The International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) passed a resolution on April 23 declaring the atrocities committed by the Pakistani army and their local allies in Bangladesh in 1971 as ‘genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes'.
Projonmo 71, the organization of the children of the martyrs of the Liberation War, expressed its sincere thanks and congratulations to IAGS as well as all those involved in raising this demand, read a press release.
“We hope that after this important recognition, the Government of Bangladesh will have more pro-active positive action in its diplomatic and other related efforts, to obtain international recognition of the Bangladesh Genocide in 1971.”
This demand by various organizations involved in establishing the spirit of liberation war has been going on for a long time. Martyred children of Projonmo 71 are also committed to assisting the government in realizing this demand.
Notably, Dr Tawheed Reza Noor, son of Martyred Journalist Serajuddin Hossain, founder general secretary of Projonmo 71 and member of its current Executive Committee, proposed the resolution to IAGS and played a key role in taking it forward.
He is currently a visiting scholar at the State University of New York, Binghamton, USA. His research focuses on the recognition and denial aspects of the genocide that took place in Bangladesh in 1971. He is also a member of IAGS. World-renowned genocide scholars have already applauded Dr Noor for his efforts in this respect.
Even though 218 out of 626 members voted for this resolution at IAGS, the resolution was adopted based on 208 votes. Projonmo 71 extended thanks to all who made this landslide (95 per cent) opinion in favour of the Bangladesh resolution.
Projonmo 71 is also grateful to those who directly supported Dr Noor’s proposal, especially Prof Gregory Stanton, Dr Helen Jarvis, Prof Adam Jones, Mofidul Hoque, Prof Elisa von Joeden-Forgey, Dr Shahriar Islam, and Emraan Azad.
“We also request all to remember that out of 218 members of IAGS, 4 rejected our demand, and 6 abstained from voting. The process of obtaining this recognition was not easy and took almost two years.”
In July 2021, Dr Noor raised this proposal at an IAGS conference to table a resolution recognizing Bangladesh’s Genocide. The resolution was adopted after going through various steps and obstacles.
Projonmo 71 is active in seeking international recognition of the genocide in Bangladesh. On March 26 this year, on the Independence Day of Bangladesh, Projonmo 71 organized an international webinar on this issue, where Genocide experts and scholars from different countries, along with the State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh, Shahriar Alam, spoke.
Dr Tawheed Reza Noor presented the main proposal on behalf of Projonmo 71.
