Dhaka: Amid efforts in Bangladesh to kickstart the trial of the 1971 "war criminals", the government has been asked to take diplomatic steps for UN recognition of the "genocide" by the Pakistan military.
An international conference in the capital called for
a campaign for United Nations` recognition of the mass
killings during the 1971 Liberation War as genocide.
Historians, academics and international legal experts
told the conference, which ended yesterday, that the
government should make necessary preparations for trying the
"war criminals" and pursue diplomatic efforts to drum up
international support in favour of the move, The Daily Star
newspaper said today.
"The conference calls upon the media and the civil
society at home and abroad to focus on the genocide in
Bangladesh, and launch a campaign so that this is recognised
in the UN as Genocide," said the declaration of the two-day
`Second International Conference on Genocide, Truth and
Justice` organised by the Liberation War Museum.
Legal experts and academics from Germany, Vietnam,
Hong Kong, UK and Canada were also present.
Bangladesh`s Jamaat-e-Islami party chief Motiur Rahman
Nizami and Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid led
the so-called Al-Badr forces, which is widely believed to have
been involved in genocide, rape and murder of frontline
intellectuals in an effort to cripple the emerging nation in
1971.
AB Tazul Islam, Bangladesh State Minister for
Liberation War Affairs, said the government is doing
everything possible to ensure fair trial for war criminals.
"The trial process can begin anytime," he underlined.
Earlier, Pakistan had cautioned Bangladesh that
efforts to push ahead with the controversial trial may cast a
shadow on bilateral ties.
The ruling Awami League, which has vowed to punish the
criminals during the `independence war`, has demanded an
apology from Pakistan for the killing of three million
Bangladeshis and rape of lakhs of women by the Pakistan army
during the bloody nine-month war. However, Pakistan does not
acknowledge the killings.
Jamaat-e-Islami, a crucial ally of opposition
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and several other rightwing
groups have been accused of helping the Pakistani military
during the `Liberation War`. The Islamist party`s description
of the event as a "civil war" has intensified public outrage
in the country.
The Parliament in its third sitting earlier this year
adopted a resolution for the trial of the war criminals in
line with the election pledge of the Awami League.
Bureau Report
