Dr Nuzhat Choudhury, daughter of martyred-intellectual Dr AFM Alim Choudhury, has demanded trial of the Pakistani army and government for the genocide of 1971.
She also urged all not to judge those perpetrators who carried out genocide with religious identities. “They are not Muslims, Hindus or Buddhists - they are murderers,” she said.
“My Muslim father was killed by Pakistani Muslim soldiers. Again, the Buddhists have carried out genocide against the Rohingyas in Myanmar. So they have no religion,” she asserted.
She was speaking at an event in New Delhi in the presence of international scholars, marking the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
International experts who spoke at the event seconded her demand. There was also talk of forming an 'international alliance' to demand justice and redress for the genocide.
About 3 million people were killed and 300,000 women were raped in Bangladesh during the war of independence in 1971 by the Pakistan army and their occupational forces.
The Jammu and Kashmir Unity Foundation of India organised the seminar at the India International Center in Delhi.
British MP Bob Blackman, French writer Francois Gantie, Kashmiri activist Ajay Chrungu, Indian security analyst Nitin Gokhale, and Balochistan researcher Sandhya Jain spoke at the seminar. They described Pakistan as a “genocide” nation. They use the term to describe the indiscriminate genocide perpetrated by the Pakistani military against Baloch, Shia Hazaras, Kashmiri Pandits or Afghans for decades.
Nuzhat Choudhury, a direct victim of the 1971 genocide, with tearful voice, narrated the story of how his father, Alim Choudhury, a prominent doctor in Dhaka, was abducted and brutally killed by the Pakistan army and its collaborators in Dhaka just before the surrender on December 16.
“There have been thousands of attempts (by pro-Pakistanis) to forget that genocide, and it is still happening today. Pakistan has said that what has happened is over, now let us both move forward in the spirit of Muslim brotherhood. But they did not apologize even once, not even a single Pakistani general was tried for that genocide,” she lamented.
“Any injury needs a 'closure'. As a doctor, I can say that if the wound is not healed properly, the pain in the wound remains. And here we see constant attempts to reduce the number of victims of genocide.”
Nuzhat Chowdhury also reminded that under the courageous and strong leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, war criminals were finally tried in Bangladesh, many of them were hanged and it was unthinkable during the BNP-Jamaat rule.
However, he said that the Pakistanis who were the masterminds of the genocide were still out of court. “Pakistanis are doing the same thing in Balochistan as they were not being tried for genocide in Bangladesh”.
British MP Bob Blackman called for a "genocide act" to ensure justice for genocide at the international level. He said such a law would only ensure Pakistan's trial for genocide.
Bangladesh recently asked Pakistan to seek apology officially for the genocide in 1971.
Dhaka also sought completion of the repatriation of stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh, and settling the issue of the division of assets.