Bangladesh Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque on Sunday called upon all who believe in Liberation War spirit to be united in realising the international recognition of genocide carried out in 1971 Liberation War on unarmed Bangalees.
While addressing a press conference at Jatiya Press Club in Dhaka, Haque said international recognition of genocide of 1971 could not be realised in 51 years after independence, Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS), Bangladesh News agency reported. However, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government declared March 25 as National Genocide Day.
The minister sought international recognition for March 25 as "International Genocide Day" side by side with the existing December 9.
Bangladesh Support Group, an organisation of the Netherlands expatriate Bangladeshis, Projonmo 71, an organization of children of martyrs and Amra Ekattor jointly organised the press conference with a view to attaining United Nations recognition for the genocide launched in Bangladesh.
Amra Ekattor chief coordinator Hilal Fayezi read out the keynote at the press conference, according to BSS.
Genocide expert and martyr's offspring Pradip Kumar Dutta and Projonmo 71 President Asif Munir also spoke.
Haque said Pakistani occupation forces with the cooperation of their local collaborators killed 30 lakh people, during the nine-month Liberation War, they violated 2 lakh women, set houses on fire and carried out massive looting all over the country, according to the Bangladesh News Agency.
Meanwhile, two internationally acclaimed organisations working on the prevention of genocide worldwide, namely Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and Genocide Watch, till now, have recognised the 1971 genocide and issued statements to the effect, reported the Bangladeshi publication, The Sun.
In their statements, they have emphatically recognised the mass killings, war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed by Pakistan and called upon the international community including the United Nations to come forward and recognise the genocide.
On March 26, 1971, Bangladesh was proclaimed an independent nation by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. This led to the Bangladesh Liberation War when a guerilla war ensued between Pakistan and Bangladeshi liberation forces with Indian support.
Muktijuddho Manch is a platform for descendants of freedom fighters mostly Chhatra League members.
( With inputs from ANI )
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