Ex-Gen says Hamoodur Rehman recommendations should not be forgotten

ISLAMABAD: The book titled ‘Tormented Truth 1971 and Beyond’ authored by Group Captain (retd) S M Hali which contains Indian propaganda and facts behind dismemberment of Pakistan, was launched here at Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI) on Tuesday.

General Ehsan ul Haq, NI (M), (retd) who was chief guest of the ceremony, said that the then Indian prime minister claimed to sink two-nation theory with separation of East Pakistan but he said the theory was very alive and exist. Gen Ehsan congratulated the author for such a wonderful mention of unbiased and objective literature.

“We should adopt the policy of forget and forgive,” he said. He also urged that the people of Pakistan should move ahead by learning from the past mistakes. However, he questioned whether the recommendations of the Hamoodur Rehman Commission Report should be implemented, adding that fact told in the report should not be forgotten.

The event was attended by diplomats, dignitaries, scholars, students, journalists, and people from all walks of life. Ambassador Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, Director General ISSI, expressed his delight for covering a rather neglected research topic in the history of Pakistan and congratulated the author, S M Hali.

The author recalled his teenage years when the unfortunate event of 1971 happened saying that it was a tormented history in which leadership of the time share a responsibility. “Their actions provided India an opportunity to dismember Pakistan,” he said.

Ambassador Aizaz Chaudhry condemned the illegal and immoral Indian intervention in Pakistan’s internal affairs. Earlier, Director ISC Dr. Saifur Rehman Malik lauded S M Hali for producing the book. He said that the ISC under the able guidance of DG ISSI Ambassador Aizaz has so far conducted 16 major events involving national and international speakers. Recently, the ISC has also produced a book entitled ‘India’s Relations with Neighbours: Cooperation or Confrontation?’, covering India’s foreign relations with its neighbours, he added.

S M Hali, while shedding lights on his book, said that his research and title of the book tell the truth about the dismemberment of Pakistan in 1971. He said that it was very important to know that why he had written this book.

The book is written with the aim of to get rid of the myth of three million Bengalis genocide carried out by Pakistan Army in 1971. The myth of three million Bengalis genocide is a part of Bangladeshi syllabus.

Hali said that he had realised that the truth must be told to the world saying that they acknowledge that Bangladesh is a reality, and it has been thriving. “We Pakistan are proud of their success but still the truth must be told and every few years the old wounds are opened,” he said.

Senator Javed Jabbar, while expressing his views, articulated that why truth is associated with torment and truth is supposed to be beautiful and supreme revealing everything. The truth can be a source of great pain and the truth sometimes cannot be born. When sometimes the truth is distorted as it has been since 1971. And 1971 will remain a source of disturbing memory.

Hali has made an extensively researched effort and added further literature. The creation of Bangladesh did not reject the reality of Muslim nationalism in South Asia. Even the constitution of Bangladesh Article 2A says that the state religion will remain Islam, he added.

Later, Ambassador Salahuddin Chaudhry said that being a person of Bengali origin, he followed the advice of his father (Vice Chancellor International Islamic University) to stay in Rawalpindi and he vehemently argued that he is a proud Pakistani.

He shared his personal experiences of Hindu Bengalis and people of India tormenting the people of East Pakistan, especially those who had a patriotic view of Pakistan.

Air Vice Marshal Zubair Alam (retd) said that he was a member of the team who wrote the official history of the Pakistan Air Force called the ‘The Story of the PAF’. Alam remembered that he took part in the 1971 Indo-Pak War when he flew C-130 transport aircraft in combat support and airfield assault operations. Prior to that, he also took part in the flood relief operations in 1970 by flying from West to East Pakistan. He lamented that continental transport was rendered impossible by the militants and miscreants of Mukti Bahini trained and supported by India.