Pakistan
– Bangladesh relations:
?From conflict to cooperation…and back
BY
OMAR FAROOQUE
Relations between the two wings of the
same country had soured in utero and culminated in a bitter and bloody civil
war in 1971 that left lasting scars, more so for the former East wing. The
promise of normalization of relations came in 1976 – when the diplomatic
missions of both countries took their positions – and later in 1980 – with the
creation of SAARC. But the promise is taking too long to materialize.
Understandably
both countries have been treading a sea of broken glass to come close. Former
president Musharaf, during his visit to Bangladesh in 2002, said it was time to
usher in an era of peace and that the time of “Pak-BD reconciliation has come”.
An MoU to form a Pak-BD Business Council was signed during this visit, but
neither any lasting business collaboration nor measures to bolster
people-to-people contact were taken at a government-diplomatic level. So the
ghost of 1971 still lingers. South Asian regional politics is at best stormy.
Every country has had some bone or the other to pick and there isn’t a single
country that hasn’t tasted war. And yet, in this litigious curry, no country
can have permanent friends or enemies only permanent interests. Yet five
generations of post-war Bengalis revisit the war at all national museums,
through the state’s political nationalistic anti-Pakistan rhetoric and the
emotionally charged syllabus books detailing the atrocities committed during
war. But it’s time to move past emotions and rhetoric. For Sheikh Haseena and
her rival Khalida Zia, Pakistan might just be a bargaining chip to score
political points, but the people of both countries only stand to lose from
this.
What with the war crimes trial and
Pakistan’s official stance on the execution of the ‘butcher of Mirpur’, Bangla
media has severely lashed out at Pakistan comparing the war of 1971 with
Hitler’s holocaust. This is a very neat but overdone strategy in order to
overplay the horrors of war – which no war is without. I recently came across a
number of articles claiming that Pakistan had a lot to be sorry for when it comes
to Bangladesh. That would be well and good if it were not for that fact that
over 75% Pakistanis were either not born during the war, or were too young to
give a damn about what their country was meting out elsewhere. The same is true
for Bangladesh. Except as a Bengali, one is either ‘born amidst carnage’ or
‘birthed in horror’. Contrary to what several media articles allege, Pakistani
rhetoric does not gloss over military atrocities in Bangladesh. Pakistan treats
Bangladesh as the Vatican treats the crusades – a shameful period of our
history, something we must put behind ourselves and move on in the interest of
cooperation and letting old wounds heal instead of marinating them in salt. Declaring
support for Pakistan at cricket matches illegal is not only petty, but a
counterweight to everything both countries have strived for since 1976. This is
the opposite of people-to-people contact, this is inflammatory and only serves
to fan the flames of hate.
There have been several instances of
formal apologies and expressions of regret, from the government, from the Army
(during Musharaf’s visit) and by civil society organizations. The bitter
memories of 1971, which still impede meaningful ties between Dhaka and
Islamabad, should gradually be replaced with goodwill and harmony. There are so
many areas of tremendous potential for improving ties between Bangladesh and
Pakistan. The countries share a common social, religious and economic history.
Collaborations between civil society organisations, universities and research
centres, media and culture groups and law makers should be a welcome gesture.
Both countries have the potential for shifting the dynamics of regional
politics through this collaboration.It is indeed time to bury the dead and
celebrate the living. Five decades later, it is high time Bangladesh accepted
Pakistan’s recurring gestures of apology and moved on. Raking past wounds is
only going to inflame Bangladesh even further.
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