Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has sought international recognition for 25 March, a day observed as National Genocide Day in Bangladesh.

Marking the Genocide Day, Sheikh Hasina made the remark during a meeting of the Awami League parliamentary board held at Gonobhaban on Saturday.

25 March commemorates Operation Searchlight, a brutal military operation carried out by the Pakistan Army in Bangladesh, the-then East Pakistan, in March 1971 to curb the nation's independence movement.

Following a unanimous decision adopted by the Bangladesh Parliament on 11 March 2017, the day is being observed as "Genocide Day".

Previously, the Genocide Watch, an international body which exists to predict, prevent, stop, and punish genocide and other forms of mass murder,  issued a declaration in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the genocide in Bangladesh perpetrated by the Pakistani Army. 

Meanwhile, In her recorded radio and televised address, on the eve of the 52nd Independence Day of Bangladesh, the premier urged countrymen to build a country free from hunger and poverty.

She said, "Let us join hands to build Golden Bangladesh, free from hunger and poverty, by upholding the ideology of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman."

She also called upon all, including global people, to build a society based on equality and free from all kinds of discrimination and sectarianism.

"We do not want war and conflict; killing men, women, and children dipped us in demise. We believe in peace. If sustainable peace prevails, the overall development of the country accelerates," she said.

In her message, the premier extended her sincere greetings to all Bangladeshis living in the country and abroad.

She said that the people of the country attained their victory and got an independent and sovereign Bangladesh through the political struggle of 23 years and nine months of Liberation War fought under the leadership of the Father of the Nation.

She also extended her highest respect to the martyrs who laid down their lives for the country's independence and conveyed her salam to the valiant freedom fighters.

The prime minister said Bangladesh is advancing on the highways of development.

"Bangladesh will be a smart Bangladesh," she vowed.