The world reads, discusses, and debates genocides, from Armenia to Rwanda -- but sadly the petrifying genocide in Bangladesh is hardly condemned or even discussed at the global level.
On October 15, Congressman Steve Chabot and Indian-origin American Congressman Ro Khanna, placed a resolution for the first time at the the US House of Representatives urging the US President to recognize the atrocities committed against ethnic Bengalis and Hindus by the armed forces of Pakistan in 1971 as a genocide.
The resolution introduced in the US House of Representatives strictly demands Pakistan's apology to Bangladesh for the genocide.
In the name of Operation Searchlight, the Pakistani army initiated the horrific genocide in Bangladesh in 1971. Countless Bangladeshis were brutally killed and hundreds of thousands of Bengali women were raped by the Pakistani troops.
The Pakistani Army targeted intellectuals, university students, professors, and those in the Hindu community during the carnage. The military establishment in Pakistan was quite confident that they could suppress the Bengali nationalist movement in a barbaric way. But East Pakistan freed herself with the help of India.
As per the UN Convention on the Convention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 1948 (CPPCG), what happened in Bangladesh in 1971 should be called genocide. More than 50 years have gone by. Neither Washington nor the UN has recognized the act of the Pakistan in East Pakistan (Bangladesh) as genocide.
The US has not paid its attention on the genocide in East Pakistan (Bangladesh) by former ruler West Pakistan for obvious reason. Archer Blood, then American ambassador to India, briefed the US officials but the United States refused to respond as Pakistan was their Cold War ally.
President Nixon simply ignored the carnage. Despite former secretary of state Henry Kissinger calling the development immoral, the US administration refrained from listing the carnage as genocidal.
Steve Chabot, the Republican representative who placed the resolution in the US, took to twitter to say, “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.”
“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,” Chabot added.
Introducing the resolution at the House of Representatives, Khanna, the US Representative from California's 17th congressional district and Democrat candidate tweeted: “Proud to join @RepSteveChabot 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.”
The resolution, filed by the duo, reads that the US-based NGOs Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Genocide Watch have demanded global recognition of the atrocities by Pakistani forces as genocide.
The genocides and holocausts elsewhere are vehemently condemned and criticized worldwide even today, mostly because the US and the great powers have recognized them immediately and made it familiar.
Over five decades later, the nation that contributes most significantly to UN Peacekeeping operations and in the other areas worldwide continues waiting for justice. The American Congressmen have taken a big step worth appreciating but Dhaka should act more to take it further.
The US and UN's recognitions of the genocide are essential. Once they recognize, Bangladesh will demand an apology and reparations from the stubborn military-led Pakistan. Now, Bangladesh should garner global attention by seeking justice.
In recent years, Islamabad has attempted to warm up relations with Dhaka but they haven't shown any gesture of apology. The military establishment in Rawalpindi maintains that they can get away with this attitude. Bangladesh fought for liberation and it continues to fight for justice. With the resolution in the US House of Representatives, Dhaka has certainly gained momentum.
Ayanangsha Maitra is an Indian journalist and writes for Dhaka Tribune. He tweets at @Ayanangsha.
