Although Washington, Beijing, and most Arab nations—including Palestinian authorities under Yasser Arafat and Grand Mufti Mohammed Amin al-Husseini—vehemently opposed Bangladesh’s war of independence in 1971, branding it as a “battle between Pakistani Muslims and Bengali Hindus” and comparing it to the Israel-Palestine conflict, after 54 years of Bangladesh’s independence, an 11-point resolution has now been introduced by Congressman Greg Landsman to recognize the atrocities committed by the Pakistani Army and its allies, Jamaat-e-Islami, against Bengali Hindus on March 25, 1971, as genocide and war crimes.

Landsman, a Democratic Congressman from Ohio, introduced the resolution in the US House of Representatives on March 20, 2026, and it has been referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs.

The resolution states that on the night of March 25, 1971, the Government of Pakistan imprisoned Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and Pakistani military units, in conjunction with radical Islamist groups inspired by the ideology of Jamaat-e-Islami, launched a general crackdown throughout East Pakistan, code-named “Operation Searchlight”, which involved widespread massacres of civilians.

Although the US House resolution calls upon the President of the United States to recognize the atrocities committed against ethnic Bengali Hindus by the Armed Forces of Pakistan and their allies in Jamaat-e-Islami in 1971 as crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide, it remains unclear whether the US will designate Jamaat-e-Islami for committing such heinous crimes.

In 2019, South Asia expert Seth Oldmixon highlighted the role of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) in promoting and exporting religious extremism and terrorism on a global scale. He noted the enduring legacy of JI’s founder, Abul Ala Mawdudi, and warned of the dangers of ignoring the activities of JI and its affiliates in North America.

“Jamaat-e-Islami’s guiding ideology and its goal of establishing a global theocracy have not changed from Mawdudi’s original vision”, Oldmixon said. He further noted continued........

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