Letter to Biden Re 1971 Bengali Hindu Genocide 03.25.21
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March 25, 2021 President Joe Biden The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President: We are writing to you today to draw your attention to one of the greatest humanitarian disasters and crimes against humanity of the 20th century: the Bengali Hindu Genocide. This year, on March 25, 2021, we will mark the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the genocide. On that night, the West Pakistan military launched ‘Operation Searchlight’ in the capital city Dhaka, unleashing a campaign of targeted killings and massacres against the Bengali Hindu population, leaving thousands dead overnight. In the ensuing months, historians estimate that 2-3 million people, primarily Bengali Hindus but also Bengali Muslim intellectuals and secular nationalists, were killed. About 200,000-400,000 women were raped and over 10 million people were displaced throughout the region, mostly in neighboring India. At the time, the U.S. and the world were aware of the atrocities being carried out. In a telegram titled “Selective Genocide” to the U.S. State Department, American Consul General Archer K. Blood wrote “Here in Dacca we are mute and horrified witnesses to a reign of terror by the Pak military. Moreover, with support of Pak military, non-Bengali Muslims are systematically attacking poor people’s quarters and murdering Bengalis and Hindus. Full horror of Pak military atrocities will come to light sooner or later.”1 After fifty years, the time has come to affirm this horrific event which remains one of the greatest unrecognized crimes against humanity of the 20th century. Therefore, we urge you to issue a public statement commemorating March 25th as Bengali Hindu Genocide Remembrance Day. In so doing, your words will help bring a semblance of justice to millions of victims and their survivors around the world, including tens of thousands residing in the U.S. Sincerely, 1 Blood, Archer K., U.S. Consulate General of East Pakistan, U.S. State Department Cable 0959, March 28, 1971; U.S. National Security Archives, accessed March 3, 2021. Available: https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu//NSAEBB/NSAEBB79/BEBB1.pdf Promoting dignity, mutual respect, and pluralism. | HAF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. ORGANIZATIONS (original signatories* followed by alphabetical order): 1. Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, Central Committee (Dhaka, Bangladesh)* 2. Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, USA* 3. BHBCUC, USA* 4. Forcefield, NFP* 5. Hindu American Foundation (HAF)* 6. Human Rights Congress for Bangladesh Minorities* 7. Indian Subcontinent Partition Documentation (ISPaD) Project* 8. Indo-American Community Federation* 9. Indo-American Kashmir Forum* 10. Kashmir Hindu Foundation* 11. New American Voters Association* 12. Silicon Valley Interreligious Council (SiVIC)* 13. Sindhi Foundation* 14. 3dinnovate 15. American Institute of Vedic Studies 16. Americans 4 Hindus 17. Annapoorna USA Foundation 18. Archika 19. Armenian Council of America 20. Armenian Genocide Committee 21. Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association (APAPA) 22. Association for Bangali Community Development (ABCD) 23. Bangladesh Hindu Porishod 24. Bangladesh Teachers Unity Council 25. BHBCUC, Canada 26. Cambodian Development Foundation 27. Campaign Against Atrocities on Minorities of Bangladesh (CAAMB) 28. CaoDai Today 29. Center for Pluralism 30. Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR) 31. Cigiden 32. Coalition of Hindus of North America (CoHNA) 33. Cozy Cupcakes & Crumbs 34. Dharma Civilization Foundation 35. Federation of Indian Associations (FIA) of Northern California 36. Florida Armenians 37. Forum for Hindu Awakening 38. Forum for Religious Freedom Promoting dignity, mutual respect, and pluralism. | HAF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. 39. Foundation for Advancing Cultural Ties 40. Fundacja Aravindam Social Development 41. Global Bengali Hindu Coalition, Toronto (GBHC) 42. Global Hindu Federation 43. Gujarati Samaj of Tampa Bay 44. Hindu American Political Action Committee 45. Hindu Americans of San Diego 46. Hindu Community Institute 47. Hindu Council of Australia 48. Hindu Council U.K. 49. Hindu Existence Forum 50. Hindu Forum Sweden 51. Hindu Jewish Coalition 52. Hindu Speakers Bureau 53. Hindu Students Council 54. Hindu Students Council High School Leadership Board 55. Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS) 56. HinduPACT USA 57. Hindus of Greater Houston 58. India Awareness Foundation 59. Indian American Community of Southern California 60. Indian Association of Los Angeles (IALA) 61. Indian Association of Sacramento 62. Interfaith Dialogue Association 63. Interfaithshaadi-org 64. International Gita Society 65. Irvine Hindu Temple 66. Jago Hindu Parishad 67. Manosri Tarun Bani Mandir (MTBM) 68. Mt. Kailash Foundation 69. Mukthi Yoga 70. National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) 71. NRIs4Bengal 72. OC Hindus (Orange County, CA) 73. Overseas Volunteers for a Better India 74. Paschim Bonger Jonya 75. Path to Anandam 76. Rising Star Steel Industries 77. