Date/Time
Date(s) - 25/03/2023
15:00 - 17:30
Location
Press Club Brussels Europe
Categories
You are kindly aware that Bangladesh observes 25 March as “Genocide Day”. On the dark night of 25 March 1971, the Pakistan military launched a genocide under the code name “Operation Searchlight” in present Bangladesh on the innocent and unarmed Bengali civilians. Father of the Nation of Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared Independence of Bangladesh in the early hours of 26 March 1971 and the Historic War of Liberation began. Three million people were killed and more than two hundred thousand women were raped by the Pakistan military and their local collaborators during the War of Literation of Bangladesh that ended with the surrender of Pakistan military to the joint forces of Bangladesh and India in Dhaka on 16 December 1971.
The Bangladesh Genocide of 1971, the biggest massacre after the Second World War, is unfortunately not yet recognized by the international community. We are continuing our efforts to make our friends in the international community more familiar with the history of birth of Bangladesh and the Genocide we suffered in 1971. Recognition of this Genocide by the international community is necessary and important to portray the true history to the world.
The Embassy of Bangladesh to Belgium & Luxembourg and Mission to the European Union in Brussels is organizing a programme to observe the “Genocide Day” of Bangladesh at Press Club Brussels Europe (Rue Froissart 95, Brussels) on Saturday, 25 March 2023 from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. (Central European Time).
| Time (CET) | Programme |
| 4:00 p.m. | Observance of a minute of silence in honour of the valiant freedom fighters of the War of Liberation of Bangladesh in 1971 |
| 4:02 p.m. | Screening of a Documentary |
| 4:05 p.m. | Discussion on “International Recognition of Bangladesh Genocide 1971”
Participants: 1. Professor Gregory H. Stanton, Founding President of Genocide Watch, founder of the Cambodian Genocide Project, founder of the Alliance Against Genocide, and former President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, United States. He was the James Farmer Professor in Human Rights at the University of Mary Washington and Research Professor in Genocide Studies and Prevention at George Mason University. 2. Ambassador Husain Haqqani, Senior Fellow and Director for South and Central Asia, Hudson Institute, Washington, D.C., United States. 3. Mr. Paulo Casaca, Founder and Executive Director, South Asia Democratic Forum (SADF), Brussels and former Member of European Parliament (MEP). 4. Professor Tazeen Mahnaz Murshid, D.Phil. Oxon, Director, DRC Global Development Research Cooperation. 5. Ms. Shawan Mahmud, columnist, and daughter of Martyred Freedom Fighter and famous lyricist, musician, cultural activist, language movement activist, and composer Altaf Mahmud. Mr. Mahmud was among the large number of intellectuals, who were killed by the Pakistani Military and their local collaborators during the War of Liberation of Bangladesh in 1971. |
| 5:20 p.m. | Closing remarks by Ambassador Mahbub Hassan Saleh |
I invite you to kindly attend the programme. Your kind presence would give further impetus to our efforts to obtain international recognition of Bangladesh Genocide 1971.
I look forward to welcoming you and / or your colleague(s) / representative(s) at the Press Club Brussels Europe on 25 March 2023.
Best regards,
Mahbub Hassan Saleh
Ambassador and Head of Mission
Embassy of Bangladesh and Mission to the European Union
Rue Jacques Jordaens 29
1000 Brussels.
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