THE ASIAN INDEPENDENT UK
Bal Ram Sampla
Geopolitics
More than half a century after one of the twentieth century’s most devastating episodes of mass violence, the United States Congress is being asked to formally acknowledge what historians, diplomats, and survivors have long called a genocide.
On March 20, 2026, Democratic Congressman Greg Landsman of Ohio introduced an eleven-point resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives, where it has been referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
The resolution seeks to formally recognise the atrocities committed by the Pakistani military and its allies against the Bengali people — and Bengali Hindus in particular — during the 1971 Liberation War as genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
The Historical Background
The events of 1971 were rooted in the deep political and ethnic tensions that followed the 1947 partition of British India. Political and economic power was concentrated in West Pakistan, where the ruling elite viewed Bengalis as inferior. In the 1970 national elections, the Awami League, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, won a democratic majority on a platform of autonomy for East Pakistan.
West Pakistan’s leadership refused to transfer power, leading to the military crackdown known as Operation Searchlight.
On the night of March 25, 1971, the Government of Pakistan imprisoned Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and its military units, in conjunction with radical Islamist groups inspired by the ideology of Jamaat-e-Islami, began a general crackdown throughout East Pakistan — code-named Operation Searchlight — that involved widespread massacres of civilians.
What followed was nine months of systematic brutality that left an indelible scar on the region.
The Scale of the Atrocities
The resolution draws on a wide body of historical evidence to document the horror of what occurred. The killing of tens to hundreds of thousands of civilians, the rape of more than 200,000 women, the widespread destruction of homes and places of worship, and the displacement of millions are all documented in the resolution. It cites evidence that nearly 80 per cent of the victims were Hindus, though they made up only about 20 per cent of the population.
The resolution recognises that while the Pakistani Army and its Islamist allies indiscriminately killed ethnic Bengalis regardless of religion and gender, they specifically targeted the Hindu religious minority for extermination through mass slaughter, gang rape, forced conversion, and expulsion. Historical records referenced in the resolution include U.S. diplomatic cables, journalists’ accounts, and international legal assessments — among them a contemporaneous assessment finding “overwhelming evidence that Hindus were slaughtered simply because they were Hindus.”
Perhaps the most powerful piece of documentary evidence cited is the so-called “Blood Telegram.” On April 6, 1971, U.S. Consul General in Dacca, Archer Blood, sent a formal objection to the official U.S. Government silence on the conflict, signed by 20 members of the Consulate General in Dacca, warning that the “overworked term genocide” was in fact applicable to what was taking place.
That a senior American diplomat used the word genocide in real time makes the absence of formal U.S. recognition all the more striking.
What the Resolution Calls For
The measure calls on the President of the United States to formally recognise the acts as genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, while also rejecting the collective guilt of any ethnic or religious group.
It further calls on the Government of Pakistan to issue a formal apology to the people and Government of Bangladesh, and calls for Jamaat-e-Islami to be brought to justice for its role in the atrocities. The resolution also calls for the continued protection of religious minorities in Bangladesh today, where concerns about the safety of Hindus and other communities remain very much alive.
Why It Matters
Congressman Landsman has framed the resolution in moral and historical terms. “History demands truth,” he said. “Formal US recognition is long overdue and sends a clear message that we will not turn a blind eye to atrocities against religious minorities.”
The resolution carries significance beyond its immediate legal or political effect. For survivors, their descendants, and advocacy communities, formal recognition by a major world power represents a long-denied act of acknowledgment. It also reflects a growing global reckoning with historical atrocities that have been overlooked or suppressed for reasons of geopolitics — in 1971, the United States was aligned with Pakistan as a Cold War partner and largely looked the other way.
Whether the resolution advances through the Committee on Foreign Affairs and achieves a full congressional vote remains to be seen. But its introduction alone marks a meaningful step in the long effort to ensure that the victims of 1971 are not forgotten, and that the word genocide — where it is warranted — is not left unspoken.
References
1.https://www.business-standard.com/world-news/declare-1971-pak-atrocities-on-bengali-hindus-as-genocide-us-lawmaker-126032200029_1.html
2.https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-resolution/1430/text
3.https://idrw.org/us-lawmaker-seeks-genocide-label-for-1971-pakistan-atrocities-against-bengali-hindus/
4.https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/foreign-affairs/405989/us-lawmaker-introduces-resolution-to-recognize
5.https://dailypioneer.com/news/declare-pakistan-atrocities-against-bengali-hindus-in-1971-as-genocide-us-lawmaker
