This resolution condemns the atrocities committed by the Armed Forces of Pakistan against the people of Bangladesh from March-December 1971.
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1430 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1430
Recognizing the Bangladesh Genocide of 1971.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 14, 2022
Mr. Chabot (for himself and Mr. Khanna) submitted the following
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Recognizing the Bangladesh Genocide of 1971.
Whereas, in August 1947, British rule in India ended, creating the 2 independent
sovereign countries of India and Pakistan, the latter of which included
the noncontiguous regions of West Pakistan (Pakistan) and East Pakistan
(Bangladesh), also known as East Bengal;
Whereas the Pakistani ruling elite was comprised overwhelmingly of West
Pakistanis who concentrated the country's resources and development
efforts in West Pakistan to the detriment of East Pakistan's
development;
Whereas West Pakistani officials harbored well-documented anti-Bengali
sentiment, considering Bengalis to be a lesser people group that had
been corrupted by un-Islamic practices;
Whereas, during elections held in 1970, the Awami League, led by Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman, won a majority in Parliament on a platform of autonomy for East
Pakistan;
Whereas negotiations to form a government between Pakistani President, General
Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto leader of the Pakistan
People's Party, and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman failed;
Whereas, at a meeting on February 22, 1971, General Yahya Khan is recorded as
saying to his top military brass ``[k]ill 3 million of them and the rest
will eat out of our hands'';
Whereas, on the night of March 25, 1971, the Government of Pakistan imprisoned
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Pakistani military units, in conjunction with
radical Islamist groups, began a general crackdown throughout East
Pakistan code-named ``Operation Searchlight'' that involved widespread
massacres of civilians;
Whereas atrocities continued during the ensuing 9-month Bangladesh War of
Independence as the Pakistani military scapegoated ethnic Bengalis and
Hindus and targeted supporters of the Awami League, Bengali military or
police personnel, intellectuals, students, and professionals, while
victims included members of both majority (Bengali Muslim) and minority
(non-Muslim) communities;
Whereas the genocide against ethnic Bengalis and Hindus is one of the forgotten
genocides of the 20th century and its lack of recognition remains an
open wound for millions of people who were directly effected by the
atrocities;
Whereas estimates of the number of those killed in these atrocities vary, with
the Government of Bangladesh estimating that 3,000,000 persons were
killed;
Whereas over 200,000 women were raped and, due to stigma, the full number will
likely never be known nor the victims remembered;
Whereas, as a result of the atrocities and the war, nearly 10,000,000 refugees
fled to India, and countless others, up to 50 percent of Bangladesh's
population, were internally displaced;
Whereas the Government and people of India magnanimously cared for the refugees
until the culmination of hostilities;
Whereas in a seminal column on June 13, 1971, for The Sunday Times, titled
``Genocide'', journalist Anthony Mascarenhas wrote ``It seems clear that
the `sorting out' began to be planned about the time that Lt.-Gen. Tikka
Khan took over the governorship of East Bengal.'' and continues ``When
the army units fanned out in Dacca on the evening of March 25, in pre-
emptive strikes against the mutiny planned for the small hours of the
next morning many of them carried lists of people to be liquidated.
These included the Hindus and large numbers of Muslims; students, Awami
Leaguers, professors, journalists and those who had been prominent in
Sheik Mujib's movement.'';
Whereas, on March 28, 1971, United States Consul General in Dacca, Archer Blood,
sent a telegram to Washington titled ``Selective Genocide'' in which he
wrote ``Moreover, with support of Pak military, non-Bengali Muslims are
systematically attacking poor people's quarters and murdering Bengalis
and Hindus. Streets of Dacca are aflood with Hindus and others seeking
to get out of Dacca. Many Bengalis have sought refuge in homes of
Americans, most of whom are extending shelter.'';
Whereas, on April 6, 1971, in what became known as the ``Blood Telegram'',
Consul General Blood sent by way of the State Department's dissent
channel an objection to official United States Government silence on the
conflict signed by 20 members of the United States diplomatic staff of
Consulate General Dacca which reads in part ``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 internal matter of a sovereign state. Private Americans have
expressed disgust.'' and in which objection Blood concurs stating ``I
believe the views of these officers, who are among the finest U.S.
