Pakistan Should Apologise For 1971 Genocide: Bangladesh

Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said that Pakistan should be ashamed for not seeking an apology for the genocide they committed in 1971.

Replying to the reporter at Foreign Service Academy on Saturday, Momen said, “It’s unfortunate. We always say that Pakistanis should be ashamed. Pakistani military at that time committed heinous crimes and genocide. Even reports from the Pakistan government also said they resorted to excessive torture and violated human rights,” according to Bangladeshi newspaper Prothom Alo.

“Even reports from Pakistan government also said they resorted to excessive torture and violated human rights,” he added.

Momen further said that the Pakistan government should punish those people who were responsible for the genocide and seek an apology from Bangladesh.

“I believe, the younger generation of Pakistan would come forward to seek an apology. Such wrongdoings can recur if Pakistan cannot understand (the importance of seeking apology),” Momen was saying as quoted by Prothom Alo.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Human Rights Congress for Bangladesh Minorities (HRCBM) has urged the US and the international community to recognize the 1971 genocide of Bangladeshis by Pakistan and take immediate action against it.

In a virtual press conference, the HRCBM called for immediate steps to bring to trial the 195 current and former members of the Pakistan Army, who were recorded as being responsible for the genocide.

On March 25, 1971, Pakistan Army launched ‘Operation Searchlight’, wherein a planned military operation was carried out by the Pakistani Army and its military deliberately harmed hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshi citizens. Rights group says the horrors of 1971 are considered one of the worst mass atrocities in history.

The damage they inflicted can be described in the following numbers. As many as three million people were believed to have been killed, up to 200,000 women were violated and over 10 million people were forced to cross the border to India to seek shelter. (ANI)