KARACHI - The Dhaka Fall was the direct result of depriving masses of their constitutional rights and ignoring their genuine grievances, said the speakers of a candlelight vigil.
The candlelight vigil was organised by Pasban-e-Pakistan to pay homage to the heroes of 1971 war in front of Karachi Press Club (KPC) here Monday.
Pasban general secretary Usman Moazzam said had the then regime given due constitutional rights to the citizens of the then East Pakistan and seriously solved their geninue issue, the fall of Dhaka could have been averted.
He regretted the Pakistani rulers did not learn any lesson from the dismemberment of East Pakistan and even today the citizens are being deprived of their due constitutional rights. He said not only the rulers and establishment but the Pakistani political parties also did not learn any lesson from the Dhaka Fall. He said at the time of Dhaka debacle, a dictator had been slapped upon the country. However, even after the great tragedy of the loss of East Pakistan, he was not made accountable. The establishment continued bringing their own people to rule the country through engineered elections and this fraud has been continuing till to date.
He said after the martyrdom of Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan, Pakistan braved grave tragedies like the Dhaka Fall, humiliation of the national hero Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, Lal Masjid tragedy, kidnapping of the daughter of the nation Dr Aafia Siddiqui and her 86-year imprisonment, murder of Nawab Akbar Bugti, carnage in Karachi and killings of innocent citizens in drone attacks in the periods of dictator and quoi-dictators that ruled the country. He said on one hand, the military dictators destroyed the national institutions and on the other corrupt politicians looted the national kitty and burdened Pakistan with huge foreign debts. He said the nation was waiting for a patriotic, brave and sincere alternate leadership.
Talking about the Dhaka Fall, he said thousands of Pakistanis were still living in the refugee camps of Bangladesh and the rules were not ready to accept these genuine Pakistanis. He said the national heroes of the 1971 war who supported the Pakistan Army in East Pakistan were also sadly forgotten and ignored.
Pasban Giziri chapter leader Salman Nawab said the new role of the judiciary and election commission of Pakistan is the ray of hope for Pakistani nation. He said if due to their efforts the nation gets a brave, honest and patriotic alternate political leadership the people of Pakistan would get the real freedom and the country would get its due status in the comity of nations.
On the occasion, the participants of the demo demanded the government of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to take serious steps for an early and honorable repatriation of the stranded Pakistanis from the refugee camps of Bangladesh.