Pakistan and its former collaborator Jamaat-e-Islami have refused to offer a clear, unconditional apology for their atrocities during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.
This is not merely a failure of history; it is a wilful, ongoing act of obfuscation. This is no longer about the past more than five decades later. It is about a deliberate refusal to face the truth, disguised up in carefully chosen phrases and political convenience.
Pakistan’s stance has long been a lesson on how to avoid crimes. It sometimes uses the word “regret” on purpose as a way to get what it wants.
Regret is cheap since it shows that you feel bad without saying you’re sorry. It is meant to make people less responsible while avoiding the moral and legal weight of the word “genocide.” This is not regret. It is planned ambiguity, a failure to say what needs to be stated because the results would be too real.
Pakistan’s denial may be based on distance, but Jamaat-e-Islami’s stance is much more open and offensive. This is not a foreign state that is trying to forget its past; it is a political party that is working in Bangladesh but won’t take responsibility for its part in one of the darkest times in the country’s history.
Jamaat didn’t just oppose independence in 1971; they actively stood with the Pakistani military ruler and became part of the machinery that brutalized millions of civilians. That is not a footnote in history; it is the core part of its political legacy.
But instead of dealing with that past, Jamaat has perfected the art of changing its political shape. It makes vague, slippery remarks that seem like apologies but don’t hold up when you look at them closely.
These aren’t confessions of guilt; they’re lines that are meant to mislead and make people doubt enough to avoid taking responsibility. It’s not about being sorry; it’s about public relations.
The hypocrisy becomes even more glaring in Jamaat’s symbolic politics. Today, the party pays tribute to the martyrs of the Liberation War. But this show of “respect” rings hollow because Jamaat was on the wrong side of history when those martyrs were killed. This is not tribute; it is appropriation.
It’s like crying crocodile tears in politics: you’re sad about the people who died for a cause you once supported and actively involved. It’s quite cynical to try to wrap yourself in the legacy of a war you opposed, without ever admitting your role in its horrors.
This is where Jamaat’s dishonesty is most damaging. It wants the legitimacy to take part in Bangladesh’s democratic system while refusing the moral responsibility that comes with its past.
It wants to be viewed as just another political player, but it is quietly getting rid of the fact that it opposed the very existence of the state it now works in. That is not change; it is taking advantage of a situation.
What makes it even worse is that it keeps trying to make history less clear. Jamaat tries to downplay the scale of atrocities and hide the role of collaborators by using chosen stories and clever reframing. This isn’t a fair argument about history; it’s revisionism with a goal.
The idea is simple: to make the moral clarity of 1971 less clear until the lines between victim and offender start to fade.
Not having a real apology is not a small problem; it goes to the heart of Bangladesh’s political and moral foundation. Accountability is not about getting even; it is about finding the truth. Without truth, there can be no real reconciliation.
Pakistan needs to stop hiding behind empty words and Jamaat-e-Islami needs to stop pretending to be sad and face its past honestly. Until then, their gestures – whether they are meant to show sorrow or respect – will always be what they really are: calculated performances.
