Shamser Mobin Chowdhury told AFP that official talks with President Musharraf would focus on trade and the economy, but also on the fate of 250,000 stateless Muslims in Bangladesh who claim Pakistani citizenship.

Officials in Dhaka said President Musharraf would meet business leaders and sign a number of agreements on economic cooperation during his visit. Bangladesh hopes to achieve duty-free access for some of its commodities into Pakistan and attract increased Pakistani investment through talks with President Musharraf.

Security was tight in the Bangladesh capital on Monday after students of Dhaka University, protesting against alleged police brutality on campus and the arrest of some residents last Wednesday night, fought battles with police.

The official talks between Pakistan and Bangladesh are scheduled to be held here Tuesday at the Prime Minister’s Office. These will be followed by the signing of agreements/ protocols.

The schedule of engagements of President Musharraf for Tuesday included meeting with representatives of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), and a dinner to be hosted by Prime Minister Khaleda Zia followed by a cultural show.

Dawn,  July 30, 2002,

http://www.dawn.com/2002/07/30/top2.htm

Bangladesh, Pakistan to Strive

for Stronger Relations

Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and visiting Pakistan President Musharraf Monday expressed the desire of the two countries to work together to build stronger relations between them.

Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and visiting Pakistan President Musharraf Monday expressed the desire of the two countries to work together to build stronger relations between them. Their identical opinion came when Khaleda Zia called on Pakistan president at his hotel suite.

“The talks between the two leaders were constructive,” Foreign Secretary Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury told newsmen after the talk between the two leaders ahead of Tuesday’s bilateral formal meeting.

The issue of further expansion of trade and commerce would figure prominently in the official talks, Mobin said.

Earlier, the visiting Pakistan president made a courtesy call on acting President Jamiruddin Sircar at the President House, according to the official Bangladesh News Agency.

The acting president stressed the need for further expansion of cooperation between the two countries in the areas of culture, education, science and technology.

He underscored the need for making best efforts to make the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation into a vibrant regional organization.

Sircar expressed satisfaction at the reduction of tension between Pakistan and India, saying that peace and stability are extremely important for ensuring socio-economic development in the region.

President Pervez Musharraf said that both countries can cooperate for eliminating poverty, ensuring economic development and improving the quality of life of their people. He hoped that the existing bilateral cooperation would be further expanded and diversified.

People’s Daily, July 30, 2002,

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200207/30/eng20020730_100574.shtmll

Pakistan, BD Sign Three Accords

Pakistan and Bangladesh on Tuesday signed three agreements to promote cooperation in the fields of foreign affairs, culture and education and trade and industrial sectors. The agreements were signed after talks between President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Khalida Zia. The first protocol on bilateral consultations between the ministries of foreign affairs of the two countries aims at further enhancing and strengthening of friendly cooperative relations and to increase bilateral cooperation in mutually agreed fields.

Under the protocol, the foreign secretaries of the two countries shall hold regular consultations on an annual basis alternately in Dhaka and Islamabad. They will exchange views on bilateral matters and on regional and international issues of mutual interest. The protocol says the two countries shall inform each other on key aspects of their internal and external policies and their positions on major international issues and shall continue the practice of consultations in international organisations and other international fora.

The protocol was signed by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Inamul Haq and Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister Morshed Khan. The second agreement deals with promotion of scientific, educational and cultural relations between the two countries. It provides for award of scholarships, admission of students to educational institutions on self-financing basis on reciprocal basis, establishment of relations between universities, exchange of recorded radio and television programmes, establishment of bureau offices of news agencies of the two countries in each other’s capital, exchange of troupes, exhibitions of folk arts and crafts, holding of film weeks and exchange of visits of official delegations.

President of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry Iftikhar Ali Malik and his Bangladeshi counterpart Yussuf Abdullah Haroon also signed a MoU for the establishment of a joint business council. President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Khalida Zia witnessed the signing ceremony. Pakistan has offered Bangladesh duty-free access for a number of goods to strengthen relations. “Pakistan will allow duty-free access of Bangladeshi jute and 10,000 tonnes of tea annually to boost bilateral trade,” Bangladesh Foreign Minister Morshed Khan told reporters after talks between President Musharraf and Prime Minister Khaleda Zia.

Replying to questions, he said the talks would continue on Wednesday with both leaders determined to resolve all contentious issues including repatriation of stranded Pakistanis. “We want to resolve all issues during this visit so that they do not mar the future relations.” Morshed said that terrorism was enemy of mankind and both the countries agreed that killing of innocent people must stop. Bangladesh was determined to fight terrorism and condemn it wherever it might occur, he added.

Responding to a question on Kashmir, the foreign minister said both Pakistan and India should work together to find out a viable solution to the problem. “Bangladesh is concerned on situation arising out of Kashmir dispute but we cannot mediate unless both parties asks us to do so,” he said. About repatriation of stranded Pakistanis, he said that they should have access to their own land. Quoting the tripartite agreement signed on April 9, 1974, between India, Pakistan and Bangladesh in which the government of Bangladesh said let us forget whatever happened, he said the people of Bangladesh had started to forget it. He recalled that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto at that time also made a passionate appeal to the Bangladeshi people to forgive and forget the events of 1971.

President Musharraf and Prime Minister Khaleda held wide-ranging talks on the expansion of bilateral relations, regional and international issues. They covered a lot of ground to give a boost to Pakistan-Bangladesh relations in political, economic, trade, cultural and educational fields. Matters relating to SAARC also came under discussion. President Musharraf briefed the Bangladesh leader about Pakistan’s initiatives to defuse tension in the wake of massive deployment of troops along the borders and the Line of Control. He said tension in the region could not be removed without a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute in line with the U.N. resolutions and the wishes of Kashmiris.

Musharraf said Pakistan was keen to normalise relations with India, which was only possible through resolution of the core issue. That, he said, would benefit not only the peoples of the two countries but also have a sound effect on peace and security of South Asia. Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, stressing the need for peace and security in the region, emphasised that all regional and international issues should be resolved through a dialogue. She appreciated Pakistan’s firm commitment to the cause of peace and security.

She shared Pakistan’s keenness to further improve relations with her country and said there is a lot of scope to achieve the objective. At the talks, President Musharraf was assisted by federal ministers Abdul Razzak Dawood, Nisar Memon, Shahida Jamil and Minister of State Inamul Haq. On the side of the Bangladesh prime minister were External Affairs Minister Murshed Khan, Finance Minister Saifur Rahman and Minister for Local Government Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan.

