MPs to Dhaka: Don’t rake up old memories
NA passes resolution against Molla’s hanging; PML-N, PTI, JUI-F support, while PPP and MQM oppose JI’s resolution.
It would have been better had Bangladesh forgiven Molla, who was in his 90s, for what had happened 42 years ago, says Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE
ISLAMABAD:
The National Assembly on Monday passed a resolution against the hanging of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh leader Abdul Quader Molla with majority votes.
The resolution moved by Jamaat-e-Islami lawmaker Sher Akbar Khan was supported by the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Awami Muslim League (AML). Sitting on the opposition benches, MPs from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), opposed the resolution.
Molla was executed on December 12 after Bangladesh’s top court convicted him of war crimes during the 1971 war of secession.
“This house expresses concerns over the execution of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) leader of Bangladesh, Abdul Quader Molla, for supporting Pakistan and [we give our] condolences to his family and the JI Bangladesh. This house demands of the Bangladesh government not to rake up the memories of 1971 and all cases against JI leaders [of Bangladesh] should be settled amicably,” read the resolution.
However, PPP lawmaker Abdul Sattar Bachani retorted, “We condemn meddling in the affairs of an independent state. We should not interfere in its affairs if the country has executed someone.”
Abdul Waseem of the MQM was of the view that “instead of discussing reasons behind the fall of Dhaka, we were talking about a mere incident in Bangladesh”. The house should be discussing what led to the fall of Dhaka as we are faced with a similar situation today, he said. “Why don’t we read the Hamoodur Rehman Commission Report and learn a lesson [from history] to save this country?”
It was Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan who began the debate over the issue and announced the government’s support for the resolution. “There is a need for soul-searching as today is the day when East Pakistan was separated,” he said.
“Bangladesh is a sovereign state and we respect that,” but the execution of Molla, a supporter of united Pakistan, was a ‘judicial murder’ and has saddened the entire nation again, he said.
Nisar said Molla was loyal to Pakistan till December 16, 1971, the day Bangladesh came into being. It would have been better had Bangladesh forgiven Molla, who was in his 90s, for what had happened 42 years ago, he added.
After PPP’s announcement to oppose the resolution, Nisar said the resolution does not say anything against the sovereignty of Bangladesh but that Molla was executed because of politics.
PTI’s Javed Hashmi said his party recognises Molla’s efforts for Pakistan before the creation of Bangladesh and if he had been punished for that, it could be said that he was “fighting for Pakistan. Molla is Shaheed-e-Pakistan”. “History would have been different if the Indian army had not intervened,” Hashmi added.
The debate provided PTI Chairman Imran Khan to plead his pro-dialogue case, maintaining that using force was not a solution to any problem, as he referred to the military operation in former East Pakistan. “We have not learnt a lesson from our past,” he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 17th, 2013.
The National Assembly on Monday passed a resolution against the hanging of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh leader Abdul Quader Molla with majority votes.
The resolution moved by Jamaat-e-Islami lawmaker Sher Akbar Khan was supported by the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Awami Muslim League (AML). Sitting on the opposition benches, MPs from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), opposed the resolution.
Molla was executed on December 12 after Bangladesh’s top court convicted him of war crimes during the 1971 war of secession.
“This house expresses concerns over the execution of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) leader of Bangladesh, Abdul Quader Molla, for supporting Pakistan and [we give our] condolences to his family and the JI Bangladesh. This house demands of the Bangladesh government not to rake up the memories of 1971 and all cases against JI leaders [of Bangladesh] should be settled amicably,” read the resolution.
However, PPP lawmaker Abdul Sattar Bachani retorted, “We condemn meddling in the affairs of an independent state. We should not interfere in its affairs if the country has executed someone.”
Abdul Waseem of the MQM was of the view that “instead of discussing reasons behind the fall of Dhaka, we were talking about a mere incident in Bangladesh”. The house should be discussing what led to the fall of Dhaka as we are faced with a similar situation today, he said. “Why don’t we read the Hamoodur Rehman Commission Report and learn a lesson [from history] to save this country?”
It was Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan who began the debate over the issue and announced the government’s support for the resolution. “There is a need for soul-searching as today is the day when East Pakistan was separated,” he said.
“Bangladesh is a sovereign state and we respect that,” but the execution of Molla, a supporter of united Pakistan, was a ‘judicial murder’ and has saddened the entire nation again, he said.
Nisar said Molla was loyal to Pakistan till December 16, 1971, the day Bangladesh came into being. It would have been better had Bangladesh forgiven Molla, who was in his 90s, for what had happened 42 years ago, he added.
After PPP’s announcement to oppose the resolution, Nisar said the resolution does not say anything against the sovereignty of Bangladesh but that Molla was executed because of politics.
PTI’s Javed Hashmi said his party recognises Molla’s efforts for Pakistan before the creation of Bangladesh and if he had been punished for that, it could be said that he was “fighting for Pakistan. Molla is Shaheed-e-Pakistan”. “History would have been different if the Indian army had not intervened,” Hashmi added.
The debate provided PTI Chairman Imran Khan to plead his pro-dialogue case, maintaining that using force was not a solution to any problem, as he referred to the military operation in former East Pakistan. “We have not learnt a lesson from our past,” he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 17th, 2013.