A Pakistani soldier kicking a Bangladeshi citizen before the 1971 liberation war with India

International bodies, experts, historians & foreign journalists have given their clear opinion and evidence in support of commission of this genocide

"The 1971 genocide remains unknown and unrecognised to the world due to Bangladesh’s failure to raise it properly in international forums."

Bangladesh on Tuesday upped the ante against Pakistan as it sought UN recognition for one of the world's worst genocides (Operation Searchlight) conducted by Pak Army on the fateful night of March 25, 1971 on the citizens of what was then East Pakistan.

"International bodies, experts, historians and foreign journalists have given their clear opinion and evidence in support of commission of this genocide. The atrocities have been well-documented, there are many scholarly publications on this. Yet, it is unfortunate that a genocide of this scale has not been able to find its rightful place in the international genocide discourse including at the United Nations. We are urging upon the United Nations for due recognition of our genocide in 1971," Bangladesh Permanent Representative at the UN Masud Bin Momen suggested while addressing a panel meet in New York.

"Despite such inaction, we are doing our part nationally. Our government under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been conducting the trial of local war criminals to end the culture of impunity."

"...25th of March, is the Genocide Day of Bangladesh. On this day in 1971, upon secret order from Pakistan authorities in the code name ‘Operation searchlight’ Pakistani forces committed the most brutal and targeted mass killing in our capital Dhaka in particular and elsewhere in country which continued throughout the night. Thousands of people from all walks of life including students, teachers, intellectuals, religious minorities and members of different services especially from police and the then East Pakistan Rifles, were killed in the massacre. Dhaka became a valley of death in one single night," the envoy said, adding, "The Genocide of 25th of March is a black chapter not only in the history of Bangladesh but also of the history of the world. Therefore, in March 2017 the National Parliament of Bangladesh and the Cabinet designated 25 March as the Genocide Day to commemorate the black night. I recall with deep respect all the martyrs who were killed in this fateful night."

"The targeted mass killing of 25th March, which was intended to end our aspiration for independence once and for all, was rather the precursor to a nine-month long War of Liberation culminating in our independence in December 1971. As if the atrocities of 25 March were not enough, from that very night over the next 9 months, Pakistan army and their local collaborators killed 3 million people all over the country. Besides, two hundred thousand of our women were dishonoured and nearly 10 million people were driven out of their homes who sought refuge in neighbouring India. Death of such a large number of people in such a short span of time is unprecedented in the history of the world, which is why this is regarded as one of the world’s worst genocides," Momen recalled.

Adama Dieng, the U.N. secretary-general's special adviser on the prevention of genocide, who was in Dhaka earlier this week assured Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to raise the issue at UN. “Though some countries may oppose, we will raise the issue of Pakistani genocide in Bangladesh during the liberation war in the international forum,” Dieng told Hasina.

It may be recalled that the prime targets of Operation Searchlight were the Dhaka University teachers and students, the lifeline of the resistance movement against Pakistan. The Pakistani army targeted those especially likely to join the resistance—young boys. In the next morning, bodies of young men were found in fields, floating down rivers, or near army camps.

Anthony Mascarenhas, a British journalist based in Pakistan, who was the first to break the news of the genocide in international media, reported a Pakistani army major telling him: “This is a war between the pure and the impure... The people here may have Muslim names and call themselves Muslims. But they are Hindu at heart. We are now sorting them out... Those who are left will be real Muslims. We will even teach them Urdu.”

“The 1971 genocide remains unknown and unrecognised to the world due to Bangladesh’s failure to raise it properly in international forums,” said Shahriar Kabir, president of the Committee for Secular Bangladesh and Trial of War Criminals of 1971.

Kabir has been a part of the effort to have March 25 declared as National Genocide Remembrance Day in 2016. “We have enough information and evidence to support the claim for genocide,” he said.