[This is a forwarded mail.
If you demand trial of the war criminals of the genocide in Bangladesh in 1971, please read the following letter and program schedule, and try to show your support by attending the programs and donating money. Also try to play an active role in organizing a movement involving international communities to declare the mass killing in 1971 as a Genocide and Crime Against Humanity.
Hope to see you see you there.
Warm regards.
Minhaz Ahmed
917-567-9450]
Dear Sir/Madam:
As you know, justice with regard to the atrocities of the events surrounding the independence of Bangladesh in 1971 has been delayed for thirty eight years. Kean University is therefore continuing its efforts to enlighten the public about those responsible for the war crimes and crime against humanity that occurred. Its second annual conference on Bangladesh titled "Bangladesh 1971: Addressing claims of War crimes, Genocide and Crimes against Humanity" will be held on Sunday, October 18, 2009. The conference draws attention to efforts underway in Bangladesh to hold perpetrators responsible for crimes committed in 1971.
The Human Rights Institute at Kean University facilitates and supports endeavors that address human rights violations. It organizes and hosts its Annual Human Rights Conference. The Human Rights Institute publicly recognizes the necessity of addressing the regional conflict resulting in egregious violations of human rights in Bangladesh in 1971 and of the need to do so at an international level. This seminar is the second since 2007 to address the murder of "probably 300,000 and possibly 1 million fellow Muslims and minority Hindus in Bangladesh in 1971" (Ben Kiernan, Blood and Soil, page 572). For more detail please consult the agenda of the seminar that is attached to this letter.
The goal of the conference is to provide evidence of the atrocities of 1971 by presenting eyewitness accounts of victims, family members and freedom fighters. The conference will include panel discussions, question and answer sessions. Key discussants will include international lawyers as well as genocide scholars who will address the crimes committed in a comparative and comprehensive.
Kean University's conference is particularly timely because of the current initiative of the government of Bangladesh to bring perpetrators of the atrocities of 1971 to justice. The ongoing debate in the country as to whether it should be an international or domestic trial deserves our attention.
In order to successfully conduct this event, the assistance of the community is absolutely vital. The Human Rights Institute requests your physical participation and your donation in this event. The donation will be used solely for the expenses of the event. Kean University considers the conference to be important enough that the President is providing his financial and moral support to this event as well.
The Kean University conference has a fourfold agenda: to record testimony of the persons aggrieved by the incredible events of 1971 in Bangladesh and memorialize their names; to bring to trial the perpetrators of the atrocities of 1971 and consider alternative and additional forms of justice including the truth and conciliation of the aggrieved; to develop and institutionalize university courses at Kean and elsewhere on atrocities that analyze the horrendous events of 1971 and compare them with those in other countries such as Indonesia and Biafra; and engage participants from the public and academic communities around these issues in interdisciplinary annual conferences.
You are invited to join the committee of gracious donors and supporters currently in formation. Please find attached to this letter details on how to make a donation to the conference. Your donations towards the expenses of the conference will be most appreciated. It will go directly to the Kean University Foundation that will provide you with a tax-deductible receipt. Thank you for your consideration.
For more information please visit the website www.kean.edu/~bgsg/. Should you have any question please contact us by email bdgenostudy@gmail.com.
Yours very truly,
Hank Kaplowitz, Ph.D.
Director
Human Rights Institute
Please join us to the conference:
BANGLADESH 1971: ADDRESSING CLAIMS OF WAR CRIMES, GENOCIDE
AND HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION
Location: Wilkins Theater, Kean University
Address: 1000 Morris Ave, Union, NJ, 07083
Driving Direction: Please visit www.kean.edu for directions.
Donations: Please become our valuable program donor by donating online. Please visit http://www.kean.edu/~bgsg/Organization/donation.htm for direction to donate.
Short program outline:
Panel I Eye-witness accounts of the events by Survivors & Liberators
Detail: Graphic description of various atrocities faced by the survivors and family of victims
Participants: We are looking forward to your contribution. Please email us with your stories at bdgenostudy@gmail.com
Panel II Suffering, Atrocities & Targets:
Suffering:
Detail: Experiences associated with the harm and threats of harm suffered by the people of then East Pakistan in 1971
Panelists: Shariar Kabir, Dr. M.A. Hasan, Dr. Shelley Feldman.
Atrocities:
Detail: Deprivations of human rights committed by the Pakistan Army in East Pakistan against Bengalis and Sectarian Violence and murder of intellectuals.
