Sheikh Hasina

Continuing efforts for international recognition of 1971 Genocide: PM in Parliament

The Prime Minister said this in response to a written question by Awami League member of parliament AKM Rahmatullah in the question-and-answer session scheduled for the PM in the National Parliament on Wednesday.

Sheikh Hasina said, the great liberation war of 1971 is an unforgettable chapter in the history of Bengali nation. Ever since the creation of Pakistan, the ruling elite of West Pakistan systematically deprived the people of East Pakistan of economic and political rights.

The Prime Minister said that in this nine-month bloody war, we gained freedom in return for the sacrifice of 30 lakh people and the honor of lakhs of mothers and sisters. During the war, the atrocities committed by the Pakistani occupation forces and their local allies on the freedom-seeking common people exceeded the atrocities committed in any other war in the world. The atrocities of the Pakistani occupation forces beat all the black chapters of history, including the Nazi atrocities of World War II. There is no other picture in history of killing, torturing and raping so many people after World War II. Remembering this history, we have been protesting strongly on the international stage against genocide organized in any part of the world.

She said, since the formation of the government, we have taken various steps at the diplomatic level with the aim of gaining international recognition of the genocide committed in the Great War of Liberation. As a result of this, a proposal was brought to the lower house of the United States Parliament (House of Representatives) on October 14 last year to recognize the killings carried out by the Pakistan Army in Bangladesh in 1971 as a massacre. The proposal was introduced by Congressman Steve Chatt of Ohio and Congressman Row Khanna of California. Later, Katy Porter of California and Tom Malinowski of New Jersey joined as co-sponsors.