<i>Eminent Pak citizens hail war crimes trial </i>
Several eminent Pakistani citizens welcomed initiatives to try 1971 war criminals as the nation observes with grief the Intellectuals Martyred Day today.
The nation today recalls the killing of leading intelligentsia by Pakistani occupation forces and their collaborators ahead of their eventual defeat.
“I strongly condemn war crimes and genocide whether it is done by an army or an ethnic, religious or ideological entity,” leading Pakistani politician Advocate Zafar Malik said in an interview with the news agency.
Malik, also a civil society activist, was a member of the International Tribunal constituted by Nirmul Committee earlier to try the cases of war crimes.
A senior leader of Pakistan's National Awami Party (NAP), Malik added, “I am sure that the present Bangladesh government has the resolve and will to try the war criminals.”
His comments came as a renewed campaign was apparently being waged in Pakistan to expose the “1971 war criminals” inside the then army leadership of their own country.
Noted researcher Nizhat Sayeed is devoting herself in identifying the culprits responsible for the murders and rapes of unarmed Bangalees and Bangalee women during the war.
“I have written a charge sheet in my book against the Pakistani army generals for their role in 1971,” said Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir, who earned repute particularly for his interview of Osama Bin Laden.
Alamdar Raja, the then West Pakistan divisional commissioner of Dhaka in 1971, who later joined the law profession on his retirement after returning to Pakistan, filed a writ with a Pakistani High Court.
The writ sought to redress the Pakistani atrocities “on their own people (East Pakistanis) during the war”.
“I don't expect the writ to yield much . . . but I thought it was a moral responsibility to file the case in view of what I saw during my stay in your country that time,” said Raja earlier during a visit to Dhaka.
Malik recalled that after Awami League's election victory by a majority of seats, the vested interest class in Pakistan and the army became upset and gradually the situation worsened, leading to the army action in East Pakistan.
Journalist Hamid Mir said, “I fully support the trial of all those who were responsible for killing innocent people in 1971”.
“I think that governments of Bangladesh and Pakistan should join hands for arresting all those who were responsible for genocide in 1971,” Mir said.
He recalled that soon after the Pakistan's “1971 debacle”, the subsequent government constituted a commission to investigate into the cause of the debacle.
The commission identified General Yahya Khan, General AAK Niazi, Brigadier Muhammad Hayat, General Rao Farman Ali and many others responsible for the genocide.
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