Kolkata, Dec 21

A Bangladesh human rights activist Saturday asked Dhaka to snap diplomatic ties with Islamabad after Pakistan's parliament adopted a resolution expressing concern over the hanging of war criminal Abdul Quader Mollah.

"We have asked our government to break off all diplomatic ties with Pakistan. There is no need to maintain any diplomatic relation with such a country that promotes terrorism, that justifies genocide, that encourages perpetrators of genocide," said Shahriar Kabir, also a journalist.

"That is the demand of the civil society of Bangladesh," he said on the sidelines of a seminar organised by the Indo-Bangladesh Cultural Centre and Independent Journalist Society here.

Convicted of rapes and mass murders, Mollah was hanged Dec 12 in the first execution of 1971 Bangladesh liberation war criminals.

In response to the execution, Pakistani activists held protests in various towns.

The Pakistan National Assembly or lower house of parliament passed a resolution moved by the Jamaat-e-Islami party expressing sympathy for Mollah's family.

Strongly condemning the resolution, Kabir said: "It is a severe violation of the Vienna Convention and nobody can interfere in an internal matter of the judicial system of a country. The verdict was given by a Bangladeshi court. So how can Pakistan adopt a resolution against this?"

Kabir said Mollah's hanging paved the way for other countries to prosecute war criminals.

"In the last century, there have been more than 100 genocides in different countries, starting from Mexico to Vietnam. In 90 percent of cases, the perpetrators went unpunished. People are still crying for justice," Kabir said.

"Bangladesh has set an example that any country can enact domestic law to try certain international crimes like genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and we have shown the way."

Kabir, the executive president of Bangladesh's Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee (Forum For Secular Bangladesh) and war crimes researcher, hoped countries like Vietnam and Congo can follow suit.

"Now other countries can take the initiative. They can enact the law and follow the way we did it in Bangladesh."

By:IANS