Dhaka executions: Asma Jahangir says govt reaction out of place
Pakistan, according to Asma, has become the third top executioner of the world
Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid (left) is the second most senior member of Bangladesh's largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami. PHOTO: AFP
ISLAMABAD:
Top human rights lawyer Asma Jahangir on Monday raised questions over Islamabad’s reaction to the hanging of two opposition leaders in Bangladesh even as she condemned the authorities in Dhaka for carrying out the death sentences of Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and Ali Ahsan Mojaheed.
“Why is the hanging of two Bangladeshis more important for the government than the execution of its own citizens?” asked the former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA).
Jahangir, a founding member and ex-chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, was talking to media persons at the Supreme Court premises on Monday.
She deplored Dhaka’s decision to execute the two BNP leaders and said their execution would probably widen the divide in Bangladesh. “All human rights activists, including the HRCP, have expressed concern over the unfair trial of the BNP leaders,” she added.
Asma said the government of Pakistan should work towards redressing the issue of unfair trials in the country and also raise objection over the trial of Pakistanis facing the death penalty in Saudi Arabia and other countries. Moreover, she said nobody is raising their voice against the death sentences handed down by military courts.
Pakistan, according to Asma, has become the third top executioner of the world following the lifting of a moratorium on the death penalty.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 24th, 2015.
Top human rights lawyer Asma Jahangir on Monday raised questions over Islamabad’s reaction to the hanging of two opposition leaders in Bangladesh even as she condemned the authorities in Dhaka for carrying out the death sentences of Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and Ali Ahsan Mojaheed.
“Why is the hanging of two Bangladeshis more important for the government than the execution of its own citizens?” asked the former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA).
Jahangir, a founding member and ex-chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, was talking to media persons at the Supreme Court premises on Monday.
She deplored Dhaka’s decision to execute the two BNP leaders and said their execution would probably widen the divide in Bangladesh. “All human rights activists, including the HRCP, have expressed concern over the unfair trial of the BNP leaders,” she added.
Asma said the government of Pakistan should work towards redressing the issue of unfair trials in the country and also raise objection over the trial of Pakistanis facing the death penalty in Saudi Arabia and other countries. Moreover, she said nobody is raising their voice against the death sentences handed down by military courts.
Pakistan, according to Asma, has become the third top executioner of the world following the lifting of a moratorium on the death penalty.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 24th, 2015.