Pakistani media coverage of PM Hasina and envoy’s meet leaves out 1971 remarks

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on December 3 said Bangladesh cannot forget and forgive atrocities committed by Pakistan in 1971 when Pakistani High Commissioner Imran Ahmed Siddiqui called on her at the Gono Bhaban.

However, there was a distinct difference in the way the meeting was covered by the media outlets in the two countries.

"Incidents of 1971 cannot be forgotten or forgiven," PM said, according to a press release of the Press Wing of the Prime Minister's Office.

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Atrocities of 1971 cannot be forgotten and forgiven

The PM also extended greetings to her Pakistan counterpart Imran Khan when the envoy conveyed the premier's good wishes to her, and said there was no bar to continuing diplomatic activities between the two countries following the usual norms.

The meeting and its contents were both covered in the news media of the two countries.

While the top Bangladeshi media outlets, including The Daily Star, Dhaka Tribune, bdnews24.com, and New Age, among others, reported quoting state-run Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) and privately run news agency United News Bangladesh (UNB), and covered all the aforementioned aspects, Pakistani news media, curiously, left out the remarks made by PM Hasina on Pakistan's atrocities in 1971.

The reports published in the Pakistani news outlets, including Dawn, The News and Geo News, among others, did not mention what she said about how Bangladesh perceives the war crimes committed by Pakistani forces in the 1971 Liberation War.

The Pakistani media stressed that the Bangladesh premier had "called for strengthening ties with Pakistan", whereas according to Bangladeshi media, when the Pakistani envoy mentioned that different bilateral and regional forums have remained inactive and sought help from the Bangladesh PM to activate Foreign Office consultations between the two countries, Sheikh Hasina said there is no bar here to the continuation of functioning regularly.