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{{short description|National day observed on 25 March in Bangladesh to commemorate the victims of the Bengali genocide}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox holiday
|holiday_name = Genocide Remembrance Day<br>গণহত্যা স্মরণ দিবস
|type = national
|image = জাতীয় স্মৃতি সৌধ - The National Martyrs' Monument of Bangladesh.jpg
|imagesize =
|caption = [[National Martyrs' Memorial]]
|official_name =
|nickname =
|firsttime = 2017<ref name="New Age">{{cite news | url=http://www.newagebd.net/article/11145/articlelist/323/Cartoon | title=Whole nation should observe National Genocide Day | work=[[New Age (Bangladesh)|New Age]] | date=14 March 2017 | access-date=6 July 2022}}</ref><ref name=NTV/>
|duration = 1 day
|frequency = annual
|observedby = [[Bangladesh]]<br />[[Bangladeshi diaspora]]
|significance = Commemoration of the [[Bengali Genocide]]
|date = 25 March
}}

The '''Bengali Genocide Remembrance Day''' ({{lang-bn|বাঙালি গণহত্যা স্মরণ দিবস}} ''Bāṅgāli Gaṇahatyā Smaraṇ Dibas / Bangali Gonohotta Shoron Dibosh'') or the '''Bangladesh Genocide Memorial Day''' is a national day observed on 25 March in Bangladesh to commemorate the victims of the [[Bengali genocide]] of 1971, approved unanimously in 2017.<ref name=NTV>{{Cite news |url= http://en.ntvbd.com/bangladesh/51411/Bangladesh-declares-March-25-as-Genocide-Day |title= Bangladesh declares March 25 as Genocide Day |work= [[NTV (Bangladesh)|NTV]] |date= 11 March 2017 |access-date= 6 July 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url= http://www.thedailystar.net/city/17-receive-ekushey-padak-1364194 |title= PM slams Pakistan for propaganda about '71 genocide |work= [[The Daily Star (Bangladesh)|The Daily Star]] |date= 20 February 2017 |access-date= 6 July 2017 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url= http://www.daily-sun.com/arcprint/details/206191/Declare-March-25-as-Genocide-Day-/2017-02-17 |title= Declare March 25 as Genocide Day |work= [[Daily Sun (Bangladesh)|The Daily Sun]] |date= 17 February 2017 |access-date= 6 July 2017 |language=en}}</ref>

==History==
{{main|Bengali genocide|Operation Searchlight|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 [[Bengal]]i independence movement by taking control of the major cities on 26 March, and then eliminating all opposition, political or military,<ref>[[Salik, Siddiq]], ''Witness To Surrender'', pp 63, 228–9 {{ISBN|984-05-1373-7}}</ref> within one month. Before the beginning of the operation, all foreign journalists were systematically deported from East Pakistan.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Siddiqui |first=Asif |date=December 1997 |title=From Deterrence and Coercive Diplomacy to War: The 1971 Crisis in South Asia |journal=Journal of International and Area Studies |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=73–92 |jstor=43106996}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.daily-sun.com/printversion/details/205993/JS-may-be-moved-to-mark-March-25-as-Genocide-Day|title=JS may be moved to mark March 25 as Genocide Day|work=The Daily Sun|access-date=22 March 2017|language=en}}</ref>