In the visitors’ book at the Prime Minister’s Office, the president wrote: “I and my delegation have been shown extreme warmth and hospitality. I have an extensive exchange of views with the Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, concerning all international, regional and bilateral issues. I am fully convinced that the foundation of Pakistan-Bangladesh relations is extremely bright.”

Prime Minister Khaleda Zia thanked Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf for his candid expression on the event of 1971. “These will, no doubt, help to mitigate old wounds. We would like to look forward to work together as brothers based on the bright prosperity of tomorrow,” she observed in her address during dinner hosted for President Musharraf. She said Bangladesh and Pakistan had been working closely both bilaterally and in the international arena. “There are many issues of common concern that confront our two developing countries and call for collective approach,” she said.

President Pervez Musharraf said that he would be concluding his three-day official visit of Bangladesh on Wednesday, adding: “I leave with confidence that we have laid foundation of a new spirit of this cooperation to move in a dynamic manner.” He observed this while concluding the session of inter-action with traders and businessmen of Bangladesh at a local hotel. The president said: “I look forward to a better future.”

He said the two peoples had some bitter memories of the past. He advised that instead of living in the past, it was proper to move forward, based on the feelings and aspirations of the people in tune with their efforts to develop and prosper. He reiterated that it needed more courage to compromise and reconcile than to confront. He said that he felt satisfied and confident that “we find there is a common desire among the peoples and leadership of the two countries that we need to go closer.” “I find cordial and warm feelings for each other,” he stated.

He hoped the private sector would play its part in bringing the two peoples even closer, in the wake of new spirit of cooperation in the field of trade and commerce. He said businessmen of the two countries must avail all opportunities to enhance this inter-action to the benefit of the two countries. Musharraf invited investors from Bangladesh to invest in Pakistan as the present government had formed regulations to ensure an investment-friendly environment. He also asked Pakistani businessmen to invest in Bangladesh.

The gathering was also attended by Commerce Minister of Bangladesh Amir Khusro Chawdhry and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Reazur Rahman, and president of the Bangladesh federation of chamber of commerce and industry Yussuf Abdullah Haroon. Federal Commerce Minister Abdul Razzak Dawood and president of the federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry Iftikhar Ali Malik were also present.

Before his talks with Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, President Musharraf gave assurance to a seven-member delegation of SPGRC that he would leave no stone unturned for amicable solution of the issue of stranded Pakistanis. “President Musharraf has assured us that he will do everything possible to redress the 31 years long ordeal of stranded Pakistanis, languishing in 66 camps all over Bangladesh,” said the patron-in-chief, Alhaj M. Nasim Khan, after meeting Musharraf.

He said that during their very productive meeting with General Musharraf, they proposed a trilateral conference between the governments of both the countries and SPGRC to find ways and means for the amicable and acceptable solution of the Bihari issue. He said he and his delegation were satisfied and hopeful with the outcome of the meeting. They were sure the two leaders would pick up the issue. Musharraf told them, “It is Pakistan’s moral obligation to address the plight of stranded Pakistanis. I’ll do something for you.”

The News, July 31, 2002,

 http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/jul2002-daily/31-07-2002/main/main1.htm

BD Welcomes Pakistan’s Regret

Over 1971 War

Bangladesh on Tuesday welcomed President Pervez Musharraf’s statement of regret over ‘excesses’ in the 1971 independence war. “We welcome what President Musharraf wrote in Savar and (said) at the banquet last night,” Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Morshed Khan told reporters. “We don’t want to embarrass a guest by discussing issues like an apology for the 1971 war situation. It is the spirit of the people of the two countries that will decide that,” he added. Left-wing groups and some members of Bangladesh’s Awami League had been pushing for a formal apology by Musharraf and compensation over the war. Musharraf said at a state banquet in his honour late on Monday: “I wish to express to the Bangladeshi people sincere regrets for the tragic events, which have left deep wounds on both our nations.”

The News, July 31, 2002,

 http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/jul2002-daily/31-07-2002/main/main1.htm

Musharraf, Khalida Zia Discuss

Regional Issues

President Pervez Musharraf and Bangladesh Prime Minister Khalida Zia held wide-ranging talks on the expansion of bilateral relations, regional and international issues in Dhaka Tuesday, state-run media said.                                       

The two leaders covered a lot of ground to give a boost to Pakistan-Bangladesh relations in political, economic, trade, cultural and educational fields, radio Pakistan said. The talks held in a cordial and candid manner and continued for about ninety minutes.                                                 

President Pervez Musharraf brifed the Bangladesh leader about Pakistan’s initiatives to defuse tension in the wake of her massive deployment of troops along the borders and the Line of Control.      

He said tension in the region cannot be removed without a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute in line with the U.N. resolutions and the wishes of Kashmiris. General Pervez Musharraf said Pakistan is keen to normalize its relations with India that is only possible through resolution of the core issue of Kashmir.                                               

This, he said, will benefit not only the peoples of the two countries but also have a sound effect on peace and security of South Asia.                                                                 

The Bangladesh Prime Minister stressing the need for peace and security in the region, emphasized that all regional and international issues should be resolved through a dialogue. She appreciated Pakistan’s firm commitment to the cause of peace and security. She shared Pakistan’s keenness to further improve relations with her country and said there is a lot of scope to achieve the objective.

IRNA, July 30, 2002, http://www.irna.com/en/world/020730164816.ewo.shtmll

Welcoming President Musharraf

The President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf, is visiting Bangladesh and this visit is viewed as an important one by the government and policy planners in Bangladesh. Pakistanis are no newcomers in Bangladesh. Bangladesh shares a history with Pakistan. In international relations, there is nothing called permanent friends or permanent enemies. The United States won its independence from the present day United Kingdom (UK) through a military struggle. But this has not stood in the way of development later of excellent fruitful relations between the USA and the UK. Bangladesh-Pakistan relations can similarly realise their potentials through a process of give and take and forgive and forget. President Musharraf soon after his arrival flew from the airport to the Savar Martyrs’ Monument to pay his respects to the martyred heroes of independence war. This in itself is amply reflective of the changed perspective in Pakistan about the liberation struggle. The Pakistani President is also expected to discuss among others the long lingering problems of repatriation of stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh to Pakistan. Main focus of discussion is likely to be on trade.

