| Holiday Name: | Genocide Remembrance Day গণহত্যা স্মরণ দিবস |
| Type: | national |
| Firsttime: | 2017[1] |
| Duration: | 1 day |
| Frequency: | Annual |
| Observedby: | Bangladesh Bangladeshi diaspora |
| Significance: | Commemoration of the Bangladesh genocide |
| Date: | 25 March |
Genocide Remembrance Day (bn|গণহত্যা স্মরণ দিবস|translit=Gaṇahatyā Smaraṇ Dibas) is a national day of remembrance in Bangladesh observed on 25 March in commemoration of the victims of the Bangladesh genocide during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.[2] [3] [4]
On 11 March 2017, the Jatiya Sangsad unanimously passed a resolution designating 25 March as a Genocide Remembrance Day.[5] [6] The day honours and remembers those who suffered and died as a result of the actions of the Pakistan Army during Operation Searchlight, which initiated the Bangladesh Genocide culminating with the Independence of Bangladesh.[7] [8] [9] [10]
See main article: Bangladesh genocide, Operation Searchlight and Bangladesh Liberation War.
The date 25 March commemorates Operation Searchlight, a planned military pacification carried out by the Pakistan Army, started on 25 March to curb the Bengali independence movement by taking control of the major cities on 26 March, and then eliminating all opposition, political or military, within one month.[11] Two days after the beginning of the operation, foreign journalists were systematically deported from East Pakistan.[12]
During this period, the persecution of the Bengali population by the Pakistan army was notable. It is believed this was on account of the contempt Punjabi Pakistanis had for Bengalis. There is evidence that among the Bengalis, the Hindu minority was doubly marked out for persecution. In a post-war enquiry several senior Pakistani officers admitted to systematic targeting of the Hindu community. General A. A. K. Niazi, commander of the Pakistani Eastern Command, denied ordering extermination of the Hindus.[13]
"Bangladesh will reach out to UN seeking recognition of the 1971 Genocide while the government declared March 25 as Genocide Day", according to Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Huq.[14]
The government of Bangladesh is working on achieving global recognition of March 25 as "Bangladesh's Genocide Day". Genocide Watch and Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention issuedstatements on the Bangladesh Genocide of 1971 perpetrated against Bangladeshi people by Pakistani Army.These statements will strengthen and accelerate Bangladesh's commitment to achieve global recognition of "Genocide Day".[15] International Association of Genocide Scholars (IASG) on 25 March 2023 adopted a resolution recognizing the genocide committed by the Pakistani military during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.[16]