Muktijuddho Mancha marches on Pakistan embassy demanding apology for 1971 genocide

A group of activists have marched on the Pakistan embassy in Dhaka with a memorandum demanding an apology from the country for the mass genocide and killing of intellectuals in Bangladesh during the Liberation War of 1971.

Dhaka University Correspondentbdnews24.com

Published : 14 Dec 2020, 03:38 PM

Updated : 14 Dec 2020, 08:24 PM

The Bangladesh Muktijuddho Mancha held a rally at the altar of the Raju Memorial sculpture on the Dhaka University campus on Monday to press home the demand.

Later, members of the organisation launched a march towards the Pakistan embassy before being blocked off by the police at Shahbagh. A six-member delegation was later escorted to the embassy where DC Ashraful Islam of the Diplomatic Police received the memorandum on behalf of the prime minister of Pakistan.

The delegation was led by Barrister Turin Afroz, sculptor Rasha, Bangladesh Muktijuddho Mancha's Presidet Aminul Islam Bulbul and General Secretary Md Al Mamun.

Turin called on Pakistan to 'immediately apologise' for the genocide and massacre of Bangladesh's intellectuals in 1971. "Otherwise we will file a case against Pakistan in the International Court of Justice for genocide," she said.

Earlier, Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik, a retired justice of the Appellate Division, stood in solidarity with the rally and said, "Pakistan still cannot accept us. In 1974, Bangabandhu said that they had to apologise to Bangladesh and pay their dues. But they didn't do so.

"Instead, they had a big hand in the assassination of Bangabandhu in 1975. They were also involved in the grenade attack on Aug 21 [2004]. The grenades came from Pakistan. The Pakistan embassy is still conspiring to undermine the Liberation War. I urge the government to increase surveillance of the embassy."