The entourage of the Pakistani President includes top representatives of his country’s business. This is an opportunity on the part of Bangladesh to impress them about the investment fields in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is especially keen to set up backward and forward linkage industries for its garments sector. Joint ventures with Pakistan in this area can be especially fruitful. Similar ventures are possible in the areas of fruit processing and agro-industries. Pakistan has developed considerable capacities in these fields and their investments in these areas can lend a stimulus to these thrust areas of the Bangladesh economy. Bangladesh used to have a good regular market for some of its products in Pakistan — such as jute, tea and betel nut — which it may try to revive. Besides, there are other new exportable products for the Pakistani market. Prior to the visit, Pakistan’s ambassador to Bangladesh stressed that his country is looking forward to the unlimited and duty free entry to Pakistani markets of a wide range of products from Bangladesh. This offer should be cemented during the Pakistani President’s visit and utilised well at a time when Bangladesh’s overall export performance has remained under stresses for some time.

Pakistan is regarded in the South Asia region as an emerging power due to its progress in science, technology and defence industries. Bangladesh needs to forge closer relations with Pakistan in these fields for getting the benefits of the same.

The New Nation, Editorial, July 30, 2002,

http://www.nation-online.com/200207/30/n2073002.htm#BODY1

No Deal on Repatriation of

Stranded Pakistanis

Islamabad has said it cannot take back stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh now but will put ‘more focus’ on their repatriation once it takes care of some three million Afghan refugees displaced by years of civil war and the U.S. war on terrorism.

The visiting Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, however, assured Prime Minister Khaleda Zia that as they (stranded Pakistanis) have opted for and are citizens of Pakistan, they will be taken back. There was also no agreement on division of assets and liabilities to the tune $4.5 billion at the nearly one-and-a-half-hour official talks between Dhaka and Islamabad at the International Conference Centre (ICC) yesterday.

“Discussion (on all outstanding issues) is still on and will continue till President Musharraf’s departure,” Foreign Minister M. Morshed Khan told newsmen at a press briefing at Sonargaon Hotel after the talks. “All issues will be taken up. You cannot have contentious issues unresolved with a friend,” he said.

Pakistan has, meanwhile, agreed to grant duty-free access to 10,000 tonnes of tea every year plus duty- and quota-free access to jute from Bangladesh. Dhaka and Islamabad have also signed two memoranda of understanding on enhanced cultural cooperation to ensure more people-to-people contact and on cooperation in information technology.

The meeting also decided that the moribund joint economic commission would be rejuvenated and would meet regularly to broaden areas of cooperation and reduce trade deficit between the two countries that has shot up to nearly $60 million in Pakistan’s favour. A protocol on annual consultative meeting at the foreign secretary level was also agreed on. “We have made a lot of progress and continue to break new grounds in bilateral cooperation,” Morshed Khan told the press.

The foreign minister also said Pakistan had made no request to Dhaka to play the mediator on the Kashmir issue. “No, we have not been requested (by Pakistan) to mediate the Kashmir issue. Bangladesh has never tried to meditate the Kashmir issue,” he said. “We do not want to get involved in violation of the SAARC charter and the Pakistan president knows about the charter. Bilateral issues should be resolved bilaterally. We feel that both sides should enter into effective negotiations. Peace in the region has become a precondition to the success of the SAARC. If there is a fire in the neighbourhood, we would be concerned but cannot get involved in a bilateral conflict.”

On the question of Pakistan’s apology, the foreign minister referred to what President Musharraf had written in the condolence book at the Savar National Memorial and said later in his speech at Monday’s Bangabhaban banquet.

Morshed Khan also read out relevant articles from a tripartite agreement signed by Bangladesh, India and Pakistan on April 9, 1974. “In the agreement then Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman forgave Pakistan for the wartime crimes. Also, through that agreement he invited then Pakistan Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. Later, he granted clemency to 195 war criminals at the request of late Mr Bhutto. “We do want to embarrass a guest by discussing issues like apology for the 1971 war. It is the spirit of the people of the two countries that will decide the issue.”

When asked for a comment on the Awami League decision to call off a meeting with Musharraf, the foreign minister said, “We are all in politics. The former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had a 45-minute meeting with Musharraf in Cairo. Many Awami leaders and governments have met Pakistani leaders, and there is nothing new about meeting him now.”

The Awami League government also sent a letter of invitation to Musharraf through Shafi Sami to visit Bangladesh, he added.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Reaz Rahman, Foreign Secretary Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury, High Commissioner to Pakistan Alimul Haq, DG of External Publicity Zahirul Haq and DG of South Asia Desk Mahmud Hasan were also at the briefing.

Earlier, in her post-meeting reaction at the ICC, Khaleda termed the official talks with the Pakistan President ‘very successful.’

Musharraf told the press he was fully convinced that the “future of Pakistan and Bangladesh relations is extremely bright.” “I had an exchange of views with Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia covering all international, regional and bilateral issues,” he said.

Finance Minister M. Saifur Rahman, LGRD Minister Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, Foreign Minister M. Morshed Khan, Commerce Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury and other officials were present at the official talks from Bangladesh side. The four visiting ministers and other delegation members were present at the talks from Pakistan side.

The Daily Star, July 31, 2002,

http://www.dailystarnews.com/200207/31/n2073101.htm

Looking in the Rear View Mirror?

Or Sheer Arrogance?

“The problem is that if you keep on looking in the rear view mirror when you are driving a car, you might probably end up in a crash, so this syndrome should be avoided, and these issues should not be re-opened.”

These are the words spoken by the Pakistani High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Mr. Iqbal Ahmad Khan just before Pakistani ‘democratic’ military dictator flew to once the brutally occupied East Pakistan. My and many other Bangladeshi’s timely question to Mr. Khan would be, what’s the purpose of rear view mirror then? Should we take out all the rear view mirrors from every automobiles of our world, so that any drivers never dare to look back, from time to time, to give him or her better direction in controlling speed while driving in a slow or super fast highway?

Mr. Ahmad, humbly, I may say, that you do not make any sense at all. Rear View Mirror is a very useful tool for the drivers, though you, and many of your countrymen wearing military uniforms, may not acknowledge its usefulness, selectively applying its supposed follies on the case of simple apology for Pakistani Military’s plunder and blunder of killing millions of innocent Bangladeshi civilians in those sheer arrogance filled days and nights of 1971.

