Thousands of people staged protest demonstrations across the country against a verdict of the Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal following a call by Jamaat-i-Islami Pakistan (JI-P) Ameer Sirajul Haq.
The tribunal had sentenced JI Bangladesh (JI-B) chief Motiur Rahman Nizami on Wednesday to death. Processions against the court’s decision were organised in all provincial capitals and the federal capital. Protest demonstrations were also staged in other cities across Pakistan. Several religious leaders criticised the Awami League led Bangladesh government for victimizing JI leaders and its activists in their Friday sermons.
Several JI leaders urged the government to present before the international community the tripartite agreement that was signed between Pakistan, Bangladesh and India following the 1971 Pakistan-India War. The speakers were addressing a rally on Multan Road near Mansoora. They said former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi and former Bangladesh president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had signed the agreement. The speakers said the agreement had been endorsed by the United Kingdom and the United States among other states. They said India, Pakistan and Bangladesh had agreed to release all prisoners of war under the agreement and not to punish anyone for their role in the war.
JI deputy ameer Hafiz Muhammad Idrees said the Bangladesh government had violated the agreement by victimising JI-B leaders. He said they had rendered sacrifices to keep Pakistan intact by trying to foil the Indian conspiracy. Idrees said it was their legal and moral obligation to prevent the dismemberment of Pakistan. He said the Bangladesh’s government’s assertion that they were guilty of violating the Constitution of Bangladesh was absurd.
The deputy ameer said it was mandatory for the government to speak up against the verdicts as Gholam Azam, Abdul Qadir Mullah and Nizami were patriotic Pakistanis and had supported the Pakistan Army. He criticised the international community for its silence and said some self-anointed human rights activists had decided to ignore the state-sponsored terrorism being perpetuated in Bangladesh.
JI secretary general Liaquat Baloch said the JI-B leaders were being attacked for loving Pakistan and Islam. He was addressing a procession in Vehari. Baloch said the Bangladesh government could not abrogate the agreement unilaterally. He said Nizami’s sentence must be set aside and all detained JI-B activists should be released.
JI deputy secretary general Fareed Ahmed Paracha, Sindh ameer Asadullah Bhutto and Maulana Abdul Malik also addressed the procession.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 1st, 2014.
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