Ameer, Jamaat-i-Islami Syed Munawar Hasan has strongly condemned the Foreign Office (FO) statement describing the convictions of JI leaders in Bangladesh as internal issue of that country, and said this was something most shameful and shocking. In a statement on Saturday, he said the JI leaders in BD were being punished not for some personal crimes but for trying to save Pakistan from a split, for supporting the Pakistan army and for trying to foil India's evil designs against this country.
He said these were the people who offered every sacrifice for safeguarding the country's solidarity but the Foreign Office wizards disowned them. The Foreign Office remarks would certainly be more painful for these patriotic Pakistanis than their convictions by the so called War Crimes Tribunal, he said.
The JI Ameer said that Islamabad's statement terming these judicial murders and anti-Pakistan tirade as Bangladesh's internal issue was in fact the initial fruit of the back channel diplomacy with India. He said there was world-wide resentment over the convictions of JI leaders in Bangladesh and different Muslims governments and political parties of some countries had sent protest letters to Hasina Wajid government whereas the Pakistan's Foreign Office statement had shocked the patriotic Pakistanis.
Munawar Hasan said, this dissociation of patriotic citizens was not something new as Pakistan had been giving such treatment to its well wishers for the last 43 years. He said the Pakistan government was expected to condemn Hasina Wajid government for targeting the Islam lovers at New Delhi's behest, and prevent it from its oppressive policies against them, but unfortunately, it was rubbing salt on the wounds of these pro-Pakistan people. Under the cover of War Crimes, the pro- Pakistan elements were being subjected to state terrorism, he said.
The JI Ameer said that the JI leaders in Bangladesh were prepared to face trials before any lawful courts under the international laws. As for the so called War Crimes Tribunal, he said, different world bodies including the Amnesty International, International Bar Associations, the American Society of International Law, the UN Working Group on arbitrary detention and the jurists of world repute had already rejected this forum, he added.