Mr. Khan purposefully invoked ‘rear view mirror’ to symbolize still anguished millions of Bangladeshis who cannot and will not forget the pain and sufferings from the blood, rape, genocides of their fellow countrymen and women in those gruesome nine months of civil war between the two warring states. Painful History like 1971 cannot be brushed aside with invoking the silly example of ‘rear view mirror.’

And Mr. Pervez Musharraf, the current Pakistani chief, after arriving in Bangladesh, walking on the lavished red-carpet, taking honorary salute from Bangladeshi soldiers, have written his comments in visitors book at a memorial for the war dead near Dhaka, “Your brothers and sisters in Pakistan share the pains of the events of 1971. The excesses committed during the unfortunate period are regrettable.”

It is good that Mr. Musharraf has laid wreath for Bangladeshi war victims upon his arrival in Dhaka. And agreed that most Pakistanis are decent people like Bangladeshis, most of them have nothing to do with their ex-military governments’ cannibalistic thrusts in 1971. However, Pakistan is still an existing functionally independent nation that is responsible for its each past government’s shameful activities that includes 1971. If Pope John Paul II can apologize for Catholic Church’s disgraceful vengeance and silent collusion with various forms of fascism in twentieth and bygone centuries, why can’t Pakistani government, who supposedly follow the peaceful religion of Islam, pursue the same gracious lead?

There is no shame in an honest respectful apology. When Pervez Musharraf was able to utter the ‘excesses’ qualifying the horrendous brutality committed by his colleagues during 1971 savagery in all over Bangladesh, and telling us that our Pakistani brothers and sisters share our pains, then why not going a little further of pronouncing the long awaited apology? Why is there the continuing cat and mouse game?

The whole world knows Pakistani brutal oppressions against the Bangladeshis thirty-one years ago in those ravaged days, then why is there subtlety and sidestepping the issue of asking for mercy and forgiveness from their Bangladeshi brothers and sisters, those they oppressed, in clear language?

And with the long deserved apology, Bangladesh has been asking to resolve old bilateral issues between these two great nations of South Asia. Hundreds of thousands of Bihari refugees are still stranded in shanty homes in Bangladesh, waiting for the past three decades for the kind recognition from their Pakistani government to whom they have bestowed allegiance during and after the liberation war. How many decades or centuries they have to be ignored to trash their justified claim into null and void?

There are considerable assertions in various segments of Bangladesh that Pakistan should show its gracefulness by putting into trial the war criminals of 1971 who are still having the heavenly time of their earthly life in Pakistan. Though it is unfortunate that all the past and present Bangladesh governments have dishonourably failed to try its own war criminals, and many of these criminals are happily roaming around in Bangladeshi high level political, military and social stratums for the past three decades, probably, it would be quite impossible for Mr. Pervez Musharraf to acquiesce with this claim from their Bangladeshi brethren, however, a simple straightforward apology from the Pakistani head of state could make the tense bilateral relations a bit more bearable for everyone.

And there are old economic factors to be considered. Bangladesh have long been asking Pakistan to repay about five billion dollar that it owes from the equal share of gold and foreign reserves in Pakistani central bank before 1971. And there are other commonly owned assets between these splitting nations that Bangladesh has asked a fare share based on equitable distribution. These are valid demands those need to be resolved with bilateral discussions and negotiations.

Though Mr. Pervez Musharraf is not democratically elected in Pakistan, still he is representing his people and nation. Bangladeshi present government must do its share in showing state level honour and respect to this Pakistani head of state; however, Bangladeshi general people’s demands of Pakistani apology, resolving bilateral economic and Bihari refugee issues should not be colorized as partisan topic. Bangladesh is not owned by BNP/Jamaat or Awami League parties or its leaders or armed cadres. It is the people who have the ultimate say what their state should do or not to do. And unconditional and clear apology by the Pakistani chief should be the building block of a mutually trustworthy healthy relationship between Bangladesh and Pakistan.

The deeply buried agony, salted tears pouring from the widows and the ravaged sisters’ mourning eyes, orphans, wounded freedom fighters of 1971, are still visible and the memories of those darkened days are vivid in many of Bangladeshis haunted mind. Trying to overlook our common past, erasing the history with sweetened talks of ‘rear view mirror’ types of silly proclamation, will always leave the un-erasable residues of anguish in the present and future generations to come.

Mahbubul Karim Sohel, News From Bangladesh, July 31, 2002,

http://www.bangladesh-web.com/news/jul/31/f31072002.htm#A2

Words of Regret

President General Pervez Musharraf has done well to express regrets over the excesses against the people of Bangladesh — then East Pakistanis — that were committed during the war of 1971. Such an expression of sorrow by a Pakistani leader and more appropriately by an army chief was long overdue, and though late is most welcome. The happenings of 1971 were the most catastrophic that united Pakistan experienced and proved traumatic for the people of both the wings, more so that of the eastern part. The birth of Bangladesh and the resultant break-up of Pakistan was achieved in the proverbial circumstances of sacrifice, blood and sorrow. Fortunately, the people of both the states have managed to overcome the bitterness of the past and tread a path of reconciliation. It was a brave decision and was possible in part only because of their earlier close relations.

Pakistan’s regrets should act as a salve to heal the wounds caused by the tragedy of 1971. The people of Bangladesh have displayed an immense ability to forget the past and live in friendship. But in appreciating this gesture by the President of Pakistan, it is hoped that similar sentiments of regret will also be voiced over the suffering of the people who were not Bengalis in the then East Pakistan during and after 1971. In the heat of the moment much happens that later in the clear light of the day appears tragic. It is this remorse that helps to bridge what is believed to be unbridgeable.

Bangladesh and Pakistan, as members of the South Asian region situated on its opposite sides, are destined to play an important role in an area across which extends the shadow of a state with pretensions of regional primacy. Both share much in common in terms of faith, history, size, economy and a commonly shared worldview and an obvious inability to accept the eminence of local pretender. It is not only Bangladesh and Pakistan that follow an independent course but also the other members of the SAARC, the pressure and bluster of India, notwithstanding. It was Dhaka which first floated the idea of SAARC and followed it to fruition, and even today uses its influence to keep the Association going. The SAARC may not have reached the heights it was intended to, but it has helped to create a sense of equality among all the members, which otherwise would not have been possible. However, both the states need to strengthen their political bonds for their own well being and that of the various SAARC states to face up to the new dangers that are threatening the region.

