Sheikh Hasina Says Pakistan Military Started The Genocide Of 1971 In UNGA Address

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has hit out at Pakistan, saying its Army launched a "heinous" military operation in 1971 which triggered a "genocide" during the liberation war, killing 3 million innocent people.

In her address to the UN General Assembly yesterday, Hasina said her country's parliament had recently declared 25 March as 'Genocide Day' to pay homage to the victims. The war in 1971 broke after a sudden crackdown at midnight on 25 March, 1971 in the erstwhile East Pakistan by the Pakistani troops and ended on 16 December.

The same year Pakistan conceded defeat and unconditionally surrendered in Dhaka to the allied forces comprising the freedom fighters and the Indian soldiers. Officially three million people were killed during the nine-month-long war.

"In the 1971 war of liberation, we endured an extreme form of genocide. In the 9-month-long war of liberation against Pakistan 3 million innocent people were killed and more than 200,000 women were violated," Hasina said. PTI