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Bangladesh Celebrates Independence After Expelling Pakistani Diplomat
by Nadeem Qadir
DHAKA (AFP) - Bangladesh on Saturday celebrated the anniversary of the end of its bloody 1971 independence war against Pakistan, a day after expelling a senior Pakistani diplomat.
Bangladesh won independence from Pakistan after a bitter nine-month war led by the country's founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed.
According to official Bangladeshi estimates, the war cost the lives of three million people in the former East Pakistan including, as Dhaka charges, many thousands of civilians massacred by Pakistani troops.
Army chiefs flanked Bangladeshi President Shahabuddin Ahmed, also commander in chief of the armed forces, as he reviewed thousands of troops at the National Parade Square in the capital Dhaka.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who holds the defence portfolio, as well as diplomats, ministers, senior officials, war veterans and relatives of war dead, also watched the parade.
Major General Mohammad Masudur Rahman, who was decorated in the conflict, led the parade, viewed by massed weekend holiday crowds.
Air force jets, including Russian-made MiG 29s, staged a fly by as Bangladesh displayed Chinese-made tanks and other mechanized columns.
Army paratroopers filed through in a colorful parade, while other air force jets put on a show of formation flying, decorating the sky with colored jet streams.
The defense ministry said 33 junior commissioned officers of the army, navy and air force were given "honorary promotions" to mark the day.
At dawn Saturday, Ahmed and Sheikh Hasina drove to nearby Savr district and placed wreaths at a memorial dedicated to the war dead as a bugle played the last post.
At Dhaka University, students danced and sang to the beat of Dhol drums. They also staged a colorful march through Dhaka's streets, holding up paper and bamboo flowers, butterflies and birds.
They also brandished snakes, representing Pakistani collaborators for whom the students have demanded a war crimes trial.
In a statement to mark the anniversary, Ahmed called for unity on issues of national importance in remarks aimed at the opposition's drawn out anti-government campaign.
"Democratic government has been established," he said.
"The prime need of the hour now is to forge unity on important national issues and create a favorable social atmosphere ensuring uninterrupted peace and development for the welfare of the people."
Victory Day commemorates the surrender of the Pakistani army to joint Bangladesh-India allied forces nine months after the war started in March 26, 1971 - Independence Day.
The millennium's first Victory Day was celebrated hours after Pakistani deputy high commissioner Irfan-ur Raja was expelled from Dhaka late Friday to Dubai, the first diplomat to face such action.
Raja refused to speak to journalists waiting at Dhaka airport as security personnel rushed him onto a Biman Bangladesh flight.
"Whatever I have to say, I will say on returning to Pakistan. Please, I will not talk to the press as already a lot of misunderstanding has been created," he was quoted as saying by the Daily Prothom Alo newspaper.
His departure came hours after he was declared persona non-grata for remarks he made nearly three weeks ago about the war, which sparked nationwide protests including the burning of Pakistani flags.
The diplomat reportedly told a seminar in Bangladesh that atrocities committed during the war were the work of "miscreants" in the local ruling party and not the Pakistani military as is widely believed.
Bangladesh blames troops from the then West Pakistan for several massacres of civilians during the war.
Foreign Minister Abdus Samad Azad said Raja "has caused harm to our bilateral relations."
Analysts agreed relations had hit an all-time low since the war.
"It was the right decision, although delayed, but I am happy he is not here when we are celebrating our Victory Day," protest organizer Kazi Mukul said.
Islamabad said the expulsion was "unjustified" and "not in keeping with the spirit of friendly relations between the two countries."
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