The News, Editorial, July 31, 2002,

 http://www.jang-group.com/thenews/index.html

SAARC Should Promote Regional Peace

The visit of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf took place at a time when the sub-continent is in the grip of a crisis. Bangladesh favours de-escalation, and the resumption of a peaceful dialogue, to avert the threat of war that could turn nuclear. While maintaining a discreet attitude of avoiding involvement in Indo-Pakistan issues, Bangladesh has attained the high moral ground by favouring a dialogue, and underlining the need for finding a peaceful settlement of the festering Kashmir dispute.

Bangladesh and Pakistan share common perceptions and interests on significant aspects of bilateral, regional and global issue. These provide basis for close and friendly relations. Common history, geography and a shared culture make it imperative for them to cooperate for mutual benefit and to work together to promote regional peace and stability in South Asia.

The people living in the two countries share a long history during which Islam entered the sub-continent from the west, by sea and by land, spreading westwards. After colonization by the British, which spread from the east to the west. Over the 18th and 19th centuries, the Muslim populations concentrated in the two extremities of the peninsula and became partners in the struggle to safeguard their rights. The two countries’ foreign policy objectives include safeguarding of national security, betterment of the life of their people through economic development, promotion of peace and stability in their region and the world, and advancing their national ideology. The two countries have adopted the path of non-alignment, but at the same time are wedded to the concept of progress through international cooperation. This extends from the regional level, through the SAARC, to the expanding spheres of commonalties in the Islamic context through the Organization of Islamic Conference, and the worldwide group of developing countries, to face the challenges of globalization.

Bangla-Pak interaction since the emergence of Bangladesh has passed through several phases. In particular, the respective political evolution in the two countries after 1971 has influenced their relations. One of the main accomplishments of President Ziaur Rahman was to launch Bangladesh on an independent path and to establish linkages more in harmony with the history and ideology of its people. He developed closer links with Islamic countries including Pakistan, as well as with the major powers ranging from the United States of America and Europe to China. His most important contribution was the initiative he took in 1980 to launch the concept of SAARC, for which he was able to win the support of the leaders of both India and Pakistan. Bangladesh-Pakistan relations have acquired a momentum. Trade and various forms of cooperation have developed. Friendly relations reflect the basic interests. The position of Bangladesh as the third largest country in South Asia makes it an important neighbour of Pakistan.

Their links of common faith and history and similarity of perceptions on a wide range of regional and international issues provide basis of a cordial and mutually beneficial relationship. This friendship is not only a source of strength to them, but is also a factor of stability in the region. Significant all-round cooperation has developed between them in the context of such multilateral bodies as SAARC, OIC, NAM, D-8 and the United Nations and its specialized agencies. They have also benefited from each other’s experience in tackling similar issues, such as family planning, and rural micro-credit.

Bangladesh and Pakistan have taken similar stands on terrorism. Both are equally strongly opposed to this menace. They condemn it unreservedly and fully support the U.S.-led fight against terrorism. They were among the first few states to permit multinational forces to use their airspace, seaports, airports, as well as refuelling facilities to combat terrorism. Dhaka has won due acknowledgement from the international community for its strong stand on combating terrorism.

The visit of President Musharraf has further consolidated the friendly relations existing between the two countries. Apart from increasing bilateral cooperation in various fields, special attention would doubtless be given to developing regional cooperation in the framework of SAARC. Bangladesh has a special interest in the revival of its activities as the group was formed at its initiative. South Asia was a late starter in developing regional cooperation, a trend that has served to promote peace and progress in many parts of the world. The European Community emerged in 1957. The ASEAN was founded in 1967. It was not till 1980 that President Ziaur Rahman launched the initiative to promote multilateral cooperation among the seven states of the sub-continent.

The Charter of the organization incorporated the two conditions on which India has insisted at the preparatory stage, namely that all decisions would be taken on the basis of consensus of all members, and that contentious political issues would be excluded. It was decided to hold annual summit meetings by rotation in the capitals of the member states. Specific area of cooperation were decided, to which additions were made in subsequent summits.

It is undoubtedly endorsed by all that the onus for making a success of any such regional organization mainly lies with the largest constituent. It was essentially on account of Indonesia, which respected the principle of sovereign equality in the context of the ASEAN that South East Asia was able to take off. Similarly in Europe, the policies of Germany and France did not create any undue concern among their smaller neighbours. Regrettably, in the context of SAARC this has not happened, thereby leading to mistrust and suspicion. The asymmetrical nature of SAARC and the existence of disputes, for which no resolution mechanism exists, have hampered the growth of South Asia’s premier regional organization, the SAARC.

It is clear from the experience of other regional groupings, that there has to be a readiness to resolve disputes among members in a spirit of accommodation, paying due regard to principles and obligations under the U.N. Charter, to which all members of the U.N. subscribe. In certain quarters there is a feeling that the exclusion of contentious issues harms the prospects of SAARC. Regional cooperation and integration of the type achieved by the European Union and ASEAN are facilitated by the solution of political problems. SAARC had set up an eminent person’s group to come up with ideas on how the organization could be made more effective. Their report has not been given due attention so far, but the opportunities that SAARC provides for informal discussion of bilateral and regional issues need to be availed, in a world transformed by the terrorist attacks of 11 September.

Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, The Independent, August 1, 2002,

http://www.independent-bangladesh.com/news/aug/01/01082002pd.htm#A4

Musharraf’s Dhaka Visit

Proves Successful

Amid loud but not so effective protests by a section of the opposition, President Pervez Musharraf’s three-day state visit to Bangladesh went off well. While the Awami League’s call, through its student front Bangladesh Chhatra League, for a dawn-to-dusk strike in Dhaka on Tuesday to protest the visit caused some tension, it did not do any harm.

It was the first visit by a SAARC head of state and government to Dhaka since the Oct 1 general election that swept the BNP into power with overwhelming majority in parliament. Although the visit may not have achieved everything that was intended, it should be considered highly successful in the sense that it would boost bilateral relations, ostensibly putting the past baggage behind and establishing a forward-looking policy.

The dinner hosted by Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia on Tuesday for President Musharraf also witnessed accommodation from both sides. The president said: “My brothers and sisters in Pakistan share with their fellow brothers and sisters in Bangladesh profound grief over the parameters of events of 1971. We feel sorry for this tragedy and the pain it caused to both our peoples.”

