Tarique Rahman (ANI file photo)
Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Wednesday condemned the atrocious acts committed by the Pakistani military during Operation Searchlight on March 25, 1971. In a letter shared online to mark the Genocide Day, he said that the Pakistani army carried out “one of the most heinous genocides in history against the unarmed people of Bangladesh in the name of Operation Searchlight.”Rahman called March 25 one of the most “disgraceful and brutal days”, adding that it was “a pre-planned massacre.”He said that the Pakistani army indiscriminately opened fire on teachers and students at Dacca University, including innocent civilians in Pilkhana and Rajarbāgh Police Lines. Rahman said that the 8th East Bengal Regiment in Chattogram formally initiated armed resistance against the genocide by declaring ‘We revolt’, beginning a nine-month-long armed Liberation War.
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The attacks by the Pakistani army followed the 1971 general election results in Pakistan, in which Sheikh Mujibur Rahman won. Soon after the result, the Pakistani army arrested him and carried out large-scale violence against the Bengali-speaking population of the region.Bangladesh will celebrate its 56th Independence Day on Thursday. The nation concluded its general elections earlier this year after prolonged violence and protests, which led to the government of Sheikh Hasina being thrown out. Tarique Rahman’s BNP won the February elections with a landslide victory.
