Mar 25 as Mass Killing Day
Dhaka gears up drive to secure UN recognition
UNB
Bangladesh has intensified its diplomatic efforts to get UN recognition for March 25 as Mass Killing Day commemorating the atrocities and mass killing committed by Pakistani occupation forces in 1971, reports UNB from Chittagong. Though its a time-consuming process but its not impossible, State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam told the news agency yesterday.
He said Bangladesh will have to approach each country separately to get support and it will first knock on the doors of those countries which stood beside Bangladesh during 1971 Liberation War.
Its rigorous. Its new. Its a job beyond conventional diplomacy. Its an effort to remind all about the history, said the state minister.
Shahriar Alam is now in Chittagong to see the strength of Bangladesh Coast Guard. He also took a tour of the Bay of Bengal by CGS Tajuddin. Members of Diplomatic Correspondents Association, Bangladesh (DCAB) and senior Coast Guard officials were present.
Responding to a question, he said they have already sent senior officials to the UN headquarters and the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to find facts on the process as part of their ongoing drive to get the recognition.
He said the government will take the next course of actions after analysing the facts. Weve already held a meeting apart from doing some brainstorming sessions.
Shahriar Alam said they are providing required information to Bangladesh missions abroad to play their further role in accelerating the process.
Forty-six years after the bloodbath that touched every family, Bangladesh has decided to observe March 25 as Mass Killing Day. The government has also directed to the relevant wings and department to implement it and have international recognition for the Mass Killing Day.
On March 11, parliament unanimously adopted a motion to declare March 25 as Mass Killing Day, marking the start of atrocities unleashed by the Pakistani occupation forces on the people of then-East Pakistan on this date in 1971.
The Cabinet on Monday also approved a proposal for the inclusion of the 25th March in the Class Ka of the circular issued by the Cabinet Division that declared the Day as the Mass Killing Day to observe nationally and internationally.
