Seminar held on 1971 genocide in Bangladesh; demands of recognition reiterated

Bangladesh has taken a courageous and praiseworthy step by honouring women and girls who were sexually abused or tortured by the Pakistani military in 1971 as war heroines (Birangana) - Barrister Patrick Burgess said in a seminar held on Saturday (25 March).

The event was organised by the Liberation War Museum in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs on the occasion of Genocide Day, reads a press release.

In his keynote speech, Barrister Patrick Burgess also praised the Bangladesh government for taking a historic decision to set up special tribunals to deliver justice to the victims of genocide. 

Formal mechanisms to uncover the truth about the Bangladesh genocide in 1971 and the reparation of the genocide victims are two important steps to ensure transitional justice- he emphasised. 

Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque, MP, in his remarks as chief guest, shared with the audience the historical background and highlighted the motives that droved the then-Pakistani regime to carry out genocide in Bangladesh during the War of Liberation in 1971. 

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md. Shahriar Alam, MP, in his remarks as the special guest, described how deliberately the then Pakistani regime perpetrated the acts of genocide with a clear intent to destroy Bengali people in every way such as their distinct cultural, linguistic, political and religious identity. 

He highlighted the importance of the initiatives which Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and subsequently the government under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina undertook despite the harsh geo-political reality to end the culture of impunity. 

He regretted that sympathisers of genocide perpetrators occupied state power for over three decades and thus used all state mechanisms to run a propaganda machine to silence the genocide victims. 

The geopolitics that encouraged the genocide perpetrators and shaped the course of the Liberation War is still a building block in the way of recognition of the Bangladesh genocide, he pointed out. 

The prime minister is firmly committed to advancing the recognition of the 1971 genocide in Bangladesh with all your cooperation,  he added. 

MP Shahjahan Khan also spoke on the occasion as the special guest. 

Foreign Secretary Ambassador Masud bin Momen, in his welcome remarks, called for attention to the smart and sustainable ways and means to transfer knowledge about the Bangladesh genocide among successive generations. 

He also highlighted the role of media, civil society organisations, genocide scholars and human rights activists in the recognition of the Bangladesh genocide by the wider global community. 

Trustee of the Liberation War Museum Mofidul Hoque chaired the session and introduced the keynote speaker.