US-based Lemkin Institute recognises 1971 genocide

ZOOMBANGLA DESK: The US-based Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention has recognised the brutal slaughter of Bangladeshis by the Pakistani occupation forces in 1971 as a ‘genocide or mass killing’.

Touhid Reza Noor, the son of martyred journalist Serajuddin Hossain, had petitioned for the recognition on Nov 15, reports bdnews24.com.

Irene Victoria Masimmino, a law professor who works with the institute, informed Noor of the recognition at the start of the new year.

The decision will make it easier to bring global attention and recognition to the events of 1971.

“I am delighted,” said Noor in a statement. “For those on the side of the Liberation War, it is a great achievement to close out the golden jubilee of our independence.”

“I believe that this will encourage other international human rights organisations to recognise the 1971 genocide,” he added.

The institute is named after Raphael Lemkin, a Polish lawyer best known for coining the term ‘genocide’ and initiating the Genocide Convention.

On the night of Mar 25, 1971, the Pakistani occupation forces attacked the unarmed people of Bangladesh in an attempt to wipe out the Bengali independence movement once and for all.

Under the name ‘Operation Searchlight’, the Pakistani occupation forces began a massacre that would spur a war and kill 3 million Bengalis in the span of nine months.