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To commemorate 50th Victory Day, Bangladesh community members in the Washington DC Metro Region held a demonstration in front of the White House on Saturday demanding recognition of genocide perpetrated by the Pakistani Army in 1971.
They were led by the US-based Human Rights Congress for Bangladesh Minorities (HRCBM) Executive Director Priya Saha and HRCBM Washington DC Metro Area Coordinator Pranesh Haldar. Demonstrators carried placards and raised slogans demanding US Congress should hold Pakistan responsible for the 'Bengali genocide.' Priya Saha informed the gathering that Pakistan Army had killed three million Bengalis and raped about 400,000 Bengali women and girls during the 1971 genocide. This is the second biggest genocide after the Holocaust and needs to be recognized as such by the global community. The US Administration also needs to sanction Pakistan and its Army officers involved in the 1971 genocide under the Magnitsky Act. Pranesh Haldar demanded that Pakistan Government should offer a formal apology to the Bangladesh government for the genocide perpetrated by its army. The Afghan community in Washington DC also supported the protests. Afghan activist Nisar Ahmed who attended the protests said that Afghan people stand shoulder to shoulder with their Bangladeshi brothers to condemn the atrocities of the Pakistan Army. HRCBM is leading the efforts to educate the US Congress members on the atrocities perpetrated by the Pakistani Army and its radical supporters on the helpless Bangladesh populace between March 25, 1971, and Dec 16, 1971. It has been lobbying for the formal recognition of the 1971 Bengali genocide by the US Congress. (ANI)
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