In Pakistan, Blame and Regret Over Bangladesh

For the Wall Street Journal:

Hundreds of men crowded the plaza in front of the Mosque of Martyr’s in Islamabad, Pakistan earlier this month after Friday prayers, lining up to pay their respects to an opposition politician executed in Bangladesh for committing war crimes during that country’s 1971 struggle for independence.

Abdul Quader Molla, the Jamaat-e-Islami leader,  had a strong support base in Pakistan, the country whose eastern flank was cut off during the war to create Bangladesh.

“His only crime was to try and keep Pakistan from breaking up, to support the Pakistani government and army,” an announcer told Mr. Molla’s mourners.

A special war-crimes tribunal earlier this year convicted Mr. Molla, 65 years old, on murder and rape charges in proceedings that human-rights groups and the United Nations have said were flawed. Many in Pakistan have also protested his death sentence.

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