(NSI News Source Info) DHAKA - May 13, 2009: Bangladesh on Wednesday urged Pakistan to apologise formally for alleged atrocities committed by its army during Bangladesh’s bloody liberation struggle in 1971. 
The government of Bangladesh has banned people suspected of war crimes during the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan from travelling abroad.
It says these people, who are accused of collaborating with Pakistani troops, will face war crime trials.
Among them are leaders of the largest religious party Jamaat-i-Islami - a rival of the ruling Awami League.
Critics say it is a ploy to destroy Jamaat-i-Islami, none of whose leaders has been charged with any crimes.
But two party leaders have already been prevented from leaving Bangladesh.
One of them told the BBC he had not been given any reason for this, and that the government was violating his fundamental rights.
'Last chance' - The Awami League came to power in December, promising to tackle the issue which has haunted and divided Bangladesh since independence. The new government says it wants to punish those who helped the Pakistan army's brutal attempt to hang on to what was then Pakistan's eastern province. The government says some three million civilians died and 200,000 women were raped. The Pakistan army was blamed for most atrocities. But local militias, some allegedly linked to the religious party, Jamaat-i-islami, were accused of helping them. Many collaborators were jailed, but the issue was quietly dropped as consecutive governments preferred not to reopen old wounds. Awami League supporters say the government's pledge is the last chance for the generation which lived through the war to see justice. *
Bangladeshi officials have said three million people were killed during the fight for independence for what was then East Pakistan, and the new government in Dhaka has vowed to try suspected war criminals.
In a meeting with Pakistan’s High Commissioner on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni raised the issue of ‘seeking formal apologies by Pakistan for the genocide in 1971,’ a written statement said.
A Pakistani envoy told Bangladesh in February to let ‘bygones be bygones’ and rejected plans to try those accused of murder, rape and arson.
A private Dhaka-based group that has investigated the conflict has named 1,775 people, including Pakistani generals and local militants allied with Pakistan, as war crime suspects.
The government of Bangladesh has banned people suspected of war crimes during the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan from travelling abroad.
It says these people, who are accused of collaborating with Pakistani troops, will face war crime trials.
Among them are leaders of the largest religious party Jamaat-i-Islami - a rival of the ruling Awami League.
Critics say it is a ploy to destroy Jamaat-i-Islami, none of whose leaders has been charged with any crimes.
But two party leaders have already been prevented from leaving Bangladesh.
One of them told the BBC he had not been given any reason for this, and that the government was violating his fundamental rights.
'Last chance' - The Awami League came to power in December, promising to tackle the issue which has haunted and divided Bangladesh since independence. The new government says it wants to punish those who helped the Pakistan army's brutal attempt to hang on to what was then Pakistan's eastern province. The government says some three million civilians died and 200,000 women were raped. The Pakistan army was blamed for most atrocities. But local militias, some allegedly linked to the religious party, Jamaat-i-islami, were accused of helping them. Many collaborators were jailed, but the issue was quietly dropped as consecutive governments preferred not to reopen old wounds. Awami League supporters say the government's pledge is the last chance for the generation which lived through the war to see justice. *
Bangladeshi officials have said three million people were killed during the fight for independence for what was then East Pakistan, and the new government in Dhaka has vowed to try suspected war criminals.
In a meeting with Pakistan’s High Commissioner on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni raised the issue of ‘seeking formal apologies by Pakistan for the genocide in 1971,’ a written statement said.
A Pakistani envoy told Bangladesh in February to let ‘bygones be bygones’ and rejected plans to try those accused of murder, rape and arson.
A private Dhaka-based group that has investigated the conflict has named 1,775 people, including Pakistani generals and local militants allied with Pakistan, as war crime suspects.
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