As he finished, Khaleda Zia responded: “Thank you, Mr President, for your candid expression on the events of 1971. This will, no doubt, help mitigate the old wounds.” She said further: “We are deeply committed to promoting and further strengthening the existing bonds of friendship between the two countries. Our relations have reached a high level of maturity. Therefore, we can together look confidently into the future.”

President Musharraf, soon after his arrival on Monday, visited the national mausoleum at Savar to pay tribute to the martyrs of the war of independence and regretted the excesses committed during the 1971 war.

A good beginning has been made by President Musharraf by offering duty and tariff-free entry of raw jute and up to 10,000 metric tons of tea into Pakistan, which should go to an extent to narrow the trade balance favourable to Pakistan.

Officially, the visit was being treated as an occasion to discuss and promote bilateral trade and investment, as well as cultural and technical exchanges. The signing of two agreements on cultural exchange programme and science and technology exchange programme and a MoU between top trade bodies of the two countries to set up a business council will surely put the two country’s relationship on a firm footing. From this point, the visit should be considered a successful one.

However, the last-minute decision of the main opposition Awami League to cancel a scheduled meeting with the visiting dignitary left a bad taste in the mouth. The meeting was arranged at the formal request from the AL leaders.

Former state minister for foreign affairs and AL international affairs secretary Abul Hasan Chowdhury who had requested for the meeting was visibly upset at the party’s stand. In a statement he described it as a “cavalier disdain for established protocol norms and reflects muddled and immature thinking.”

Meanwhile, the print media has also highlighted the positive aspect of the visit. For example, The Financial Express, Dhaka’s lone business daily, in a front-page story reported that trade and industry circles in Dhaka had welcomed the gesture by the Pakistan President to allow duty-free entry of raw jute and tea into Pakistan from Bangladesh. It described it as a sharp contrast to India’s dilly-dallying tactics to grant similar facilities to Bangladeshi goods notwithstanding several promises made by the Indian leaders to do so.

It did not escape the newspaper’s notice that while Pakistan enjoys a trade surplus of about $60 million annually with Bangladesh, India’s annual trade surplus with Bangladesh stands at over $1 billion. In addition, India’s informal exports to this country, a euphemism for smuggling, amounts to over $2.5 billion each year.

The influential business daily also wrote an editorial on the visit. It says: “Expansion and consolidation of bilateral friendship and understanding between Bangladesh and Pakistan on the basis of sovereign equality and mutuality of interests can be a positive factor for deriving maximum benefits from cooperation and collaboration, particularly in economic spheres.”

The official talks between the two sides discussed the whole gamut of issues, including some outstanding ones, such as division of assets and liabilities, repatriation of nearly quarter million of Biharis who still consider them ‘stranded Pakistanis,’ were discussed. Pakistan’s explanation was that the issue could be addressed when the problem of three million Afghan refugees now living in Pakistan would be resolved. It was accepted in good grace.

Bangladesh Foreign Minister M. Morshed Khan has been very careful to answer questions while briefing the media. Asked if Kashmir was discussed, he clearly stated that the Pakistan President mentioned it and Bangladesh renewed its position for de-escalation of tensions at the earliest along the Indo-Pakistan border and peaceful settlement of the dispute bilaterally by India and Pakistan.

Sayed Kamaluddin, Dawn, August 1, 2002,

http://www.dawn.com/2002/08/01/fea.htm#1

Ties with Bangladesh

Pakistan and Bangladesh now look set for closer political and economic cooperation. Apart from the three agreements signed — one of them between the trade chambers — the two governments have pledged to cooperate closely in regional and world affairs. The protocol on bilateral consultations provides for ‘regular consultations’ between the two countries.

Significantly, it lays down that Islamabad and Dhaka will inform each other ‘on key aspects’ of their internal and external policies and their positions on major international issues. Besides, there will be consultations in international organizations and forums.

The signing of the protocol followed ‘wide-ranging talks’ between President Musharraf and Prime Minister Khaleda Zia on regional and international issues. While the president informed the Bangladesh chief executive about Pakistan’s efforts to defuse the situation arising from India’s deployment of its troops along the border, Begum Zia called for a solution of all disputes through dialogue. Its significance lies mainly in the context of Indian policy towards Pakistan. Since last December, when it deployed its troops in a threatening posture along the Line of Control and the international border, India has rejected dialogue as a means of resolving problems and differences.

The international community, led by the U.S., has made every effort to get a dialogue between the two nuclear neighbours started. But New Delhi has cold-shouldered all such efforts by refusing to talk to Islamabad — except on its own terms and at a time of its own choosing. On Tuesday, it rejected a call by ASEAN leaders for a dialogue with Pakistan.

Pakistan and Bangladesh have also signed an agreement that provides for cooperation on a wide range of economic, technological and cultural issues. The heads of the two chambers of commerce and industry also signed an agreement for setting up a joint council. Pakistan has also agreed to import duty-free raw jute from Bangladesh, besides up to 10,000 tons of tea annually on similar terms.

The volume of trade between the two countries is very low — only 160 million dollars a year. But given the resources the two countries possess, and the fact that their economies are complement to an extent, there is enormous scope for increasing the volume of trade. The September 11 tragedy has also adversely affected the patterns of foreign trade of both Pakistan and Bangladesh, with the latter’s ready-made garment exports to the U.S. going down by 40 per cent. There is, thus, need for both to diversify their trade.

Given the fact that SAARC is a non-starter because of India’s wholly negative attitude towards its neighbours, Pakistan is doing the right thing by strengthening bilateral trade relations with other SAARC members. The other day, Islamabad and Colombo signed an agreement that seeks to eliminate all existing duties within three years. This will lead to free bilateral trade between the two countries by year 2005. The trade and cultural agreement with Bangladesh falls in the same category and should serve to promote the cause of regional cooperation and amity.

Dawn, Editorial, August 1, 2002,

http://www.dawn.com/2002/08/01/ed.htm#1

Polls No Substitute for

Plebiscite: President (Excerpts)

Answering a question about SAARC, the president underlined the need for making the regional grouping effective. This organization, he said, should be a factor of harmony, capable of addressing and resolving problems among members directly, instead of looking for interlocutors, facilitators or mediator. “Its future depends on Pakistan-Indian relations,” he stated.

