‘Pakistan must offer formal apology’

Education Minister Dipu Moni yesterday said Pakistan must offer a formal apology to the people of Bangladesh for the genocide committed by its military in 1971 and arrange compensation for the atrocities.

"It is our logical demand. Voices from inside Pakistan have also been raised in favour of our demand. In the past, many other countries sought apology for committing genocides elsewhere. Pakistan should do the same," she said.

The minister came up with the demand while speaking as the chief guest at a discussion, titled "We demand United Nation's recognition of the genocide in 1971", organised by Bangladesh Swadhinata Foundation at National Museum.

War crimes trials were held in Bangladesh around four decades after its independence. However, the anti-liberation forces are still active in the country's politics, even after five decades of the Liberation War, said Dipu Moni.

The minister also alleged that the anti-liberation forces are aligned with the opposition party.

Swadhinata Foundation's convener retired Justice Mohammad Mamtaj Uddin Ahmed presided over the discussion. "We will have to continue our battle against the anti-liberation forces," he said.

Speaking at the event, Amol Saker, executive editor of the Indian newspaper The Wall, said, "The anti-liberation forces must be uprooted from the country for the sake of upholding the spirit of the Liberation War."

The foundation's joint convener Prof Shahidullah Sikder and its member secretary Narayan Saha Moni also spoke at the event, among others.