In a first, Resolution tabled in US for declaring Pak army action in Bangladesh during 1971 as 'Genocide'
Oct 15, 2022
Dhaka [Bangladesh], October 15 : For the first time after several years of sustained efforts, a resolution has been tabled in the US House of Representatives declaring Pakistan Army's action against Bengalis and Hindus in 1971 during the Liberation War of Bangladesh as a "genocide" and "crime against humanity".
Sustained efforts were made in the last few years after which the first resolution has been introduced which has called on the Pakistan government to apologise to the people of Bangladesh for its role in such a genocide, United News Bangladesh reported.
The legislation was introduced by two Congressmen Ro Khanna, and Steve Chabot, who recognized that such atrocities against ethnic Bengalis and Hindus constitute crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide.
Congressman Chabot said legislation looks to recognize that the mass atrocities committed against Bengalis and Hindus, in particular, were indeed a genocide.
"The Bangladesh Genocide of 1971 must not be forgotten. With help from my Hindu constituents in Ohio's First District, @RepRoKhanna and I introduced legislation to recognize that the mass atrocities committed against Bengalis and Hindus, in particular, were indeed a genocide," Congressman Chabot tweeted.
"We must not let the years erase the memory of the millions who were massacred. Recognizing the genocide strengthens the historical record, educates our fellow Americans, and lets would-be perpetrators know such crimes will not be tolerated or forgotten," he said further.
"Proud to join Rep Steve Chabot in introducing the first resolution commemorating the 1971 Bengali Genocide in which millions of ethnic Bengalis and Hindus were killed or displaced in one of the most forgotten genocides of our time," Khanna said.
The legislation which is eight-page long also mentions March 28, 1971 telegram sent by United States Consul General in Dacca, Archer Blood titled "Selective Genocide".
Bangladesh Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque last month called the greater push for international recognition of genocide carried out on unarmed Bangalees, Bangladesh News Agency reported.
Addressing a press conference in Dhaka, Haque said international recognition of the genocide of 1971 could not be realized 51 years after independence, Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS).
However, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government declared March 25 as National Genocide Day.
