ইনসাইড বাংলাদেশ

Seminar on Bangladesh genocide of 1971 held in Canada


প্রকাশ: 22/09/2022


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A day-long seminar titled, "Remember and Recognize: The Case of Bangladesh Genocide of 1971" was organised at the Human Rights Museum in Winipeg, Canada recently.

The seminar was organised jointly by the High Commission for Bangladesh in Canada and the Bangabandhu Centre for Bangladesh Studies (BCBS) in Canada, Liberation War Museum, Bangladesh, Genocide Studies Centre, University of Dhaka, Refugees Resilience Centre and Rotary Club Canada.

The seminar was held in a hybrid format where the virtual discussion session was held where Foreign Minister Dr. AK Abdul Momen, MP, spoke through a video massage as the Cheif Guest and Foreign Secretary (Senior Secretary) Ambassador Masud Bin Momen spoke from New York virtually as a Special Guest. High Commissioner of Bangladesh to Canada and the Chief Patron of the BCBS in Canada Dr. Khalilur Rahman and Dr. Kawser Ahmed, Cheif Coordinator of the BCBS, Canada, gave introductory remarks.

Dr. Gregory Stanton of Genocide Watch gave the keynote speech.

Mr. David C Newman, Rotarian and Peace-Builder and Canadian Patron of the BCBS, Dr. James Waller, Cohen Professor of the Holocaust and Genocide Studies of Keene State College, New Hampshire, USA, Dr. Adam Muller, Professor and Director of Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Manitoba, spoke at the seminar.

In addition, Dr. John Adam of University of British Colombia, Vancouver, Canada, gave a verbal illustration of the Bangladesh Genocide which pictures the heinous crimes committed in Bangladesh in 1971.

Professor Dr. Imtiaz Ahmed, Director of Center for Genocide Studies, University of Dhaka, presented a paper dilineating the Bangladesh genocide. Professor Ahmed said that the Bangladesh Genocide fulfills all criteria declared by the UN to be get the global recognition.

The Chief Guest, Foreign Minister Dr. Momen said that, “The Genocide of Bangladesh committed in 1971 by the Pakistani military is one of the most heinous crimes in human history. We do not know of another instance of such barbarism of such intensity and mayhem.”

He regretted that the Bangladesh genocide is yet to be recognised by the international community to the extent the genocide warrants. He added that on 25 March 1971 the Pakistan junta undertook the cruel and enormous mayhem of innocent civilian people of Bangladesh in order to suppress the nation's democratic aspirations by sheer force of fear and terror. He added that Bangladesh declared 25 March as Genocide Day and Bangladesh is working for getting the date recognized as the International Genocide Day by all the countries in the world.

Foreign Secretary Ambassador Masud Bin Momen said that 1971 has been the most significant year in the history of Bangladesh.

"In one hand, Bangladesh achieved her independence in this very year. On the other hand, the nation experienced the ugliest chapter of brutality, atrocities, indiscriminate killing, raping, looting, and arson to achieve independence. And the world witnessed another genocide within three decades of the Second World War," he said. 

Some members of the victim families of the Genocide also spoke at the seminar.



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