‘Genocide not just about number of people killed’

A two-day long international conference on “Revisiting International Relations (IR):  Critical Reflections on 100 Years” concluded yesterday at Nabab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Bhaban Auditorium of Dhaka University (DU).

While delivering the valedictorian speech, Dr Ashis Nandy, fellow of Centre for the Study of Developing Societies spoke about genocide, massive brutalisation of minorities, and nationalism.

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“Genocide is not only about how many people were killed. It is also about what brutality the people faced; what was the impact on that group of people,” he said.

Nandy, a political psychologist, social theorist and critic, also drew distinctions between nationalism and patriotism.

“Patriotism is sentimental and nationalism is an ideology... Tagore wrote over 200 poems imbued with the spirit of patriotism but rejected nationalism,” Dr Nandy said.

Addressing the session, former Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque said the recent Rohingya crisis gave the state a chance to see who is its friend and who is not.