Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque on Sunday said, the Bangladeshi diplomats have failed to get international recognition of the genocide on March 25 in 1971.
“Our diplomats at the United Nations ‘failed to provide the proper context’ of the March 25 genocide when the UN decided to observe International Genocide Day in 2015,” he said.
The minister said this while speaking at a seminar titled “Genocide on March 25, 1971 and Our Thoughts,” at the National Press Club on Sunday.
Bir Protik Wakar Hasan, Jagannath Hall Provost Ashim Sarkar, former Information and Cultural Secretary Nasir Uddin Ahmed, poet Asad Mannan and former Chhatra League leader Faisal Ahsan Ullah also spoke at the seminar organised by Sampriti Bangladesh.
Nuzhat Chowdhury, the daughter of a martyr, presented the key-note paper at the seminar.
In September 2015, the United Nations General Assembly established December 9 as the ‘International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime.’
Bangladesh has long demanded the international acknowledgement of the Mar 25 genocide by the Pakistani occupation force.
“There is no specific incident related to December 9, unlike International Mother Language Day. We had a huge opportunity in 2015. The diplomats did not present their reports properly to the UN to rectify the mistake,” the minister said.
The government has been working to create global awareness on the Mar 25 genocide through the foreign ministry, he said.
Those who want to create ‘controversy’ against an established truth by raising question on the number of martyrs in the Liberation War must face state trial, Haque warned.
“They have pushed the history and the Liberation War backward by remaining in power for 30 years. Now they want to create controversy by raising questions on the number of martyrs. Do they count the martyrs one by one now?”
The minister also spoke about the complaints from a few quarters that the Awami League government has been “dillydallying” on banning the Jamaat-e-Islami from politics.
“Questions can be raised about how much the Awami League has done. They have been in power for 30 years. But they [Jamaat] have their roots quite deep. But it will be easier for us if we can create public pressure on the issue.”
There will be a ‘Truth Commission’ formed to inform people about the role played by Khondaker Mustaque Ahmed and Ziaur Rahman in opposition to the Mujibnagar government in 1971, said AKM Mozammel Haque.
The Ministry of Liberation War Affairs is working to design a question paper on the history of the Liberation War for the BCS exam and compulsory lessons on the history of the Liberation War at the school level, he said.
“It won’t be easy to gain international acknowledgement for the Mar 25 genocide as it will reveal the inhumane faces of the US, China and the Islamic countries who helped and supported Pakistan in 1971,” she said.
Pakistan withdrew defense personnel after they surrendered on December 16, 1971 at the Ramna Racecourse. After almost half of a century, security and political analyst AKM Md Ali Shikder proposed the formation of a tribunal to try those defense personnel.
“The relations with Pakistan will never become normal if this is not done. We should also stop Pakistan from fuelling the extremist fanatic politics in the country,” he said.