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) 78. Sahayog Foundation Promoting dignity, mutual respect, and pluralism. | HAF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. 79. San Diego Hindu Forum 80. Sanatan Vidyarthi Samsad, Govt. M. M. College, Jashore 81. Seven Stars Foundation 82. Shri Surya Narayan Mandir 83. Srishti Foundation 84. Sanatan Vidyarthi Parishad (SVS) 85. Swasthi Associates 86. The Durga Temple of Virginia 87. The Lead America Foundation 88. United Hindu and Jain Temples 89. Vidyarthi Adhibason 90. World Hindu Council of America (VHPA) 91. World Hindu Federation 92. World Muslim Congress INDIVIDUALS (original signatories* followed by US nationals, alphabetical order): With title and organization for identification purposes Dr. Richard Benkin* Independent Human Rights Activist Forcefield, NFP Somanjana Chatterjee* Board Member Silicon Valley Interreligious Council (SiVIC) Prof. Sachi G. Dastidar* Distinguished Service Professor and Chair of the Board Indian Subcontinent Partition Documentation (ISPaD) Project Mr. Shuvo Dastidar* Project Coordinator The Indian Subcontinent Partition Documentation (ISPaD) Project Dipangkar Ghose* Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, Central Committee Sitangshu Guha* Senior Policy Director BHBCUC, USA Promoting dignity, mutual respect, and pluralism. | HAF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Samir Kalra* Managing Director Hindu American Foundation Ashok Karmaker* Chairman Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, USA Taniel Koushakjian* Director of Public Policy Hindu American Foundation Deepali Kulkarni* Director of Human Rights Hindu American Foundation Dilip Nath* New American Voters Association (NAVA) Dr. Vijay Sazawal* Co-founder, International Coordinator Indo-American Kashmir Forum (IAKF) Suhag Shukla, Esq.* Executive Director Hindu American Foundation (HAF) 1. Aarti Kaushal Chopra 2. Aastha Kashyap 3. Abhinav Dwivedi 4. Adit Adityanjee 5. Aditya Bakaya 6. Aditya Mahadevan 7. Aishwarya Vashishtha 8. Ajay Agrawal 9. Ajay Kumar 10. Ajit Nair 11. Akhil Kalepalli 12. Al Patel Promoting dignity, mutual respect, and pluralism. | HAF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. 13. Alexa Ray 14. Alka Nair 15. Alka Sehgal 16. Amalendu Chatterjee 17. Ami Patel 18. Amitabh Sharma 19. Amritha Ramaswamy 20. Anand Rangarej 21. Anaya Deshpande 22. Anib Nath 23. Anil Shekhar 24. Anil Singh 25. Anirban Kundu 26. Anita Roy 27. Anjalee Swamy 28. Anjani Shidham 29. Annapurna Velury 30. Anoop Kumar 31. Anthony Ng 32. Anuj Verma 33. Anup Roy 34. Aparna Tripathi 35. Apurba Chowdhury 36. Arabinda Chakraborty 37. Arathi Shankar 38. Archana More Sharma 39. Arsine Koushakjian 40. Arthesh Vargain 41. Arūn Sharma 42. Arun Sitaraman 43. Arushi Ramaka 44. Aryama Singh 45. Ashish Aggarwal 46. Ashish Khurana 47. Ashrey Gupta 48. Ashwin Shanker 49. B. Bhowmik 50. Bala Ramachandran 51. Barbara A McGraw, JD, PhD 52. Barun Paul Promoting dignity, mutual respect, and pluralism. | HAF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. 53. Bhanwar Joshi 54. Bharathi Hariharan 55. Bhaskar Vempati 56. Bhopal Singh 57. Bhuvanesh Prabakar 58. Bidyut Sarker 59. Biplab Mondal 60. Bitti Basu 61. Chakrapani Rao 62. Chitra Karnani 63. Chittra Kaul 64. Daipayan Deb 65. David Frawley 66. David Meir-Levi 67. Deb Chatterjee 68. Debanjan Nag 69. Debankur Das 70. Debleena Biswas 71. Debobroto Das 72. Deepak Sharma 73. Dharmendra Kumar 74. Dharmesh Vora 75. Dhaval Joshipura 76. Dhaval Shah 77. Dheerendra P Singh 78. Dhiru Shah 79. Dhivyan Karunakaran 80. Dinesh Jai 81. Dinesh Mojumder 82. Dr. Anupama Kaul 83. Dr. Bhavin Parikh 84. Dr. Dilip Amin 85. Dr. Hira Fotedar 86. Dr. Jai Bansal 87. Dr. Jay Krupali 88. Dr. Nathan Katz 89. Dr. Paro Sarkar 90. Dr. Sheenie Ambardar, M.D. 91. Dristi Patel 92. Dwijen Bhattacharjya, Ph. D. Promoting dignity, mutual respect, and pluralism. | HAF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. 93. Eddie Bauer 94. Fal Pandya 95. Gaurang Desai 96. Gaurav Rastogi 97. Geeta Sikand 98. Goutham Bobba 99. Hardy Vaghasia 100. Harilal Patel 101. Harish Kotecha 102. Hemant Patel 103. Hina Dave 104. Hitesh Trivedi 105. Jagadindra Chowdhury 106. Jagadish Munna 107. Jagruti Jain 108. Jai Prem 109. Janaki Menon 110. Janet Williams 111. Jason Erickson 112. Jay Iyer 113. Jay Kalathil 114. Jaya Chatterjee 115. Jayant B Shah 116. Jayanta Chowdhury 117. Jayanta Datta 118. Jaydeep Chaudhari 119. Jaydeep Ghosh 120. Jhilmil Hatty 121. Joel Wong 122. Jouella Fabe 123. Julie Maitra 124. Justin Sha 125. Kabindra Sen 126. Kajari Ghosh 127. Kalyan Mahajan 128.