Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen had said that genocide committed in 1971 in Bangladesh by the Pakistani military is one of the most heinous crimes in human history and regretted that the genocide is yet to be recognized by the international community to the extent the genocide warrants.
“We do not know of another instance of barbarism of such intensity and mayhem,” Momen said while speaking at a virtual seminar as the chief guest.
The foreign minister said on 25 March 1971 the Pakistan junta undertook the cruel and enormous mayhem of innocent civilian people of Bangladesh in order to suppress the nation's democratic aspirations by sheer force of fear and terror.
He informed that Bangladesh declared March 25 as the Genocide Day and Bangladesh is working for getting the date recognized as the International Genocide Day by all the countries in the world.
Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen said 1971 has been the most significant year in the history of Bangladesh.
In one hand, Bangladesh achieved its independence in this very year, on the other hand, the nation experienced the ugliest chapter of brutality, atrocities, indiscriminate killing, raping, looting, and arson to achieve independence, he said, adding that the world witnessed genocide within three decades of the Second World War.
The High Commission for Bangladesh in Canada and the Bangabandhu Centre for Bangladesh Studies (BCBS) in Canada, Liberation War Museum, Bangladesh, Genocide Studies Centre, University of Dhaka, Refugees Resilience Centre and Rotary Club Canada jointly organized the day-long seminar on remembering and recognition of the case of Bangladesh Genocide in 1971 at the Human Rights Museum, Winipeg, Canada on September 21.
Bangladesh's High Commissioner to Canada and the Chief Patron of the BCBS in Canada delivered the opening remarks. Dr Gregory Stanton of Genocide Watch delivered the keynote speech. Mofidul Hoque, trustee, Liberation War Museum of Bangladesh explained the case of genocide in Bangladesh in 1971. Dr John Adam of University of British Colombia, Vancouver, Canada, gave a verbal illustration of the Bangladesh Genocide.
The Bangladesh genocide fulfils all criteria declared by the UN to get global recognition. Professor Dr Imtiaz Ahmed, director of Centre for Genocide Studies, University of Dhaka, presented a paper delineating the Bangladesh genocide. Some members of the victim families of the genocide also spoke at the seminar.
Bangladesh's High Commissioner Khalilur Rahman has told a seminar in Canada how Bangladesh's Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman led Bengalis towards independence and in a way defined Bengali nationalism. He underscored the need to overcome the malice of backwardness, sectarianism and personal interests to become golden hands, worthy of Sonar Bangla that the prime minister is steering the country towards.
The Liberation War Museum also presented a poster on the Bangladesh-Canada efforts on recognition of the Bangladesh Genocide.
It was the first ever international seminar on genocide that took place outside Bangladesh with participation of so many organizations and experts from all over the world.
