USA Bureau 

A proposal has been raised in the U.S. Congress to recognize the killings carried out by Pakistani forces during the Liberation War as genocide. 

The proposal was introduced on Friday in the lower house of Parliament—the House of Representatives—by Democratic Congressman Greg Landsman. The lawmaker from Ohio said in his proposal that Jamaat-e-Islami must be brought to justice for assisting in the killings.

He also called for ensuring the protection of religious minorities in Bangladesh. The proposal states that during Operation Searchlight, declared on March 25, 1971, the Pakistani armed forces and their Islamist collaborators carried out atrocities. At that time, ethnic Bengalis of all religions were targeted in the attacks. Hindus were eliminated; they were subjected to genocide.

While presenting the proposal, Landsman said, “The 1971 campaign by Pakistan’s military meets the United Nations definition of genocide.

“This campaign should have been recognized as genocide by the United States long ago.”

A hearing on the persecution of minorities in Bangladesh was held on Capitol Hill on February 9. There, issues such as the deterioration of human rights during the interim government in Bangladesh and the 1971 genocide were discussed. The event was organized by an organization called ‘Hindu Action.’ According to Dilip Nath, a district leader of the Democratic Party in New York, the new proposal in the U.S. Parliament followed that event.

He told bdnews24.com on Saturday, “Jamaat-e-Islami, which was responsible for the 1971 genocide, has resurged after the political shift during the July movement. With the backing of Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, Jamaat has once again engaged in heinous anti-human activities.

“Even recently, there was mockery in the national parliament in the name of a condolence motion to portray those convicted of crimes against humanity in 1971 as ‘good people.’ In such a situation, the people of Bangladesh are angry. We hope that if the proposal is passed in Congress, Jamaat-e-Islami, identified as perpetrators of 1971, will once again be banned by the United States.”