officials in East Pakistan, are echoed by the vast majority of the
American community, both official and unofficial. I also subscribe to
these views but I do not think it appropriate for me to sign their
statement as long as I am principal officer at this post.'';
Whereas, on April 8, 1971, Consul General Blood sent another telegram which
states in part ```Genocide' applies fully to [this] naked, calculated
and widespread selection of Hindus for special treatment . . . From
outset various members of American community have witnessed either
burning down of Hindu villages, Hindu enclaves in Dacca and shooting of
Hindus attempting [to] escape carnage, or have witnessed after-effects
which [are] visible throughout Dacca today.'';
Whereas Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee's
Subcommittee To Investigate the Problems Connected with Refugees and
Escapees published a report to the Committee on November 1, 1971, which
states ``Nothing is more clear, or more easily documented, than the
systematic campaign of terror--and its genocidal consequences--launched
by the Pakistan army on the night of March 25th. Field reports to the
U.S. Government, countless eye-witness journalistic accounts, reports of
international agencies such as the World Bank, and additional
information available to the Subcommittee document the continuing reign
of terror which grips East Bengal. Hardest hit have been members of the
Hindu community who have been robbed of their lands and shops,
systematically slaughtered, and, in some places, painted with yellow
patches marked `H'. All of this has been officially sanctioned, ordered
and implemented under martial law from Islamabad.'';
Whereas the war ended on December 16, 1971, and Bangladesh became an independent
country;
Whereas, in a legal study published in 1972 titled ``The Events in East
Pakistan'', the Secretariat of the International Commission of Jurists
states ``There is overwhelming evidence that Hindus were slaughtered,
and their houses and villages destroyed simply because they were
Hindus.'';
Whereas, in 1994, reflecting on his time covering the war, New York Times
correspondent Sydney Schamberg wrote ``Later I toured the country by
road to see the Pakistani legacy firsthand. In town after town there was
an execution area where people had been killed by bayonet, bullet and
bludgeon. In some towns, executions were held on a daily basis . . .
This was a month after the war's end (i.e., January 1972), . . . human
bones were still scattered along many roadsides. Blood stained clothing
and tufts of human hair clung to the brush at these killing grounds.
Children too young to understand were playing grotesque games with
skulls. Other reminders were the yellow `H's the Pakistanis had painted
on the homes of Hindus, particular targets of the Muslim army.'';
Whereas in its ``Declaration in Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the
Bangladesh Genocide'' United States nongovernmental organization
Genocide Watch states ``Throughout the nine months of their anti-
independence occupation of East Pakistan, the Pakistani Military Forces
persecuted, tortured, and murdered representatives of Bengali culture
and identity, including poets, musicians, professors, journalists,
physicians, scientists, writers, and film makers.'';
Whereas the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the
Crime of Genocide, signed at Paris on December 9, 1948, declares that
genocide ``means any of the following acts committed with the intent to
destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious
group, as such: (a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious
bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) Deliberately
inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its
physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing measures intended
to prevent births within the group; (e) Forcibly transferring children
of the group to another group.'' and ``The following acts shall be
punishable: (a) Genocide; (b) Conspiracy to commit genocide; (c) Direct
and public incitement to commit genocide; (d) Attempt to commit
genocide; (e) Complicity in genocide.'';
Whereas United States nongovernmental organizations Genocide Watch and the
Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention have sought international
recognition of the atrocities committed by the Armed Forces of Pakistan
as genocide; and
Whereas it is of the utmost importance to recall and document crimes against
humanity, war crimes, and genocide for the sake of posterity, to
preserve the memory of the victims, and to deter future atrocities: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) condemns the atrocities committed by the Armed Forces
of Pakistan against the people of Bangladesh from March 1971 to
December 1971;
(2) recognizes that such atrocities against ethnic Bengalis
and Hindus constitute crimes against humanity, war crimes, and
genocide;
(3) recalls the death and suffering of the countless
victims of such atrocities and expresses its deep sympathy for
the suffering;
(4) recognizes that entire ethnic groups or religious
communities are not responsible for the crimes committed by
their members;
(5) calls on the President of the United States to
recognize the atrocities committed against ethnic Bengalis and
Hindus by the Armed Forces of Pakistan during 1971 as crimes
against humanity, war crimes, and genocide;
(6) calls on the Government of Pakistan, in the face of
overwhelming evidence, to offer acknowledgement of its role in
such genocide, offer formal apologies to the Government and
people of Bangladesh, and prosecute, in accordance with
international law, any perpetrators who are still living; and
(7) reaffirms the United States commitment to promoting
peace, stability, and intercommunal harmony in the Indo-Pacific
region, and the right of all people living in the region,
regardless of national, racial, ethnic, or religious
background, to enjoy the benefits of democratic institutions,
the rule of law, the freedom of religion, and economic
opportunity.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
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