THE statement made recently by an official of the Pakistan government about trial of war crimes committed by the Pakistani army and their local henchmen during Bangladesh's war of liberation in 1971 is both improper and insensitive. According to a report published in New Age on Monday, the official told visiting Bangladeshi journalists on Saturday that war crimes trial would strain the ties between Bangladesh and Pakistan. The law minister of Bangladesh has quite rightly slated the statement and said Pakistan should refrain from making such negative comments about the issue.
First of all, it should be made clear that the issue of war crimes trial is close to the heart of Bangladeshis and this is primarily far from a diplomatic issue. The war of liberation in 1971 was not a matter of choice for Bangladeshis and it was imposed on them by the Pakistani rulers who had subjugated and persecuted the people in the eastern wing — what is now Bangladesh — for over two decades. During those two decades, citizens of East Pakistan had tried to resist repression legally and lawfully, remaining very much within the legal framework of Pakistan, so to speak. Then, after the elections of 1970 had returned a clear mandate for East Pakistan's political control over the two wings, the people in the eastern wing were denied by the ruling elite in West Pakistan. The Bangladeshis took up arms only after the West Pakistani rulers had unleashed a military crackdown on them. The war, as said before, was imposed on us. It was a war to resist the injustices and to liberate the land of the occupation forces. It is inherent in the spirit of that liberation war that crimes against humanity during those nine months should be brought to justice.
The trial of war crimes—and these include killing of unarmed civilians, rape and arson—committed against the people of Bangladesh constitutes an important facet of that sense of liberation and thus those injustices and war crimes must be addressed to rid the collective psyche of what remains like a blemish in our achievement of 1971. A proper, transparent trial must be held to allow us to move forward. We believe this trial should have been held much earlier than now, 38 years after the war. And for this delay, one can only lay the blame on the lack of commitment on the part of the successive governments that ruled the country. The Indian government of that time is also to blame in this regard because it negotiated a settlement with Pakistan, compromising Bangladesh's interests, at a time when the newly born country could hardly object to the decision of her mighty neighbour who had appeared as its ally.
It should be pointed out here that Pakistan itself has not officially apologised for the crimes against humanity. We expect that instead of opposing the war crimes trial the current Pakistani establishment should come forward and cooperate only to absolve themselves of the injustice their predecessors had dished out to this nation.
http://www.newagebd.com/2009/jun/09/edit.html