About Pakistan-India relations, the president stressed the need for holding of dialogues to resolve all the outstanding issues, including the Kashmir dispute.

To a question the president said that Pakistan and Bangladesh had agreed that peace and stability were essential pre-conditions to usher in an era of sustained economic development and increased prosperity in South Asia.

About the main achievement of his official visit to Bangladesh, he said: “I now find a strong desire, will and resolve to move forward — that feeling and desire which both sides demonstrated is a major achievement.”

The president said his visit was aimed at promoting Pakistan-Bangladesh relations. The two sides, he stated, had agreed that the contents of their relations particularly economic and cultural should correspond to the immense goodwill existing between the two countries.

To a question on assets, the president reminded that it was a sensitive issue. During the past 31 years, studies had been made on the matter in Bangladesh and Pakistan and the respective conclusions were at variance, he pointed out.

He said if people here talk of assets, the people in Pakistan would talk of liabilities and investments made by Pakistanis and referred to Karnafuli Paper Mill and Adamjee Jute Mill.

About stranded Pakistanis, the president said by now first or second generation have come in, may be, their perception is different from those of their forefathers. He, however, said we need to sit together and try to resolve the matter in a real manner.

Dawn, August 1, 2002,

 http://www.dawn.com/2002/08/01/top2.htm

Warming up to BD

General Musharraf’s expression of ‘regrets,’ about the ‘sad events’ of 1971 may be seen by many as too little, too late. Though ZAB and Mujibur Rahman had broken the ice in 1974 yet both lost their lives subsequently in military coups nullifying the initial gains. However, the latest gesture was a wise move considering that Zia kept on beguiling BD and the ‘Biharis’ till he died. The civilian governments of the 90s were too scared of the army to address the issue fairly as the atrocities and the ignominious surrender leading to the break-up of Pakistan was the consequence of the shenanigans of the junta hell bent on discharging, as Yahya Khan claimed, a “legal and constitutional responsibility — to save it (the country) from internal disorder and chaos.” Ayub’s constitution, custom-made for himself, did not provide for C-in-C to have such pretensions. However, Yahya Khan, like Musharraf, was financially not corrupt. Despite this strength, the former finally proved to be a power-hungry sinner. As Zia’s chicanery dictated ducking the ethical problem, the conscience of the civilians also remained dormant taking a leaf from the dictator’s book of morals. If we claim to be Muslims, the atrocities should have been avoided when the inevitability of the break-up, reinforced by the damning prospect of a permanent military rule initially under Yahya, became clear. We should have parted company with good grace and taught a lesson to the Indian forces in the Eastern theatre. Unfortunately we lost our national honour as well as the Eastern wing with the surrender and we appear to be impervious to learning even from such a catastrophe as is sadly projected by our current predicament brewing like the plot of a Greek tragedy.

In retrospect it appears that the break-up was prompted by the divergence of cultures and ethos. The Bengali Muslim was educated, poor and politically conscious. Accordingly, the Muslim League owed its birth at Dacca to the local initiative. The Muslims of UP/CP etc had also acquired astuteness and they emphasised their political rights as the Congress started the Independence movement. Those belonging to north (beyond Delhi) were the most downtrodden, illiterate and politically prostrate. It is no coincidence that such provinces did not join the fray till the mid-forties. These areas, mainly, provided the gun-fodder for the British Military to control their compatriots’ yearning for liberty. Historically, the mercenaries hired by the British from these areas saved the day for them after the Revolt of 1857. Sindh was slightly better off because of the influence of Bombay and NWFP had also experienced some political awareness, thanks to the Khudai Khidmatgars/ML.

An independent Pakistan, as such, saw the Quaid-e-Azam, as Governor General, helped by the Bureaucracy and Army, mainly from West Pakistan. While the Bengalis started the process of developing a Muslim platform at the all-India level, it was quickly overtaken by the Quaid-e-Azam, particularly in the thirties because of his attributes and location. No Bengali leader had the potential to fairly challenge Mr. Jinnah’s leadership. Being ardent Muslim nationalists, generally, the Bengali leaders played their part despite certain reservations to the form in which Pakistan finally emerged. The Lahore Resolution of 1940, introduced by Mr. A.K. Fazlul Haq, with the approval of the Quaid, recommended “that the areas in the north-western and eastern zones of India should be grouped to constitute independent States in which the constituent units shall be autonomous and sovereign.” While the Bengali mindset was anti-feudal and defiant to authoritarian recipes, which reflected their level of education and enlightenment, the West Pakistani, generally, was submerged in an avalanche of age-old degradation wherein anybody wielding some authority became a ‘mai baap.’ This pompous role was assumed by the government, the bureaucracy, the army and the feudal on the debris of the servility and fear complex of the populace. No wonder the perceptions differed dramatically in the two wings. Since West wing, despite its low calibre, enjoyed a monopoly on state power, the equation got heavily loaded in its favour to the detriment of the precocious bigger half as well as national integrity.

The people of East Pakistan were patriotic despite irritations. This writer was in Dacca immediately after the 1965 war with India ended. The scene was no different from the one in any major city of ‘West Pakistan.’ Incredible show of gratitude was being showered on armed forces for their heroic performance (despite faux pas). I was told by some friends that they felt very insecure as East wing was literally undefended on the questionable fauji dictum that ‘the defence of East Pakistan lies in West Pakistan.’ However, Ayub’s misgovernance and Yahya’s takeover drove the last nail in the coffin of Pakistan’s integrity. It created two Pakistans: one wanted constitutional rule in a democratic set-up at any cost; the other supported army dictators either out of fear or devious motives or both. Yahya did not want to give up power but the ignominious surrender by his buddy, tiger Niazi, forced him out while breaking up Pakistan. No democratic set-up, howsoever weak and not aboveboard has lost Pakistan’s territory; it has always been the brave overlords who play with the people’s destiny with abandon because of the serf-like disposition of our society.

In 1996, this writer paid a visit to Dacca on way back from Colombo wherein I had led the Pakistan delegation to the SAARC Conference on Promotion of Co-operation in Criminal Justice. It was like homecoming as I still have very many friends there. I made the then Prime Minister approve the arrangement of training two ASPs for two months each, on a reciprocal basis, every year. Such a step would create goodwill among BD police and vice versa. As there is no continuity of governance in Pakistan, nothing has happened since the BB government was sacked.

