Specialists of the war of independence feel that instead of asking for international recognition of 25 March as genocide day, the atrocities which went on for nine long months in 1971 should be acknowledged as genocide.

The UN has already asked for 9 December to be declared as genocide day; in the circumstances, Bangladesh does not have any room left for lobbying.

However, Bangladesh can observe 9 December as genocide day. The demand to observe 25 March as genocide day was raised in 2001; but due to lack of government initiative, the work did not progress much.

Bangladesh lost the UN offer to declare 9 December as genocide day in 2015.

The mass killing in Bangladesh began on 25 March night in 1971 and went on for the full nine month period of the war. Leader of Pakistan People’s Party, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, colluded with president of Pakistan, general Yahya Khan to unleash military brutality on East Pakistan.

On the night of 25 March, attacks on residential halls of Dhaka University, Rajarbagh police lines, East Pakistan Rifles resulted in 3,000 deaths.

The last mass killing, which ran all throughout 1971, was carried out on 14 December; at this time, more than 200 intellectuals were picked up from their homes and killed.

Despite the killings, genocide day began to be observed only two years ago in 2017.

Commenting on why the international recognition came so late, Barrister Tureen Afroz, says: “We could not knock at the international forums on time to get the recognition; also, for a long period, a separate political ideology was active in Bangladesh which caused the delay.”

President of the platform demanding extirpation of collaborators, Shahriar Kabir, says: “We do not have any option to have 25 March recognised as international genocide day.”

At the proposal of Armenia, the UN’s 69th session on 11 September, 2015, recognised 9 December as International Genocide Day.

Kabir feels that efforts should be underway to have atrocities committed over nine months recognised as genocide.

In this regard, diplomatic initiatives are essential, he observed.

Director of Centre for the Study of Genocide and Justice, Mofidul Huq, told Bangla Tribune, “In 1971, the genocide happened all throughout the year; the progressive intellectuals of Pakistan of the time called it genocide; we need an international recognition to dispel Pakistan’s assertion to refute the mass killing.”