January 27 has been fixed as Holocaust Memorial Day because seventy years ago on this day in 1945 the Russian army liberated the Auschwitz Death Camp in Poland from the evil of Nazi Germany. For the past several years this day has been commemorated every year all over Europe to remind people what man is capable of doing against his fellow human beings.
In commemorating this day people are also reminded of the genocide committed in Sudan, Rwanda and especially in Cambodia. It is right that this day is observed if only to help man so that they stay away from causing evil.
However the most disappointing thing about all this is that there is no mention whatsoever of the genocide committed by the Pakistani army in erstwhile East Pakistan in 1970 (now Bangladesh) in which at least quarter million women were raped and 3 million people were slaughtered of which 2.7 million were Hindus. Hindus in India know about the Holocaust Memorial Day. What is even more unfortunate is that they appear to be ambivalent about what happened to Hindus in that part of the subcontinent as though Hindu life does not matter. To make sure horror of this nature does not repeat itself the right thing to do is to fix a day to remember every year the Hindus who lost their lives in 1970 in East Pakistan.
Dr Jatindra Saha
By email