The new protocols signed should be pursued with commitment. General Musharraf should request some civilian with integrity to head a BD Cell to cultivate goodwill using the current qualified euphoria. He should not play politics, like Zia, with the ‘stranded Pakistanis.’ The government should also take some action against those involved in atrocities of 1971. This would be in the interest of justice, our poor image and a deterrent to future misadventures.

I M Mohsin, The News, August 20, 2002,

http://www.jang-group.com/thenews/index.html

After Thirty Years

There are very few examples in modern history in which majority part of a state has separated from the minority. On December 16, 1971 Pakistan’s sovereignty over its Eastern part came to an end and a new country, Bangladesh was created as a result of bloody liberation movement. Thirty years after the break-up of Pakistan, it is time to ponder on to what extent the emergence of Bangladesh has affected the existence of Pakistan as a State. Is Pakistan better off today after thirty years of secession of its Eastern wing? Is Bangladesh better off today after separating from Pakistan? Thirty years is a long period because the generation which had struggled for the liberation of East Pakistan from Islamabad and the generation which had tried to maintain the unity of country by force is slowly phasing out.

The tragedy of Pakistan’s break-up on ethnic grounds cannot be taken as a forgotten event because it undermined the ideology of that country and promoted centrifugal forces in minority provinces of Pakistan. Most of the problems, which one can notice in Pakistan today, are primarily the outcome of the separation of East Pakistan. Whether it is the question of religious extremism or sectarian divide or military’s unabated role in politics, had East Pakistan been with us, all such issues wouldn’t have become so critical. The people of East Pakistan were neither under the clutches of feudal/tribal system nor were exposed to religious fanaticism. They were also not under a military and bureaucratic clique. To a large extent, overwhelming majority of people of East Pakistan were simple, patriotic, moderate and democratic people who couldn’t cope with the feudal, tribal, bureaucratic and military traditions of West Pakistan. Till the time, East Pakistan was a part of Pakistan, there was a hope that democracy may have some future in that country and a liberal and progressive political order could be created. After the creation of Bangladesh, the forces of fanaticism and extremism, being encouraged from military and bureaucratic mindset of governing elite, got an impetus to convert Pakistan a bastion of dictatorship and religious extremism.

Certainly Pakistan has not benefited from the separation of East Pakistan because all the human development indicators since 1971 till today show a downward trend. The population of Pakistan has doubled in the last thirty years and in many areas also one can see the erosion of society and work ethics. From all account, Pakistan was better off when it was united. As far as Bangladesh is concerned, in the initial years, there was a perception in many circles that it was a basket case and a failed state. That population pressures, natural calamities, political disturbances and its dependence on India greatly effected its ability to emerge as a success story. However, during the decade of 1990s, with the transition from military rule to democracy, wide-scale participation of women in the areas of human development, economic development programs at the grassroots level and curbing of religious intolerance highly improved the image of Bangladesh at the international arena as a moderate and progressive Muslim state. With the rise in its Gross Domestic Production, better exchange rate and promotion of enterprise in industrial and agricultural production, Bangladesh was able to meet challenges, particularly in economic field. From any account, Bangladesh is not watched by the international community in negative terms like being involved in proliferation of drugs, weapons and religious fanaticism. Moreover, Bangladesh is not facing an image problem like Pakistan.

Despite sharing an unpleasant past, Bangladesh and Pakistan, as the two Muslim states of South Asia, can do a lot in sharing their experience and expertise in different areas. Both had stayed together for around 25 years and barring some areas of discord the two can forge close ties. Unfortunately, there is not enough awareness in Pakistan about what is going on in Bangladesh. Even when the two were together, there wasn’t much interest in West Pakistan about knowing things in their Eastern party. The only interest, which the elite of West Pakistan had in the then East Pakistan, was how to continue the process of economic exploitation and keep that province under its thumb. Bengalese of East Pakistan were in a majority but even then they were a victim of exploitation from the West. No serious attempt was made in the then West Pakistan to know about the culture and traditions of East Pakistan. As a result, feelings of bitterness and alienation began to develop in the then East Pakistan leading to its separation in December 1971.

There are bitter memories both in Bangladesh and Pakistan about each other. But, despite past discords, the two can develop friendly relations in number of areas. The problem is there are still many people in Pakistan who feel that the emergence of Bangladesh was wrong and they have not been able to reconcile with the fact that when a relationship is not equal and just, the outcome can be separation. The release of Hamoodur Rehman Commission Report this year has made some revelations about the tragedy of 1971 but even then there is no thinking in Pakistan which could at least conclude that injustices were committed against the people of East Pakistan and as a result of systematic state policy of undermining the rights of Bengalese, they had no option but to secede.

In the last one-year, at least two unpleasant events further soured Pak-Bangladesh relations. The first event was when the then Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina Wajid in her speech before the U.N. General Assembly last year September indirectly criticized the military rule in Pakistan. Her remarks antagonized the regime of General Musharraf. Second, in November last year, a former official of Pakistan High Commission in Dhaka, Mr. Irfan-ur-Raja gave unpleasant remarks about the Bangladesh Freedom struggle, which led to a hue and cry in that country against Pakistan. Ultimately, the Pakistani diplomat was recalled (whereas, he was expelled by the Bangladesh Government as a persona non grata) but the damage was done in Pakistan-Bangladesh relations. It was only after the electoral rout of Awami League in October this year that some hope was expressed by different circles in bettering Pakistan’s relations with Bangladesh. The goodwill visit of Barristar Shahida Jamil, Pakistan’s Federal Minister of Law and Parliamentary Affairs to Dhaka in November this year also contributed to reducing the level of coolness and bitterness in relations between the two countries.

Pakistan and Bangladesh are not brother enemies but are in fact part of the same family tied down with historical and religious affiliations. Past unpleasantness between the two can in no way impede prospects of better relations between the two. Thirty years have passed since the disintegration of Pakistan and the emergence of Bangladesh but in all these thirty years, there are people in both sides who have held firm belief that the past bitterness and mistrust will be replaced with goodwill and affection. If Pakistan and Bangladesh cannot reintegrate, the two can certainly make substantial progress in developing better understanding in significant areas of cooperation. There is so much which Pakistan and Bangladesh can learn from each other and the sooner the two have a realization that for a bright future they need to make a new beginning the better it will be for the two countries in the days to come.

Dr. Moonis Ahmar, Pakistan-Bangladesh Forum,

 http://www.pak-bd.org/