DHAKA - Bangladesh summoned Pakistan’s High Commissioner in Dhaka on Tuesday to lodge its protest over the resolution adopted by the National Assembly of Pakistan expressing concern over the execution of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh leadr Abdul Quader Molla.
Pakistan High Commissioner in Dhaka Mian Afrasiab Mehdi Hashmi Qureshi was called to Bangladesh’s Ministry of foreign affairs on Tuesday.
Bangladesh Secretary (bilateral) Mustafa Kamal conveyed the government’s protest and handed the High Commissioner an ‘Aide Memoire’, bdnews24.com reported.
According to a press release, the Bangladesh foreign ministry said Hashmi Qureshi was called to lodge a protest against the resolutions adopted by the Pakistan National Assembly and the Punjab Assembly.
The secretary conveyed in ‘unequivocal terms’ that the war crimes trial in Bangladesh was “an internal matter” and as such “the uncalled for resolutions on the verdicts of the war crimes trial tantamount to interference in the domestic affairs of Bangladesh”.
Shortly before the meeting, Bangladesh’s Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu told journalists that the foreign office would protest the Pakistan move and statement of Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan who said Mollah was hanged through a judicial murder for supporting a united Pakistan in 1971.
“The statement of the Pakistan National Assembly shows that the country has not corrected itself and moved away from its 1971 policy,” Inu said.
Terming the hanging of Abdul Quader Molla as Bangladesh’s internal matter, Inu urged Pakistan to refrain from making comments on the execution.
Bangladesh would formally react to the resolution passed in Pakistan’s Nationl Assembly, Inu told reporters.
“The Pakistani authorities should withdraw the resolution. Minister (Pakistan) Nisar Ali Khan should also withdraw his comment,” Inu said.