ISLAMABAD: A Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) resolution, asking the government to “condemn” the recent execution of a political leader in Bangladesh and asking Dhaka not to “dig up” old matters, is on the agenda of the Senate, which will be meeting here on Monday after a two-day recess.

The resolution stands in the name of JI chief Sirajul Haq, who is his party’s lone member in the upper house.

Read: Bangladesh hangs Jamaat-e-Islami leader for 1971 war massacre

It also wants the government to ask Dhaka to “quash” 43-year-old cases against the leadership of the party’s Bangladesh chapter.

“This House calls upon the government of Pakistan to condemn the execution of Mohammad Qamaruz Zaman, assistant general secretary, JI Bangladesh, by the government of Bangladesh for his support to Pakistan in 1971,” says the resolution.

Qamaruz Zaman, 63, was hanged at Dhaka central jail on April 11 after the Supreme Court rejected his appeal against a death sentence imposed by a special tribunal for “genocide and torture of civilians during the 1971 conflict”.

The party wants the government to ask Dhaka to ‘quash’ 43-year-old cases against leaders of Bangladesh’s Jamaat-i-Islami

He was the second JI leader hanged for atrocities during the 1971 war of independence, after Abdul Qader Molla, who was executed in December, 2013.

Also read: JI protests leader’s hanging in Bangladesh

When the National Assembly passed a resolution on Dec 16, 2013, expressing “concerns” over the hanging of Abdul Qader Molla, the Bangladesh government reacted sharply and lodged a protest with Islamabad after summoning Pakistan’s high commissioner in Dhaka to its Foreign Office.

Realising the sensitivity of the matter, this time the Pakistan government came out with a cautious reaction over the execution of Qamaruz Zaman.

The Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement: “We are carefully monitoring the situation with regard to internal developments in that country,” adding that as a fellow Muslim country and Saarc member, Pakistan has mutually beneficial relations with the people of Bangladesh.

However, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan criticised the hanging of JI leaders and stated that “irrespective of the stance of the FO or the government, events in Bangladesh have perturbed every Pakistani as these executions are crimes against humanity”.

Leader of the House in the Senate and chairman of the ruling PML-N Raja Zafarul Haq expressed the hope that the Senate would pass JI’s resolution as its text had been amended by the party on the government’s request.

Talking to Dawn, Mr Haq said that the JI had wanted to table this resolution last week, but Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani referred it to him for review before presenting it before the house.

Mr Haq said that he had requested the JI chief to address the government of Pakistan in the resolution, instead of the Bangladesh government, as otherwise it could be considered an interference the internal matters of a country.

He said since the language of the resolution had now been changed, he believed that the resolution would be passed.

He said such resolutions were not binding upon the government and were only of an “advisory” nature.

Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2015

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