Pak takes notice of JI leader’s execution in Bangladesh

As FO hopes for reconciliation and peace, interior minister criticises Bangladesh over Kamarruzaman’s execution

Taking note of the execution of Bangladeshi Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) leader Muhammad Kamarruzaman, Pakistan’s Foreign Office said that Pakistan is carefully monitoring the situation with regard to internal developments in that country.

In a statement, FO spokesperson said, “We have also noted the comments by the international community on the ongoing trials in Bangladesh. We are carefully monitoring the situation with regard to internal developments in that country,” adding that as a fellow Muslim country and SAARC member, Pakistan has mutually beneficial relations with the people of Bangladesh.

“Our people struggled together for independence from the colonial rule. In our view, values of reconciliation, harmony and forward looking approach should guide us towards the future of peace and prosperity. Pakistan wishes progress, harmony and prosperity for the people of Bangladesh,” she concluded.

NISAR SPEAKS OUT:

On the other hand, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan strongly criticised the hanging of leaders of Bangladeshi JI by the Awami League led government.

Giving his reaction over Kamaruzzaman’s execution, Nisar said irrespective of Foreign Office’s stance on the issue, the “happenings in Bangladesh have perturbed every Pakistani as these executions are crime against humanity”.

He said these patriotic people showed their loyalty to the then government in 1970 but were being hanged now. He asked the champions of human rights to take notice of happenings in Bangladesh.

BANGLADESH ON ALERT:

In the meanwhile in Dhaka, thousands of Bangladeshis poured onto the streets to applaud the execution of an Islamist party official on charges of crimes against humanity during the 1971 war, as security forces remained alert Sunday for a possible backlash from his supporters.

Prosecutors said Kamaruzzaman, an assistant secretary general of the Jamaat-e-Islami, headed a militia group in central Bangladesh in 1971, and was behind the killings of at least 120 unarmed farmers.

However, JI denounced Kamaruzzaman’s execution and called for a nationwide general strike Monday. At the same time, thousands of people applauded the execution on the streets of Dhaka and other cities, a sign of popular approval of the war-crime trials launched by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

More rallies supporting the execution were planned for Sunday.

“We are happy that justice has been delivered finally,” said Mohammad Al Masum, a student at Dhaka University, who joined a procession in Shabagh Square. “I did not see the war but I am sure the families that lost their dear ones will be happy today.”

Premier Hasina has vowed to continue the trials despite pressure from abroad and the opposition at home.

Jamaat-e-Islami, which garners about 2 percent to 3 percent of popular vote in Bangladesh, has been weakened significantly with most of its senior leaders having been convicted.

Another assistant secretary of the party, Abdul Quader Mollah, was executed in 2013 for similar crimes.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Ravina Shamdasani, earlier this week, urged Bangladesh not to carry out the execution, saying that Kamaruzzaman’s trial did not meet international standards.

The United States was more guarded in its assessment of the trial, but still urged the government not to proceed with the capital punishment.

“We have seen progress, but still believe that further improvements could ensure these proceedings meet domestic and international obligations,” State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a statement shortly before the execution.

However, the Bangladeshi government asserts the trial met all proper standards, with the defendant being given the opportunity to challenge the prosecution’s case in open court and appeal the verdict all the way up to the Supreme Court.

Kamaruzzaman, however, refused to seek presidential clemency.

The initial trials that followed Bangladesh’s creation four decades ago were halted after the assassination of the then president and independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (Hasina’s father) and most of his family members in a 1975 military coup. Hasina revived the process, making good on a pledge she made before 2008 elections.