Today is the 25th March Genocide Day

Today is 25th March. At midnight on this day in 1971, the barbaric Pakistani invasion forces armed with sophisticated weapons pounced on unarmed Bengalis all over the country including Dhaka according to the blueprint of their pre-planned Operation Search Light. The worst massacre in history took place. Various programs have been taken at the national level to celebrate the day with due dignity. On this occasion, a symbolic 'black out' will be observed across the country from 10:30 PM to 10:31 PM tonight. President and Prime Minister delivered messages on the occasion of the day.

A discussion meeting on Genocide Day will be held at the Liberation War Museum auditorium at 9:30 am. Apart from this, ballads and cultural programs on genocide and liberation war have been organized across the country. Rare photographs and documentaries on the genocide will be circulated in the minipolls of all City Corporations including Dhaka. On this day, special prayers will be held in all mosques of the country except Johor and prayers at convenient times in other religious places of worship to seek forgiveness for the souls of those who died on the night of March 25, 1971.

In the process of de-escalating the political deadlock caused by the failure of the Pakistani junta government to hand over power to the Awami League despite winning a majority in the 1970 general elections, the Pakistani army launched the infamous 'Operation Search Light' massacre of innocent Bengali civilians.

The 25th March Massacre was not just a one-night massacre, it was basically the beginning of one of the worst massacres in the history of civilization. According to Australia's 'The Sydney Morning Herald' newspaper, only on the night of March 25, nearly 100,000 people were killed in Bangladesh, which is one of the most horrific events in the history of genocide. In the next 9 months, the barbaric Pakistani invasion forces and their accomplices completed that abominable history by killing 3 million innocent men, women and children with the aim of wiping out a nation. Since the afternoon of 25th March, the whole country, including Dhaka, has been in a state of chaos.

Since the morning, the activity of the army officers was visible. They visited different cantonments of the country by helicopter and returned to Dhaka cantonment in the afternoon. The 22nd Baloch Regiment, stationed at the EPR headquarters Pilkhana in Dhaka, can be seen taking up positions at various places in the Pilkhana. Pakistani troops attacked Pilkhana, Rajarbagh, Neelkhet areas in the middle of the night. The invading forces occupied the university area along with Nilkhet with tanks and mortars. The students of Rokeya Hall were not spared either.

Dr. Govinda Chandra Dev and Jyotirmoy Guhathakurata, Professor Santosh Bhattacharya, Dr. 9 teachers of various departments of the university including Moniruzzaman were brutally killed. DU's Jagannath Hall is the biggest incident of brutal murder. Here the slaughter goes on from night to morning. The night of the city became terrifying with army machine-gun fire, tank-mortar fire and flames. President Yahya Khan secretly left Dhaka and went to Karachi after finalizing all the steps to implement the Operation Searchlight plan.

At the beginning of the army operation, the invading forces arrested the undisputed leader of the Bengali nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from his residence in Dhanmondi. Before his arrest, Bangabandhu declared the independence of Bangladesh. In response to his call, the war of independence started in the country. Desired independence was achieved on 16th December 1971 through 9 months of struggle.

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