Bangladesh Community Demands Recognition of 1971 Genocide

Washington, DC – Bangladesh community members in the Washington DC Metro area held a demonstration in front of the White House today demanding recognition of the genocide perpetrated by the Pakistani Army in 1971. They were led by US-based Human Rights Congress for Bangladesh Minorities (HRCBM) Executive Director Priya Saha and HRCBM Washington DC Metro area Coordinator Pranesh Haldar.

Demonstrators carried placards and raised slogans demanding that the US Congress should hold Pakistan responsible for the ‘Bengali genocide.’ Ms. Priya Saha informed the gathering that the Pakistan Army had killed three million Bengalis and raped over 400,000 Bengali women and girls during the 1971 genocide. This is the second biggest genocide after the Holocaust and needs to be recognized as such by the global community. The US Administration also needs to sanction Pakistan and its army officers involved in 1971 genocide under the Magnitsky Act. Mr Pranesh Haldar demanded that the Pakistan Government should offer a formal apology to the Bangladesh government for the genocide perpetrated by its army.

HRCBM is leading the efforts to educate US Congress members on the atrocities perpetrated by the Pakistani Army and its radical supporters on the Bangladesh populace between March 25, 1971 and Dec 16, 1971. It has been lobbying for the formal recognition of 1971 Bengali genocide by the US Congress.