US introduces legislation to declare Pakistan army’s 1971 action ‘genocide’

US congressman Steve Chabot, along with Indian origin congressman Ro Khanna, introduced a legislation in the US House of Representatives to declare Pakistan Army action against Bengladeshi and Hindus in 1971 during the Liberation War of Bangladesh as “genocide” and “crime against humanity”. The genocide Pakistan army committed in Bangladesh during the liberation war in 1971 must not be forgotten, Chabot said.

“With help from my Hindu constituents in Ohio’s First District, Rep Ro Khanna and I introduced legislation to recognize that the mass atrocities committed against Bengalis and Hindus, in particular, were indeed a genocide,” he said.

Chabot said they must not let the years erase the memory of the millions who were massacred.

“Recognizing 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 tweeted.

“Proud to join Rep Steve Chabot in introducing the first resolution commemorating the 1971 Bengali Genocide in which millions of ethnic Bengalis and Hindus were killed or displaced in one of the most forgotten genocides of our time,” Khanna said.

The 8-page resolution titled “Recognizing the Bangladesh Genocide of 1971” calls on the government of Pakistan, in the face of overwhelming evidence, to offer acknowledgement of its role in such genocide, offer formal apologies to the government and people of Bangladesh, and prosecute, in accordance with international law, any perpetrators who are still living.

It condemns the atrocities committed by the Armed Forces of Pakistan against the people of Bangladesh from March 1971 to December 1971 and recognizes that such atrocities against Bengalis and Hindus constitute are crimes against humanity.

Khanna also recalls the death and suffering of the countless victims of such atrocities and expresses its deep sympathy for the suffering.

The resolution recognizes that entire ethnic groups or religious communities are not responsible for the crimes committed by their members; calls on the President of the United States to recognize the atrocities committed against ethnic Bengalis and Hindus by the Armed Forces of Pakistan during 1971 as war crimes and genocide.

It reaffirms the United States commitment to promoting peace, stability, and intercommunal harmony in the Indo-Pacific region, and the right of all people living in the region, regardless of national, racial, ethnic, or religious background, to enjoy the benefits of democratic institutions, the rule of law, the freedom of religion, and economic opportunity.