Activists hold conference in Brussels; call for recognising 1971 Bangladesh genocide
Dec 11, 2022
Brussels [Belgium], December 11 : A group of politicians, human rights activists, and other intellectuals held a two-day conference in Brussels, Belgium on December 8-9 in the wake of Human Rights Day this week.
In a memorandum submitted to European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, the intellectuals called for condemnation of ongoing genocides worldwide and demanded recognition of the 1971 genocide in Bangladesh.
They called for "the recognition of Bangladesh genocide of 1971, the condemnation of all genocidal crimes currently happening across the world and the creation of effective pressure by the EU on the Government of Myanmar to ensure the safe return of Rohingya Refugees from Bangladesh."
The memorandum, signed by over 180 people, called upon the European Union and the international community to condemn all genocidal acts committed by different regimes and groups across the world.
Between March 25 and December 16, 1971, the Pakistani occupation army and its local collaborators conducted a systematic genocidal attack against the Bengali nation and Hindu religious groups.
The large-scale attack caused the killing of millions of people in Bangladesh and forced migration of people out of their homeland to neighbouring India where they took refuge for months, according to the memorandum.
"The Bangladeshi genocide was widely reported at the time of its occurrence, but was quickly forgotten by the world- so much so that no effort has so far been made by the international community to bring the perpetrators to justice," the memorandum European Parliament read.
This call for recognition of the Bangladesh genocide came on December 9, which marks the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime, as well as the 74th anniversary of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
The Convention signifies the international community's commitment to "never again" and provides the first international legal definition of "genocide," widely adopted at national and international levels.
