BD missions abroad observed genocide day

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DHAKA, March 26, 2021 (BSS) – Bangladesh missions aboard have observed the ‘Genocide Day’ demanding for international recognition of the genocide and mass killings of Bangalees by the invading Pakistan army, fifty years ago on March 25, 1971.

Bangladesh High Commission, London in collaboration with Centre for Genocide Studies of the Dhaka University on March 25 observed 50 years of Bangladesh Genocide in a commemorative event titled “1971 Bangladesh Genocide and International Recognition”, calling for international recognition of the genocide and mass killings of Bangalees by the invading Pakistan army fifty years ago on 25 March 1971.

Bangladesh High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Ireland Saida Muna Tasneem chaired the event.

Dr Rounaq Jahan, professor of international affairs and senior research scholar at the Columbia University, also an eyewitness of 25 March 1971, delivering the keynote speech, presented a comparative narrative of contemporary genocides since the Second World War, international legal jurisprudence and legal opinions on the recognition of the Bangladesh genocide of 1971.

International genocides and war crimes experts, including Professor Joann Digeorge-Lutz, Head of the Department of Liberal Studies of Texas A&M University, Yasmin Saikia, Professor of History and Hardt-Nickachos Chair in Peace Studies of Arizona State University and Dr Sachi Dastagir, professor of State University of New York College and Chair, Indian Subcontinent partition documentation project speaking as panelists recommended a number of strategies used by genocide victims such as Rwanda, Bosnia and Cambodia which could create greater awareness about their genocide atrocities.

Dr Mizanur Rahman, Research Director of Bangladesh Institute of International Affairs and former chairman of the National Human Right Commission, Dr Imitaz Ahmed, professor of the International Relations and Director of Centre for Genocide Studies of the Dhaka University, Sultan Mahmud Sharif, a leading organizer of Bangladesh Liberation War in the UK, freedom fighter Dewan Gaus Sultan and Dr Nuzhat Chowdhury, daughter of 1971 martyr intellectual Dr Alim Chowdhury also spoke as panelists.

High Commissioner Saida Muna Tasneem in her opening remarks said: “On the occasion of the 50th anniversary celebration of Bangladesh’s glorious independence inspired by the theme ‘The Eternal Mujib’, Bangladesh High Commission London paid deep homage to the 3 million victims and 200,000 Biranganas of the 1971 genocide committed on the soil of Bangladesh during our 1971 War of Liberation.”

Expressing her gratitude to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for declaring 25 March as the Bangladesh Genocide Day, the High Commissioner said: “The government headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina started the 1971 war crimes trials through the independent International Crimes Tribunal, Bangladesh.”

“It is now the responsibility of our generation to create global awareness about international recognition of the 1971 Bangladesh genocide and prevent genocide never happens anywhere else,” she added.

Bangladesh Embassy in Washington DC, Paris, Consulate General of Bangladesh in New York, Bangladesh Embassy in Greece, Bangladesh Embassy in Cairo, Egypt, Bangladesh High Commission in Ottawa, Consulate General of Bangladesh in Kunming, China, Permanent Mission of Bangladesh to the United Nations, Embassy of Bangladesh in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh Consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia also observed the ‘Genocide Day’ with due solemnity and respect by commemorating the massacre of unarmed people in Bangladesh by the invading forces of Pakistan under the name “Operation Search Light” on the night of March 25, 1971.