On 11 March 2017, the [[Parliament of Bangladesh]] unanimously passed the Resolution designating 25 March as a ''Genocide Remembrance Day''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thedailystar.net/country/motion-placed-js-declare-mar-25-mass-killing-day-1374331|title=Parliament passes motion to mark March 25 as Genocide Day|date=11 March 2017|work=The Daily Star|access-date=22 March 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2017/03/11/march-25-declared-genocide-day/|title=Parliament declares March 25 Genocide Day |date=11 March 2017|work=Dhaka Tribune|access-date=22 March 2017|language=en-US}}</ref> The day honours and remembers those who suffered and died as a consequence of killings by the Pakistani Army on 25 March 1971, which started with Operation Searchlight and ended with the [[1971 Bangladesh genocide|1971 Bangladesh Genocide]] and the [[Independence of Bangladesh]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.banglamirrornews.com/2017/03/jatiya-sangsad-declares-march-25-as-gonohotya-dibosh/|title=Jatiya Sangsad declares March 25 as 'Gonohotya Dibosh' |work=[[Bangla Mirror]]|language=en-US|access-date=22 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170315175818/http://www.banglamirrornews.com/2017/03/jatiya-sangsad-declares-march-25-as-gonohotya-dibosh/|archive-date=15 March 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thefinancetoday.net/2017/03/12/parliament-declares-march-25-as-gonohotya-dibosh/|title=Parliament declares March 25 as "Gonohotya Dibosh"|access-date=22 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170315174713/http://www.thefinancetoday.net/2017/03/12/parliament-declares-march-25-as-gonohotya-dibosh/|archive-date=15 March 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nirapadnews.com/english/2017/03/13/news-id:84275/|title=14-party alliance to observe March 25 as 'Genocide Day'|website=Nirapad News|access-date=22 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170317094357/http://www.nirapadnews.com/english/2017/03/13/news-id:84275/|archive-date=17 March 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.bssnews.net/newsDetails.php?cat=0&id=648904&date=2017-03-12|title=JS resolution on Day of Genocide hailed|work=[[Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha]]|language=en|access-date=22 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170315175216/http://www.bssnews.net/newsDetails.php?cat=0&id=648904&date=2017-03-12|archive-date=15 March 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> During this period the persecution of the Bengali population by Pakistan army led by General [[A. A. K. Niazi]] was notable. It is believed this was on account of the contempt the dominant Punjabi Pakistanis had for Bengalis, there was mounting 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 community on the orders from a brigadier which General Niazi denied.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yjJjDwAAQBAJ&q=bengal+hindu+genocide+by+pakistan+army|title=The Blood Telegram: India's Secret War in East Pakistan|last=Bass|first=Gary J.|year=2014|publisher=Penguin Random House India Private Limited|isbn=9789353051853|language=en}}</ref>

"Bangladesh will reach out to UN seeking recognition of the 1971 Genocide while the government declared March 25 as Genocide Day", according to [[Ministry of Liberation War Affairs (Bangladesh)|Liberation War Affairs Minister]] [[Mozammel Haque (Bangladesh Awami League politician)|AKM Mozammel Huq]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.bssnews.net/newsDetails.php?cat=0&id=651764&date=2017-03-23|title=News Details|work=Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha|access-date=24 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170323200927/http://www.bssnews.net/newsDetails.php?cat=0&id=651764&date=2017-03-23|archive-date=23 March 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==International recognition==
The government of Bangladesh is working on achieving global recognition of March 25 as “Bangladesh’s Genocide Day." [[Gregory Stanton#Genocide Watch|Genocide Watch]] and Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention issued
statements 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”<ref>[https://www.dhakatribune.com/foreign-affairs/2022/02/09/dhaka-appreciates-genocide-watchs-statement Dhaka appreciates Genocide Watch’s statement, Dhaka Tribune, 9 February 2022 ]</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:March71.PNG|Location of Bengali and Pakistani military units during [[Operation Searchlight]]
File:03012009 Jolladkhana71 WarMuseumMirpur photo41 RanadipamBasu.jpg|The Jallad Khana Memorial at one of the killing fields in [[Mirpur Model Thana|Mirpur]]
File:Human Remains and War Materiel from 1971 Genocide - Liberation War Museum - Dhaka - Bangladesh (12826731774).jpg|Human remains and war material in [[Liberation War Museum]]
File:1971 intellectuals.JPG|A sculpture in Meherpur showing the [[1971 killing of Bengali intellectuals|execution of Bengali intellectuals]] by the Pakistan Army
File:Martyr's Monument Dhaka University Ashfaq.JPG|Monument in honor of those [[1971 Dhaka University massacre|killed at Dhaka University]]
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Martyred Intellectuals Day]]
* [[Language Movement Day]]
* [[Independence Day (Bangladesh)]]
* [[Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day]]
{{clear}}

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

{{Bangladesh Liberation War}}
{{1971 Bangladesh genocide}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Genocide remembrance days]]
[[Category:March observances]]
[[Category:1971 Bangladesh genocide]]
[[Category:Public holidays in Bangladesh]]
[[Category:Annual events in Bangladesh]]

Bengali Genocide Remembrance Day - Revision history

Bot at 09:55, 14 November 2022