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Members of 50 civil societies of Pakistan have sought a public apology by the Pakistan government for excesses and atrocities committed during the 1971 Bangladesh liberation struggle.
In a note faxed to the Bangladesh media on Friday, the joint statement also expressed regrets for the 'excesses and atrocities" committed by the Pakistan army in 1971.
Most Dhaka dailies -- the Bangladesh Observer, Dainik Ittefaq, Dainik Prathom Alo -- printed the statement as well as the names of the societies that had endorsed it.
"In a fax message on Friday, 50 Pakistani civil society organisations hailed President Pervez Musharraf's statement of regret on the atrocities of 1971 during his three-day official visit to Bangladesh," said the Bangladesh Observer .
"We take this opportunity to make a public apology to the sisters and brothers of Bangladesh for all excesses and atrocities that were committed upon civilians. We feel sad and burdened by what we know was a violation of people's human rights," said the statement from Pakistan. "Though this apology should have come long ago and some citizen groups did make attempts to do so, we deeply feel that a message from us is necessary to acknowledge historic wrongs, to express our sincere apology and to build a bond based on honest sentiments."
The organisations include the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Action Aid Pakistan, Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid, Sustainable Development Policy Institute, South Asia Partnership, Pakistan Democratic Commission for Human Development.
This joint apology follows Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf's expression of regret during his visit to Dhaka from 29 till 31 July as part of his three-nation tour of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and China. But though he expressed his regrets on two occasions for the 'events of 1971' and 'tragedy of 1971', while in Dhaka, he never mentioned atrocities or human rights violation.
Political and civic bodies of Bangladesh have been demanding an unconditional apology by Pakistan for genocide and war crimes committed by Pakistan army during the liberation struggle of 1971, and had either boycotted or held protest demonstrations during Musharraf's visit.
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