Panelists: Dr. M. A. Hasan, Shariar Kabir, Dr. A.B.M Nasir
Targets:
Detail: Operation Searchlight, Anti-Bengali racism. The role of Bengali nationalists against minorities and the effect upon the Biharis and Hindus and the new community of Bangladesh.
Panelists: Anis Ahmed, Mr. Faruqe Chowdhury, Dr. Zia Uddin Ahmed, Dr. Suhail Islam
Roundtable:
Detail: Legal Reponses, Alternatives & Memorialization
Panelists: Prof. Roger Clark, David Matas, Q.C., Prof Winston Nagan, Prof. Roza Pati. Prof Ved Nanda, Shelley Feldman, Mofidul Hoque (BWM)
Important Notice
Please help us in collecting the eye witness or victim's family member's account on the killings and the effect on their lives for last 38 years. We like to cover all the family members who are residing in USA and Canada , so the students if needed can contact them for details.
This will help us to create a document of the stories of our pain, suffering and sacrifices which is ignored by largely ignored by all the national groups in the past. Please ask them to send their short write up at zahmed@drexelmed.edu.
BANGLADESH 1971: ADDRESSING CLAIMS OF WAR CRIMES, GENOCIDE
AND HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION
Location: Wilkins Theater, Kean University
Address: 1000 Morris Ave, Union, NJ, 07083
Organized by: The Human Rights Institute, Bangladesh Study Group, Masters of Arts in Holocaust
and Genocide Studies, and History Department of Kean University
Driving Direction: Please visit http://www.kean.edu/directions.html for directions.
Donations: Please become our valuable program donor by donating online. Please visit http://www.kean.edu/~bgsg/Organization/donation.htm for direction to donate.
Short program description:
Welcome addresses by
Dr. Dawood Farahi, President, Kean University
H.E. Mr. Akramul Qader, Ambassador of the People's Republic of Bangladesh to the United States
Panel I Eye-witness accounts of the events by Survivors & Liberators
Detail: Graphic descriptions of various atrocities faced by the survivors and family members of the victims. Please share your stories with us by sending us your stories to bdgenostudy@gmail.com and sharing your stories at the conference.
Panel II Suffering, Atrocities & Targets:
Suffering:
Detail: Experiences associated with the harm and threats of harm suffered by the people of then East Pakistan in 1971
Panelists: Shariar Kabir, Dr. M.A. Hasan, Dr. Shelley Feldman.
Atrocities:
Detail: Deprivations of human rights committed by the Pakistan Army in East Pakistan against Bengalis and Sectarian Violence and murder of intellectuals.
Panelists: Dr. M. A. Hasan, Shariar Kabir, Dr. A.B.M Nasir
Short program description (continues)
Targets:
Detail: Operation Searchlight, Anti-Bengali racism. The role of Bengali nationalists against minorities and the effect upon the Biharis and Hindus and the new community of Bangladesh.
Panelists: Anis Ahmed, Mr. Faruqe Chowdhury, Dr. Zia Uddin Ahmed, Dr. Suhail Islam
Roundtable:
Detail: Legal Reponses, Alternatives & Memorialization
Panelists: Prof. Roger Clark, David Matas, Prof Winston Nagan, Prof. Roza Pati. Prof Ved Nanda, Shelley Feldman
Program Outline
Part I:
10:00 – 10:30 am - Greetings in pre-function lobby. Sign-in for conference.
10:30 – 11:30 am - Pre-conference presentation by Liberation War Museum of Bangladesh
11:30 – 12:00 pm - Welcome Address by:
Dr. Dawood Farahi, President, Kean University
Dr. Kristie Reilly, Vice President of Student Affairs, Dean of Nathan Weiss Graduate College
H. E. Mr. Akramul Qader, Ambassador of Peoples Republic Bangladesh to the United States
Dr. Henry Kaplowitz. Director, Human Rights Institute.
12:00 – 12:30 pm - Documentary (movie)
12:30 – 1:30 pm Lunch
PANEL I
1:30 – 2:30 pm - Eye witness story/survivors accounts of sufferings.
PANEL II
2:30 – 3:30 pm - Panel Discussion - Sufferings
- Panel Discussion - Targets
- Panel Discussion – Atrocities
3:30 – 4:00 pm Coffee/Tea Break
Part III: Round Table: Constructive Response
4:00 – 5:30 pm - Task I: Characterizing the accounts of 1971 in terms of prosecutable crimes
- Task II: Memorializing the events of 1971 as history.
5:30 pm - Closing
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