Expatriates in Europe to press UN for genocide day on Mar 25

Expatriate Bangladeshis living in Europe and Nordic Region consisting of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland would reach out to the UN (Geneva) today (September 30) to declare March 25 as the Genocide Day globally in remembrance of the atrocities carried out by the Pakistan Army on the same day in 1971.
"Politicians, diplomats, lawmakers and expatriate Bangladeshi from different countries will join the programme in person in Geneva where the 48th session of UN Human Rights Commission is going on. They will join the day-long programme," a joint press release of European Bangladesh Forum (EBF) and Switzerland's Human Rights Commission (Bangladesh) said.
 They will stage an agitation programme at the 'Broken Chair' square in front of the UN office in Geneva.  
Bangladesh observes March 25 as National Genocide Day and has been trying to get international recognition over the last few years.
The Foreign Ministry, through the Bangladesh embassies and high commissions across the world has started campaign to get support from other countries in favor of the proposal.   
The UN General Assembly in 2015 declared December 9 as the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime.
However, on 11 March 2017, the Jatiya Sangsad (Parliament of Bangladesh) unanimously passed the Resolution designating 25 March as a Genocide Remembrance Day.
Earlier, the Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Huq said Bangladesh sent a delegation to the UN in 2019 with a proposal to observe March 25 as the Genocide Day globally.
The minister said no genocide took place on December 9 'but here in Bangladesh we witnessed one in 25 March 1971".
 "So, we will propose the UN to shift the Genocide Day to March 25," Huq said.
On 25 March, the Pakistan Army launched their infamous 'Operation Searchlight' on March 25 to suppress Bengali people's calls for self-determination, killing over 20,000 people alone in Dhaka.
Officially three million people were killed in the subsequent nine-month Liberation War.
Over three million people were killed, while two lakh women were raped by Pakistani occupation forces and their local collaborators during the Liberation War.