Muhith’s no comment about money Pakistan owes to Bangladesh

Finance Minister AMA Muhith today declined to say anything about the fate of the money Pakistan owes to Bangladesh in different heads.

“I can’t predict anything about this….this requires a psychological change in Pakistan. I don’t know whether it would be possible for a rogue country like them (Pakistan),” he said.

The government claims that Pakistan owes Tk 18,000 crore to Bangladesh in heads like donations and reserve.

The finance minister was responding to a supplementary question from Awami League MP Fazilatun Nessa (Women Seat-22) as to when Bangladesh would be able to have the money from Pakistan.

Referring to the wealth distribution between India and Pakistan after the separation in 1947, Muhith said then there was a referee who acted neutrally and did not take anyone’s side.

“But, the case of Bangladesh and Pakistan was not like this. They (Pakistan) acted ghoulishly against us…they had no decency in them. That’s why there was no scope for wealth distribution,” he said.

The finance minister said Bangladesh started to place the claims before Pakistan when the diplomatic ties were established between the two countries. “I was the chairman of a committee formed in this regard,” he added.

Recalling the first visit of then Pakistani prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to Bangladesh, Muhith said, “Our then prime minister Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman strongly placed the claim and I was the member of that delegation.”

However, Bhutto did not respond to that claim, he said. “He refused to discuss anything with us regarding that claim.”

The finance minister said discussions regarding the claim were held later too and the OIC helped Bangladesh in this regard. However, the discussion never went far as Pakistan never recognised the claims. “This is the character of Pakistan.”

Bangladesh always tries to realise the claims from Pakistan, he said adding that demand is still placed whenever a Bangladesh delegation meets their Pakistani counterpart.

Muhith, however, lamented that this claim is never placed on a regular basis. “There was time when this demand went away from the discussion list and we again put it back in the list,” he added.