European B'desh Forum to commemorate victims of 1971 Pak war crimes in Netherlands

The Bangladeshi diaspora in the European nation of Netherlands, European-Bangladesh Forum (EBF), will hold an international conference on 30 November to commemorate the victims of the 1971 genocide committed by the Pakistan military. The conference is set to be held at Nieuwspoort, the International Perscentrum in Den Haag from noon, as per an ANI report. Experts on the 'genocide' from the UK, Europe, Hong Kong, Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, and Bangladesh will participate in the discussion revolving around the military crackdown that began on  26 March 1971, and lasted for months. Bangladeshi Ambassador to the Netherlands, M Riaz Hamidullah, will also grace the event.

The conference will begin with a screening of a 10-minute documentary film titled 'War Crimes 1971' on one of the world's mass atrocities witnessed globally in the 20th century.  The conference comes after EBF in September demonstrated outside the Broken Chair near the United Nations building in Geneva, ANI reported, citing ANP Pers Support. It is to mention that Bangladesh has repeatedly appealed to the UN to recognise the 1971 genocide and war crimes on Bengalis of erstwhile East Pakistan. On the other hand, Pakistan has not acknowledged the 'genocide' as a crime or offered a formal apology to Bangladesh.

"It was the Pakistani army who killed many freedom fighters in Bengal and committed genocide. We are here to ask United Nations and all the international institutions to recognise the 1971 war crimes and genocide of Bangladeshi people. Ask Pakistan to apologize and also accommodate the victim families," ANI quoted Sardar Shaukat Ali Kashmiri, as saying outside the UN office in July this year.

1971 genocide

During the nine-month-long Bangladesh Liberation War, the Pakistani military launched operation 'Searchlight' in erstwhile East Pakistan to suppress the Bengalis' calls for self-determination. According to reports, the said Pakistani military killed around 2,00,000 and 30,00,000 people. Over while 2,00,000 to 4,00,000 Bengali women were exploited by Pakistani soldiers and at least 10 million were forced to take shelter in India.

(With ANI inputs)

(Image: ANI)