1971 Genocide

Collected

India commemorates the 1971 genocide in Bangladesh perpetrated by Pakistan

"Let’s pay homage to 3 million killed & 200,000 or more women raped in erstwhile East Pakistan by Pakistan army & religious militias in 1971 in most horrific episode in human history," the Indian diplomat said.

December 9, 1948, is the International Day of Genocide, the day the United Nations adopted the Genocide Convention. Meanwhile, in a message on the occasion of the day, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said, "The torture and oppression inflicted on us in 1971 has inspired us to stop genocide everywhere and demand justice for the victims of this heinous act."

She said that in order for the genocide to never happen again, the international community needs to identify the root causes of the past incidents, identify the initial crisis of genocide and ensure justice.

On the night of March 25, 1971, the Pakistani army attacked the unarmed people of the country to stifle the Bengali liberation movement. The genocide was carried out in Dhaka in the early hours of the night in that operation called 'Operation Searchlight'.

Before being arrested by the Pakistani forces in the early hours of March 26, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared independence. However, before that, at a public meeting at the then Racecourse Maidan in Dhaka on March 7, the undisputed leader of the Bengalis said, "This time the struggle is for our liberation - this time the struggle is for freedom."

In fact, that was the declaration of independence of Bangladesh.

The ultimate victory was achieved on 16 December in exchange for the sacrifices of three million martyrs in the nine-month war, the humiliation of 2,50,000 mothers and sisters and the extraordinary sacrifice of the nation. An independent sovereign state called Bangladesh emerged on the world map.