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Genocide Remembrance Day is a National Day of Remembrance in Bangladesh, observed on March 25 in commemoration of the victims of the Bangladesh genocide during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.
On March 11, 2017, the Jatiya Sangsad unanimously passed a resolution designating March 25 as a Genocide Remembrance Day. The day honours and remembers those who suffered and died as a result of the actions of the Pakistan Army during Operation Searchlight and their local perps, especially Jamaat-e-Islami mass-liquidators, which initiated the Bangladesh Genocide, culminating with the Independence of Bangladesh.
The date of March 25 commemorates Operation Searchlight, a planned military pacification carried out by the Pakistan Army, started on March 25 to curb the Bengali independence movement by taking control of the major cities on March 26, and then eliminating all opposition, political or military, within one month.
During this period, the persecution of the Bengali population by the Pakistani army was notable. It is believed this was on account of the contempt Punjabi Pakistanis had for Bengalis.
There is evidence that among the Bengalis, the Hindu minority was doubly marked out for persecution. In a post-war enquiry, several senior Pakistani officers admitted to systematic targeting of the Hindu community.
The government of Bangladesh is working on achieving global recognition of March 25 as "Bangladesh's Genocide Day". Genocide Watch and the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention issued statements on the 1971 Bangladesh Genocide perpetrated against Bangladesh’s people by Pakistani Army. These statements will strengthen and accelerate
Bangladesh's commitment to achieving global recognition of "Genocide Day". The International Association of Genocide Scholars (IASG) adopted a resolution on March 25, 2023, recognising the genocide committed by the Pakistani military during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.
We honour their memory. We stand in awe of the resilience of the survivors. And we reflect on the failures of the UN as an international community to recognise Bangladesh’s 1971 Genocide.
53 years are on. Being a frontline Freedom Fighter of the 1971 war field to establish Bangladesh, I must say much more could have and should have been done. Five decades after the brutal genocidal acts, the stain of shame still endures.
Everyone should be reminded that we always have a choice and urge all to choose humanity over hatred; compassion over cruelty, and courage over complacency.
The 1971 genocide in Bangladesh was deliberate, systematic and carried out in the time after sunrise and sunset while it is light outside.
The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT of Bangladesh) is a domestic war crimes tribunal in Bangladesh set up in 2009 to investigate and prosecute the war criminals for the genocide committed in 1971 by the Pakistan Army and their local collaborators, Al-Badr, Razakars, and Al-Shams, during the Bangladesh Liberation War. During the 2008 general election, the
Awami League (AL) pledged to try war criminals. The government set up the tribunal after the Awami League won the general election in December 2008 with a more than two-thirds majority in parliament.
The ICT of Bangladesh illustrates that “perpetrators can no longer assume impunity.” The remarkable work of the International Criminal Tribunal for Bangladesh—the first court in Bangladesh’s history to convict the war criminals of genocide—was instrumental in this effort. It has demonstrated how justice is indispensable for sustainable peace.
Bangladesh today stands as a powerful testament of the human spirit’s ability to heal even the deepest wounds and emerge from the darkest depths to rebuild a stronger society.
The genocide in Bangladesh in 1971 has raised fundamental questions about the role of the Security Council, the effectiveness of peacekeeping, the need to end impunity for international crimes, genocides, and the importance of addressing the roots of violence, and the fragility of civility.
Wars are raging, “inequalities widening, and poverty growing, and all are breeding grounds of resentment, anxiety, and anger.”
Meanwhile, we see hate speech, including dehumanising disinformation, racist tropes, and genocide denial and distortion – proliferating both on and offline, warning of “the dangers of intolerance, irrationality, and bigotry in every society.
While looking back “with remorse,” I urge upon everyone to look ahead “with resolve” and commit to “be ever vigilant” and never forget.
In 1971, I saw in my own eyes none of many extended families, especially people belonged to the Hindu community, escaped the killing that had been prepared for so long. In our locality, in several extended families, no one survived. They were all completely wiped out by the obnoxious nexus of the Pakistani army—Nezam-e-Islami—Jamaat-e-Islami—PDP—Muslim
League (Convention). Only memories live. I personally care for those dreadful memories.
Let us pay meaningful tribute to the martyrs of the 1971 who fell prey at the wretched hands of the brutal Pakistani army and their local roughshod mango-twigs, particularly Jamaati Al-
Badr mass murderers and try to build a future of dignity, tolerance, and human rights for all in Bangladesh, except the remaining war criminals waiting to walk the gallows and their cronies.
Today, Bangladesh has rebuilt from the ashes of horrific tragedy and destruction, evidenced by its economic, social and political developments!
We must honour the survivors who have mustered the strength and courage to defy the odds and their bravery and resilience stand as “a beacon of hope for the people of Bangladesh, and many more across the world.
Bangladesh must also reach out to UN fitfully seeking recognition of the 1971 Genocide while the government declared “March 25 as Genocide Day."
Ultimately, preventing genocide involves all of society. It is crucial that we all join hands to defend the principles of equality and human dignity and to repair the fissures and polarisation that are so prevalent in the world societies today.
The writer is a freedom fighter who writes on politics and international issues.
Messenger/Disha
