ISLAMABAD – A government lawmaker, who has been critical of military’s intervention in foreign affairs of the country, yesterday criticised its media mouthpiece for keeping mum over the execution of an Islamist leader in Bangladesh.
The Parliamentary Leader of PML-N in the Senate, Mushahid Ullah Khan said that at least a tweet should have come from prolific tweeter Asim Bajwa in condemnation of hanging of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) leader Motiur Rahman Nizami in Bangladesh.
“A Sahib (person) who tweets a lot should have tweeted for him (Motiur Rahman),” said Mushahid Ullah while pointing towards Inter Service Public Relations Director General Lt-Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa.
On a point of public concern, he said that the military was in power during 1971 war and these Islamist leaders who were being executed in Bangladesh had fought along with the army during the war. He in his remarks also alleged the military for doing politics in past and present.
Motiur Rahman Nizami, 73, was executed early on Wednesday on charges of genocide, rape and torture during 1971 war as a result of which Bangladesh got separated from Pakistan. Nizami is the fourth leader of the JI to have been executed since Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina established a controversial war crimes tribunal to look into abuses during that war.
Mushahid Ullah, a close aide to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, had to lose his job as minister of environment last year in August for giving remarks against the military with regard to the 2014 protest sit-in of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Pakistan Awami Tehreek.
In an interview to BBC Urdu, he alleged that former Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt-Gen Zaheerul Islam Abbasi wanted to overthrow Pakistan’s civilian government by conniving with the protesting parties.
Speaking in Senate yesterday, Mushahid Ullah said that separation of Bangladesh from Pakistan was a result of a long history of injustices done with its people and also criticised the role of founder of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
He also said that a large segment of Bangladesh’s population was still with Pakistan. “The actions of government of Bangladeshi PM Sheik Hasina Wajid do not mean that its people are against Pakistan,” he said and added Hasina had become wild.
He questioned why international human rights organisations were silent on the executions being carried out through flawed trials. He also alleged India for conspiring against pro-Pakistan forces in Bangladesh and having a hand in the hangings of JI leaders.
Leader of the House Raja Zafarul Haq said that a series of judicial murders was going on in Bangladesh. “India has a plan to eliminate all elements in Bangladesh who are in favour of Pakistan.” He proposed that efforts should be made to bring both the countries closer.
The other treasury members speaking on the issue also condemned the incident in the absence of opposition members who continued their boycott of the house in protest against non-appearance of prime minister in the Senate. They praised the role of Turkish government for withdrawing its ambassador from Bangladesh over the hangings.
Adviser to PM on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz condemned hanging of Nizami and said Bangladeshi government was targeting political opponents through such trial. Giving the details, he said that 12 Islamist leaders had been awarded sentences on the same charges.
The adviser said that the condemnations of these hangings had come from all over the world including UN Secretary General, Human Rights Watch (HRW), European Union, European Parliament and the US.
“All have asked to make the trials fair and impartial,” he said, adding that the dimension of violation of human rights was important in such cases, as loopholes had been pointed out in the judicial process.
“Bangladesh has made an amendment in the constitution whereby the authority to remove judges of the superior judiciary had been transferred from Supreme Judicial Council to the Parliament. Now the judges could be removed for their incompetence instead of misconduct,” Aziz said, adding that the principle of separation of powers had been affected and because of the same reason, such decisions have come.
“We will highlight the issue in the Human Rights Council and this is also violation of the agreement between Pakistan and Bangladesh which bars the later from proceeding against the prisoners of war.” He also said that despite all the odds, Pakistan wanted good relegations with Bangladesh.
Earlier, Senate chairman did not admit an adjournment motion to discuss the hangings of JI leaders in Bangladesh and the dormant response of the government of Pakistan. The chair remarked that it was a matter of a foreign country and Pakistani government had no authority to stop it. However, he said the lawmaker could speak on the issue on points of public concern.
Separately, the government lawmakers discussing the call attention notice about the incident of burning alive of a young girl in Abbottabad on the orders of a jirga (traditional local council) demanded that the state should become the complainant in the case as the mother of the girl was allegedly involved in the horrible incident. Senator Mohsin Leghari demanded for the passage of anti-honour killing bill immediately.
State Minister Sheikh Aftab in his response said that a helpline with the number of 1099 had been established to register complaints in such cases, besides the approval of National Action Plan on Human Rights. “KP police chief has assured that the state would be complainant in the case if no family member of the girl became plaintiff,” he said. http://nation.com.pk/national/14-May-2016/treasury-senator-targets-army-for-silence-over-bd-hanging
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