Reviving old ghost : PTI abrading Fall of Dhaka wounds ‘for political gain’

When Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub took the floor to open the budget speech the other day, he threw a curveball.

Declaring the budget as ‘economic terrorism,’ Ayub didn’t stop there; he veered off the fiscal path to revive an old ghost: the Hamoodur Rahman Commission (HRC) Report on the Fall of Dhaka. He reiterated the call for its release, striking a chord that resonated beyond economic concerns.

The move, reminiscent of political dramas past, felt like déjà vu. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) once had this playbook down pat, and now the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) appears to be singing from the same hymn sheet.

By dragging controversial issues into the spotlight, they aim to put their opponents, including powerful stakeholders, on the back foot. Political pundits, however, view these recurrent mentions of the HRC report, Dawn leaks, and other contentious topics as little more than political grandstanding.

These “friction points” are often used as tools for political leverage, surfacing only when parties are out of power.

According to analysts, such tactics underscore the deep polarization in the country’s political landscape at a time when a healing touch is sorely needed.

The latest demand to unveil the HRC Report came on the heels of a post from PTI’s founding chairman Imran Khan’s official X—formerly Twitter—account. The post urged Pakistanis to read the HRC Report to uncover who the true traitor was: General Yahya Khan or Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Renowned political analyst Majid Nizami said that the 1971 debacle is a serious issue and that any political party should avoid demanding the release of such reports at a time when they are not in power. Emphasising that everyone needs to learn lessons from such incidents but using these things for political purposes should be avoided, especially, when one is on opposition benches.

The expert recalled that the PML-N resorted to such tactics between 2018 and 2022, adding that PTI didn’t bother about the HRC Report when it was in power back then.

“Neither PTI cared about mandate nor Hamoodur Rehman Commission report when it was in power,” Nizami said, “PTI didn’t even bother if Sheikh Mujeebur Rehman was right or wrong but as soon as it came in opposition, it suddenly felt the need to demand report’s release.”

Nizami said that it was inappropriate to use such a huge incident for political gains whether by PTI or PML-N, saying whoever does so to take political mileage was wrong. “I don’t think so release of the report will help PTI much,” he said, explaining that PTI was apparently doing whatever it could to malign established because they are at odds right now.

“PTI is demanding the release of the report in an attempt to put the establishment on the back foot,” he said.

Unfortunately, the majority of the reports of such commissions in Pakistan have never seen the light of the day, Nizami said. In fact, he added, it has become an open secret that the formation of a commission equals to consigning the matter to the cold storage.

“I don’t think any government could take the risk of releasing such a report,” he said, “it’s better to call it a gone case.”

Professor Tahir Naeem Malik of NUML University said that the demand seems to be a mere political gimmick as the purpose is to put pressure on the powerful quarters rather than actually seeking the release of the report.

“Whether PTI or PML-N, they defend such reports and their secrecy when in power,” the professor noted, “as soon as they lose power, they resort to such things.”

Lamenting that no political party or leader, including Imran and Nawaz Sharif, were ready to learn from history, Professor Malik said that they keep using Dawn leaks or HRC Reports, among other things, to put pressure on the other side. “It’s just politics; they make such things as friction points for political gains,” Malik said.

He said that the political parties do not release such reports when in power, saying in fact they advocate secrecy. However, he concluded, they resort to political point scoring when in opposition.

“It seems we have decided that we will never learn from the past and keep on repeating the same mistakes.”