Bangladesh observing Genocide Day

Organisers have called people to observe a symbolic one-minute blackout and silence at 9 pm in memory of the tens of thousands who were killed and violated in the repression, forcing millions to take shelter in India.

On the night of March 25, 1971, the Pakistani military resorted to mass killings and arson in Dhaka to implement a blueprint to thwart the Awami League's assumption of office following the election mandate of 1970.

In the attack dubbed 'Operation Searchlight', the Pakistani forces mercilessly killed the Bengali members of the East Pakistan Rifles as well as police besides students, teachers and common people.

Houses and property were torched and business establishments were looted.

That night Sheikh Mujibur Rahman proclaimed independence before he was arrested by the Pakistani troops and flown to then West Pakistan. President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued separate messages on the occasion.

“The observance of Genocide Day is a recognition of the great sacrifices made by three million Bengalis in the liberation struggle of Bangladesh,” the President said.

“The horrific genocide of 1971 is a black chapter not only in Bangladesh but in the history of world humanity,” he said.

The Prime Minister said genocide, oppression and other humanitarian disasters were still happening in some parts of the world.

(With UNI Inputs)