Bangladesh demands Apology from Pakistan for its war crimes in 1971

Bangladesh has demanded an apology from Pakistan for the war crimes committed by the Islamic Republic during the liberation war in 1971. This demand comes at a time when Bangladesh will celebrate 50 years of its creation this year. The message was conveyed by the country’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md. Shahriar Alam to the Pakistani envoy to Dhaka, Imran Ahmed Siddiqui.

A release from the Bangladeshi government said that minister Alam, “reiterated the importance of resolving outstanding bilateral issues with Pakistan, including the offering of an official apology from Pakistan for the genocide committed in the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971”. He also called for settling the issue of the division of assets between the 2 countries.

Several million died due to the actions of the Pakistani army in 1971 in what was then East Pakistan, but ultimately Bangladesh gained its independence. Not for the first time Bangladesh has raised the 1971 genocide with Islamabad. During Pakistan’s envoy meets with Bangladeshi PM Shiekh Hasina in December, the latter had sternly reminded him that atrocities committed by the Pakistani army against her country can neither be forgotten nor forgiven.