Why Pakistan should apologize

[Severus]

An article by Anwaar Hussain

NEXT MONTH on March 26 Bangladesh will celebrate her 33rd Independence Day. Bangladesh emerged as a sovereign nation on the map of earth on 16 December 1971, but not before the hearts and minds of Bangladeshis were almost indelibly marred with the pangs of this birth. Since then four Pakistani heads of state have visited Bangladesh. The express purpose of these visits has been healing wounds and burying the unpleasant legacies of history. [/b]

The last one was by President Musharraf in July 2002. He was the fourth Pakistani head of government to visit Bangladesh after 1971 and came closest to extending a straight forward apology for the excesses committed by the Western wing on its brethren in the Eastern wing of the then one Pakistan. In essence, it remained a regret.

Let us make a clear distinction between the two words i.e. regret and apology. The Concise Oxford dictionary defines regret as feeling or expressing sorrow, repentance or disappointment over something. Apology, on the other hand, is defined as regretful acknowledgement of an offence or failure. It is abundantly clear that while the element of regret is embodied in the meaning of apology and goes much beyond that to acknowledgement of the offence, regret in itself can be termed as a mere step-1 towards an apology.

General Musharraf wrote in the official visitors' book after laying a wreath at the National Martyrs Memorial at Savar near Dacca, “Your brothers and sisters in Pakistan share the pains of the events of 1971. The excesses committed during the unfortunate period are regrettable. Let us bury the past in the spirit of magnanimity. Let not the light of the future be dimmed. Let us move forward together. The courage to compromise is greater than to confront.” In his banquet speech he further added, "We feel sorry for the tragedy which left deep scars on both our nations. My brothers and sisters... share with the fellow brothers and sisters of Bangladesh profound grief over the parameters of calamitous events of 1971. As a result of this tragedy a family having common religion, cultural heritage, and united by a joint struggle for independence and shared vision for the future was torn apart." Good words, but not beyond regret.

One must admit though that General Musharraf, being the Chief of Staff of the very army blamed for the atrocities, went much beyond what his predecessors did. While his forerunners were mumbling sweet nothings, General Musharraf’s attempt was bold and soothing. Yet this too fell short of a straight apology. At best, Musharraf’s regrets can be called a move towards rapprochement.

Days later, a joint statement by leaders of 51 civil rights organizations of Pakistan made a public apology to the people of Bangladesh in these words: "We feel sad and burdened by what we know was a violation of the people's human rights... The apology should have come a long time ago, and citizen groups did make attempts to do so... We deeply feel that a message from us is necessary to acknowledge the historic wrongs, to express sincere apology and build a bond based on honest sentiments"…an apology no doubt, but not yet there and not from the state of Pakistan.

An apology works the same way at international level as it does at individuals’ level. It tends to heal, repair, make good and restore. And like at the individuals’ level, the one who apologizes comes out of his initiative a better entity than what was there before and the forgiver as one at peace with his tormentor. Professor Aaron Lazare, Chancellor and Dean, University of Massachusetts Medical School says an apology heals because: (text within brackets is mine)

- It allows the offending party to maintain and repair the relationship.(long overdue in Pakistan and Bangladesh’s case)
- It allows the offending party to validate the offence. (that the offence took place is beyond any suspicion)
- It allows the offending party to re-establish the moral code or social contract with the offended party. (again long overdue)
- It forces the offending party to suffer for what he has done. (No length of time with our heads buried in the sands will obliterate the gravity of what we have done. An apology may ease the pains of regret to some extent despite the inherent suffering in it.)
- It allows the offending party to acknowledge shame and remorse. (Do we need reminding?)
- It allows the offending party to show the offence was not personal and will not happen again. (That it was a few inept rulers—yes. Were the West Pakistanis behind it as a nation? ---no. Does it absolve the Pakistani nation from the crime?---absolutely not for we allowed it to happen and permitted the perpetrators to get away with it)
- It allows the offending party to acknowledge there is a debt to be paid. (the debt is not only there, it is gathering mass as the time goes by)
- It allows the offending party to give the victim the power to forgive or not to forgive. (yes and we hope we are forgiven)
- It allows the offending party to restore the dignity of the other at the cost of dignity of him- or herself. (True and let us finally restore the pride of a venerable nation whatever the cost to us.)

Apologies of nations and international personalities are not some thing new. We have seen some bold apologies in the past four decades. Listed below are some landmark apologies of our times:

- In his memoirs Robert McNamara, the US secretary of defense in the 1960s, has apologized for his role in the conduct of Vietnam War.

- Pope John Paul II apologized for the church’s silence during the holocaust by saying he "is deeply saddened by the hatred and displays of anti-Semitism directed against (Jews) by Christians at any time and in any place."

- The Pope’s comprehensive millennial appeal for forgiveness of 2000 years of church sins.

- Japan apologized for the "tremendous damage and suffering" inflicted by Japanese during the 2nd World War. South Korea accepted the apology.

- US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright apologized to Iran for American misconduct during the past 50 years.

- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Bill Clinton and Madeleine Albright have apologized to Rwanda for failing to stem the 1994 genocide.

- The Swiss government in 1995 officially apologized to world Jewry for its role in the 2nd World War. It was on two counts--- as the "bank" for the Nazi regime, and for 1938 accord with Germany to refuse protection to fleeing Jews.

- Mr. Annan apologized in Bosnia for the mass execution of Muslims in Srebrenica by Serbs, saying that tragedy "will haunt our history forever."

- Indonesia's President Abdurrahman Wahid apologized for violations of human rights in provinces where pro-autonomy revolts have killed hundreds.

Missing from this list is an unqualified apology from the State of Pakistan to the State of Bangladesh. After all these years, it is now time to tell the Bangladeshis that common Pakistanis do feel their brethren’s hurt and pain and always have. That millions of us have nostalgic memories of that beautiful land of sweet melodies, rolling green vistas and gentle, loving people. That we did indeed persecute them and wronged them grievously and are sorry for that and sorry for the fact that this apology took so long in coming. That the relationship between our two great peoples has changed because of our wrongful acts of which they were the victims and we the perpetrators. That we seek their forgiveness and know that it is within their power not to forgive and that we hope that the Almighty above would forgive us too once they have.

And, if and when, they do forgive us we would know that the evil spirits of the past have been buried once and for all. It will also confirm that our Bangladeshi brothers chose to resolve their feelings of hurt, resentment and revenge, that they have put aside our terrible misdeeds and are looking at a promising future with us, that in their large-heartedness they have forgone their right to ask for repayment of a debt with full knowledge that we owe it to them a zillion times over.

Unless there is a small little pitiable piece of paper, classified Top Secret and for the eyes of Presidents and Prime Ministers only, hidden somewhere in Pakistan’s state archives saying otherwise…the truth of our guilt is as clear as daylight. What then stops Prime Minister Jamali form getting invited to this Independence Day of Bangladesh and doing what needs to be done in one historic visit? No more political language which, in the words of George Orwell, is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable. No more excuses or putting forward of the causatives. Just a straight, from-the-heart apology to a people that we have woefully wronged and whose innocence we have injured. A whiff of any additive and the spirit of the apology will be ruined beyond recognition.

Let us prove to the world and the region, besieged by misinformation, half truths and straight lies as it is, that we have it in us, and that we want to depart from the standard universal practice of giving misleading, labyrinthine twists to the horrible events of the past. That we have overcome our demons and wish others in South Asia do that too. Who knows it may set a Domino effect of truth and reconciliation in the region. God knows scores of apologies are due to countless victims in this ill-fated part of the world.

http://www.satribune.com/archives/feb17_23...ion_apology.htm

[}|Serial_Killer|{]

Why not !



thx auvi vi , for posting this !

[dIsTiNG]

Pakistanider diler moddhe manush nai. Oder eisob kotha gae lagena. Ora islamer naame ei sob koreche still blv kore. Oder theke kichu expect kore luv nai.

[anikaputush]

apologize koruk ar na koruk, I'm never gonna forgive them.

[}|Serial_Killer|{]

er chey onk kom lok hotta koreo manush khoma chaise , bichar er shommukhin hoise...r sheikhane pakistan dibbi world er one of the biggest genocides chalanor por amra tader vai boila buk e buk lagya ghurtesi hashi mukhe !

shame on us...

[dIsTiNG]

Indian normal public ra amader jotota hate kore, pakistani normal public ra toto tai amader vai mone kore. Ei reality ta amader mantei hobe. So, amrai confused hoe jai.

Indian ra amader koto ta hate kore eita just calcutta gelei ter paoa jae. Eita asholei amader chorom bad luck. Ei World cup cric dekhe kichu bujha jaenai?

[}|Serial_Killer|{]

eikhane india r kotha ta ken uthlo ta thik bujhlam na ..

whatever ... I have no headache about india ...

r pakistani rao vai mone kore kina sure na ...

kintu amake jei vai mone koruk , ami jake take vai mone korte pari na ....

ami amon kono jati r sathe vatritto pataite raji na jara amar shottikar er vai ke marse. hoyto antorjatik shishtachar er sharthe bapar ta niye uccho baccho korbo na , but sheitao prokasshe khomar chaoar por e.

er ag porjonto , pakistan jati ke vai bola onek durer kotha , jati goto vabe shomporko rakha r e dorkar bodh korbo na.

[khekshial]

nice post severus, pakistan niye amar kono kotha nai lolzz, ora ja iccha tai koruk..

[Force_Recon]

Pakistanis are too proud and arrogant,even after these years to admit their faults fully.They do express regret over the whole thing but don't acknowledge their actual extent of barbarity.Having read stories about rape in the 1971 war ,it pisses me off whenever I hear/number of incidents were fabricated .
Look who they are using now to express their side of the view.She is being regarded and shown as a neutral source as she being Indian is siding with the Pakistani arguments.

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
The Telegraph - Calcutta : Look

your take?

[dark_saint]

pakistan jati hishebe unpredictable