US House(L); refugees fleeing East Pakistan in 1971 (R, AP file photo)

US Congressman Greg Landsman has introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives seeking to recognise the atrocities committed by Pakistani army and its allies, against Bengali Hindus in 1971, as war crimes and genocide.Landsman, a Democrat from Ohio, moved the resolution on Friday. It has been referred to the House committee on foreign affairs.In March 1971, Pakistan’s military units, along with radical Islamist groups inspired by the ideology of Jamaat-e-Islami, launched a widespread crackdown across East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) under the codename ‘Operation searchlight’, which involved large-scale killings of civilians, particularly Bengali Hindus.

‘Mass murdered Bengali Hindus’

The resolution states that the Pakistani Army and its Islamist allies “indiscriminately mass-murdered ethnic Bengalis regardless of their religion and gender, killed their political leaders, intellectuals, professionals, and students, and forced tens of thousands of women to serve as their sex slaves.”It adds, “They specifically targeted the religious minority Hindus for extermination through mass slaughtering, gangrape, conversion, and forcible expulsion.”At the same time, the resolution notes that entire communities should not be held responsible for the actions of individuals.

‘Blood Telegram’

The resolution cites a March 28, 1971, telegram sent by United States Consul General in Dacca, Archer Blood, titled ‘Selective genocide’. In the message, he wrote, “Moreover, with the support of Pak military, non-Bengali Muslims are systematically attacking poor people’s quarters and murdering Bengalis and Hindus.”It also mentions the April 6, 1971, communication known as the “Blood Telegram”, in which Blood formally objected to the US government’s silence on the “genocide”.The message, signed by 20 members of the consulate, said, “But we have chosen not to intervene, even morally, on the grounds that the Awami conflict, in which unfortunately the overworked term genocide is applicable, is purely an internal matter of a sovereign state.”Building on these accounts, the resolution urges the House to condemn the actions of the Pakistani armed forces against Bengali Hindu as crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide.On the night of March 25, 1971, the government of Pakistan imprisoned Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, after he won the general elections. Following the atrocities, India went to war with Pakistan, leading to the Pakistani army’s surrender and the creation of Bangladesh.