Dhaka protests Pak minister\\\'s comment on ICT verdict

The Foreign Ministry summoned Thursday acting High Commissioner of Pakistan in Dhaka Ahmad Hussain Dayo and conveyed the disappointment of Bangladesh over the comments made by a Pakistan Cabinet member on a recent ICT verdict, reports UNB.

Terming the comments unwarranted and inappropriate, Additional Foreign Secretary (Bilateral) Mizanur Rahman said they amounted to directly interfering with the internal affairs of Bangladesh. In addition, he said, vested quarters in Pakistan were advised to mind their own business and set their house in order rather than trying to interfere in the matters which fell within Bangladesh's domestic jurisdiction.

Mizanur Rahman pointed out that the trials enjoyed support of the mass people in Bangladesh and the wider international community to break the culture of impunity for crimes against humanity and genocide in 1971.

It was only through ensuring justice that the wounds and trauma inflicted by those crimes in Bangladesh's national psyche can be healed and put behind, he added.

Earlier, Pakistan's Home Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan expressed concern over the award of death sentence to Bangladesh Jamaat-i-Islami chief Motiur Rehman Nizami "without appreciating the true perspective".

Noting the holding of demonstrations and provocative statements by Jamaat-e-Islami in Pakistan, Mizanur Rahman further stated that Bangladesh expects that Pakistan as a friendly neighbour would refrain from such activities that may hurt the sentiments of the people of Bangladesh and suggests misplaced sympathies for otherwise undeserving entities.

The government of Pakistan was requested to take serious note of all these issues.

Mizanur Rahman also handed over an Aide Memoire to the Acting High Commissioner in this regard.