Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Friday hoped that the new generation of Pakistan will understand their country’s army’s genocide in Bangladesh in 1971 and raise their voice for perpetrators' punishment.
“Pakistani junta who committed the genocide went unpunished. It’s very unfortunate and shameful. It’s a shame for Pakistan, too. They should have tried them,” he told reporters after attending a seminar in Dhaka.
Earlier, he spoke at a seminar titled “Bangladesh Genocide in 1971” as the guest of honor while Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque spoke as the chief guest.
The seminar was jointly organized by the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the Liberation War Museum Auditorium in the capital’s Agargaon.
Genocide expert Dr Helen Jarvis, founding president of Genocide Watch Professor Gregory Stanton, and Liberation War Museum Trustee Mofidul Hoque also spoke at the function.
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Dr Momen said the parliament adopted the resolution to commemorate March 25 as the “Genocide Day”, marking the day as the beginning of Bangladesh’s nine-month-long Liberation War.
He said efforts are on to get international recognition of the genocide. “It was the day when the Pakistani army and its collaborators started one of the most heinous genocides of world history.”
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the issue is now alive and the government is trying to get international recognition of it, Momen added.
“We believe commemoration of March 24 as Genocide Day is not only paying homage to the great and brave martyrs of 1971 but also creating public awareness against the genocide happened and happening all around the world,” he continued.
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“Genocide Watch” has issued “Declaration in Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Bangladesh Genocide” and “Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention” has issued the “Statement on the Bangladesh Genocide of 1971” a few months ago.
Quoting the speech of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman delivered at the UN General Assembly in 1974, Momen said: “I know that the soul of our martyrs joins us in pledging that the Banglaee nation fully commits itself to the building of a world order in which the aspiration of all men and women for peace and justice will be realized.”
The speakers paid respect to Bangabandhu whose unprecedented leadership and long struggle helped in achieving our long-cherished independence.
They also paid homage to the memories of the three million martyrs of the Liberation War, who sacrificed their lives for the cause of Bangladesh.
