1971 Genocide: US resolution a new journey towards truth

The introduction of the resolution to the US House of Representatives urging recognition of Pakistan's genocide against the Bangalees marks the start of a new journey towards truth, justice, and correcting global narratives on Bangladesh's Liberation War, according to researchers.

They said the 1971 genocide has remained in the shadows for a long time now, and all this time it has been wrongly defined by many as a Pakistani civil war or the third Indo-Pak war.

Once recognised, the resolution will help the US administration, which sided with Pakistan in 1971, rectify its mistake and take the US-Bangladesh relations to a new height, said the researchers.

On October 15, Republican Congressman Steve Chabot and Democrat Congressman Ro Khanna introduced the historic bipartisan resolution.

They called on Congress to condemn the atrocities and Pakistan to apologise to the people of Bangladesh for its role in the genocide, and prosecute, in accordance with international law, any perpetrators who are still living.

Liberation War Museum Trustee Mofidul Hoque said that for Bangladesh, this is a historic event, a result of the active movement of civil society groups, individual researchers, and activists throughout the years.

Their relentless campaigns have already succeeded in getting recognition from the US-based Lemkin Institute and Genocide Watch on December 31 last and February 3 this year.

Bangladesh had asked the UN to recognise the genocide but has yet to see any progress.

The US recognition could serve as a catalyst for the UN recognition, opined researchers.

"Various organisations have over the years come to the conclusion that the events of 1971 constituted genocide. The US congressmen also very rightly presented the facts in the resolution," Mofidul Hoque said.

The resolution described how West Pakistani elites treated the Bangalees as their lessers and denied them economic, social, and political rights, as well as the March 25, 1971 massacre, the three million deaths, the rape of 200,000 women during the nine-month war and the fleeing of 10 million people to India.

Speaking on the matter, Steve Chabot said the genocide of 1971 must not be forgotten and the memories of millions massacred must not be erased.

"Recognising the genocide strengthens the historical record, educates our fellow Americans, and lets would-be perpetrators know such crimes will not be tolerated or forgotten," he said.

Haroon Habib, Liberation War researcher and freedom fighter, said because of global politics, the genocide of 1971 went unrecognised.

"Since Pakistan was a close ally of the US, it didn't want to ruffle any feathers. The situation is now shifting as genocide researchers from all over the world are acknowledging it and the US is strengthening ties with Bangladesh, a key nation in the Indo-Pacific."

Haroon Habib added that the perpetrators, including the 195 Pakistanis who were identified as war criminals, were not tried.

"Pakistan hasn't even formally apologised for the genocide or the rape of Bangalee women."

Japan had offered public apologies to China and Korea and the Netherlands to Indonesia for similar crimes during World War II.

"Therefore, the US faces a new test as to whether it will continue to support its previous mistake or choose the way of justice and truth," he said.

The US acknowledged the crimes against the Rohingya people earlier this year, and so researchers hope that it will also recognise the 1971 genocide.

"As the resolution has now been introduced, Congress may decide to order an investigation," said Priya Saha, executive director of the Human Rights Congress for Bangladesh Minorities (HRCBM), which advocated for the resolution.

The investigation may include trips to Bangladesh and collecting witness testimonies from the victims, she added.

Voting in the House of Representatives will take place later. If approved by the majority, it must again be approved by the 100-member Senate and signed by the US president.

"Congressmen can endorse the resolution before it is put to a vote. As such, we are currently trying to get the resolution co-sponsored and signed by the congressmen," Priya Saha told this correspondent from the US.

She said because it is a bipartisan resolution, there is a good chance it will pass.

Once the resolution has been approved by the President's signature, the US government can use the Global Magnitsky Act of 2016 to make sure that the Pakistani military, which killed millions of Bangalees, is held accountable. In addition, the US can apply pressure to have the guilty parties punished.

"The perpetrators, whoever they may be, must answer for their actions. Otherwise, atrocities like genocide and ethnic or religious cleansing will continue," Priya Saha warned.

She said Bangladeshi expatriates and other human rights activists should target all 435 congressional districts to persuade them to support the resolution.

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen praised Congressmen Ro Khanna and Steve Chabot and stated that the government will do everything possible to get the resolution passed.