Should Pakistan Apologize for 1971? | Q&A

Dec 2012
By M.A.

Pages Introduction | PPP | PML-N | JeI | PML-Q | PTI

PAKISTAN TEHREEK-E-INSAAF. Shafqat Mehmood (SQ), Information Secretary.

TQ: Should Pakistan apologize for 1971?

SQ: If I remember correctly, didn’t Musharraf already apologize?”

TQ:He regretted what had happened, but did not formally apologize.

SQ: I think a number of Pakistani leaders have expressed their regret over the last 30 or 40 years, and visited the sites. I also think there is a genuine regret over what has happened.

I recall… That Bhutto went there after 1971…

But I don’t know about a formal apology… This formal apology… What does that mean? Regret has been expressed… I think genuinely people feel that a lot of things were mishandled. It can’t be a yes and no answer.

It has also not been discussed in the party, which is why I stick to the line that we have expressed genuine regret. There is no doubt that a lot of things should not have happened. A lot of things have also been exagerrated. We should learn lessons from the way it was mishandled.

And it also shows once again that whenever you deal with things like that, you need to have a comprehensive strategy, and military action itself is not a solution to anything.

I also think it’s time to move forward in the relationship. Regrets have been expressed. Various Pakistani leaders have expressed them.

TQ:But what about the 3 million Bengalis killed, and the 200,000 women raped, according to the Bangladeshi government?

SQ: There are people who have questioned many of these statistics. A lot of things happened, 41 years ago. I think it’s about time that we move on.

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4 Responses to Should Pakistan Apologize for 1971? | Q&A

  1. Inamur Rahman on Dec 2012 at 10:45 AM

    A good initiative. The politicians in Pakistan, especially the present political parties will not agree to apolagize .

  2. Ryan on Jan 2013 at 8:08 AM

    Interesting comment. Thanks MaS. I have to admit hinavg enough trouble struggling to grasp the inane extremes of Christianity much less exploring the depths of Islam. How did we all get swept up in this fundamentalist extremism of our respective faiths?Imagine if the Muslim world had never had oil but, instead, a favourable climate and an abundance of fertile lands and other non-carbon resources? Then, my friend, you would have to struggle with the concept of a region, a faith, a culture able to develop its own style of democratic institutions and prosperity free of Western influence. Take that back a few centuries and try to imagine where the Islamic world might be today. I don’t care if its your prophet or mine – somebody made us really, really stupid.

  3. Stanislav on Jan 2013 at 4:27 AM

    a very very sitpud sitpud analysis full of hatredouldbanglash is a bery very dear brotherly country with pakistan.we pakistani love bangladeshi nation,will love them for ever.but this indian propaganda machine would be unsuccessful INSHALLAH.they should understand this was a cricket match.long live pakistan and long live bangladesh.

  4. mohsin ali khan on Feb 2013 at 4:28 PM

    Pakistani politicians are foolest politician. Ignorant. people who believe that pakistani army did nothing wrong in Bangladesh should check out some international resources. There are videos and interviews of people in youtube. Just see the pictures of atrocities. They have burnt villages, one after another because some guyz of that village was in Mukti Bahini and people from those villages help them. So to deal with it, the pakistani army was killing everyone. How funny!!! How fool. Pakistani people should apologize. I live outside Bangladesh. I meet pakistani people of new generation. I dont have any hartret for them. But if I find anyone who thinks that pakistani army did the right thing in 1971 in Bangladesh, keep in mind, I will be hating him with all my heart.

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