Paris

Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist and Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC) of France held a demonstration and called on the international community to declare the systematic killing of Bangladeshis by Pakistan in 1971 as "genocide".

The protest was organised on March 24 and a poster exhibition was also held in Paris depicting the Pakistan army-led "genocide" in Bangladesh in 1971. The event was organized ahead of the Bangladesh National Day on March 26 which commemorates the country's declaration of independence from Pakistan in 1971.

The posters at the exhibition depicted the large-scale violence and torture that the Pakistan army inflicted on the Bengali population of then East Pakistan, now Bangladesh.

Approximately 35-40 members of BHBCUC participated in the said event and called on the international community and the UN to declare the systematic killing of Bangladeshis by Pakistan in 1971 as "genocide".

Slogans against Pakistan were raised at the event.

During the 1971 genocide in Bangladesh, the Pakistan military targeted hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshi citizens.

Rights group says the horrors of 1971 are considered as one of the worst mass atrocities in history.

The damage they inflicted can be described in the following numbers-- as many as three million people were believed to have been killed, up to 2,00,000 women were violated and over 10 million people were forced to cross the border to India to seek shelter.