A former Pakistani diplomat has said Islamabad should offer a "formal apology" to the people of Bangladesh for the "genocide" committed by its military in 1971, according to media reports.
Bangladesh — previously known as East Pakistan -- broke away to become an independent nation in 1971 after a war between Bangladeshi freedom fighters, backed by India, and Pakistani forces.
Officially three million people were killed and thousands of women were raped during the nine-month long war.
"The military's reaction in the form of imprisoning Sheikh Mujib (Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman) and initiating genocide against the Bengalis. To this day, no apology has been forthcoming...An apology is the most courteous thing," Husain Haqqani, who served as Pakistan's ambassador to the US from 2008 to 2011, was quoted as saying by The Daily Star newspaper on Wednesday.
"The people of Pakistan should urge their government to offer a formal apology to the people of Bangladesh for all the atrocities committed by the Pakistani military in 1971," he said at a virtual talk titled "Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman: An Iconic Leader of People's Struggle for Freedom" on Monday.
The internationally renowned scholar from Pakistan now lives in the US, according to the state-run news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS).
