Rape of 300,00 Bengalis by Pakistani Army in 1971 was not a true story: Germaine Greer

[DESERT FIGHTER]

And guess what there were only 42000 soldiers stationed. I wanna know how those 42k soldiers got mysterious powers that they killed 3 million bengalis, raped 300000 bengalis, fought mutkia bahina terrorists, fought indian army, etc.

34,000 .. Rest were paramilitary (which included the revelling east Pakistan rifles,Rangers)... And the numbers included bangali troops.

 

[Kambojaric]

The figures presented by the Indian authorities and their Bengali collaborators were and are utterly fantastical. Even a Bengali who worked for BBC Bangla service was perplexed by their shameless lying.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/may/24/mujib-confusion-on-bangladeshi-deaths

Did atrocities take place? Probably Yes and probably from both sides. However expecting Pakistanis to feel sorry for Bangladeshis after such shameless lying is ridiculous. If I pushed you I would feel bad afterwards and wouldn't mind apologising. However if you then demanded I apologise for breaking your arm, banging your head in the wall, driving a car over you and then throwing you off a bridge, all i will say is "f*** you, you don't deserve any apologies".

 

[All-Green]

Factor in the time of stationing.

From operation search light (March 26th) to the beginning of hostilities (December 3rd) thats about 8 months. So about 240 days. 3 million bengali civilians killed = 0.3 killed per pak soldier per day (i.e 1 every 3 days by each pakistani soldier).

300,000 rapes similarly comes to 0.03 raped per pak soldier per day...i.e 1 rape per month for every pakistani soldier.

So does this claim still seem so impossible? Mind you it is not clear if 300,000 refers to total rapes commited or total different victims (since they are not equivalent since some/many may have been raped multiple times)

Even if you account for the pace of troop buildup over time, you can maybe multiply the rates by a very conservative 2.



The numbers and truth are not meant for Pakistanis to believe since they have a hard time believing they committed such atrocities in the first place.

It would be for the victims, their country (Bangladesh) and the world that comprehensive truthseeking and justice is given.

The losers of any war (especially ones that clearly perpetrated such war crimes even in the eyes of neutrals, refer to the blood telegram) get to dictate exactly zilch about how such trials and truth missions proceed.

Such calculation reminds me of....
If 10 workers construct a house in 100 days, then 1000 workers can make it in 1 day.
A mathematically correct statement but really not possible.

While i do believe that there could have been individual or small groups engaged in such practices, it was not an institutional directive as I have not seen any officer or man from that era making that accusation; believe me such things are pointed out by many soldiers as it is not something everyone is comfortable and morally twisted enough to carry out.
The army was stretched thin in a very large theater of operation where they had to be cautious against all sorts of threats, it was not like they were all running around with their pants down.

Yes there was anger and a mutual desire of revenge once Mukti Bahni and Army were fighting each other, one was considered a traitor funded by India and the other was considered the enforcer of a political elite which was anti Bengali.
However, these figures are preposterous to say the least as there never was an institutional directive.
It was not a case of the Nazi party using state apparatus to rape and kill poor Jews as a state policy.

The loss of any life is really something sad, however people exaggerate to demonize their enemies and create absolute relevance for their ideology and political aims.

A case in point:-
As per Laal Masjid administration, Pakistani Army killed hundreds of children and raped hundreds of female students which were secretly buried.
This despite the fact that the Laal Masjid administration asked for meals for 100 odd people in the last days which was in line with the 100 odd militants holed up in the compound.
However many radicals accepted this accusation because it suited their agenda.

 

[WAJsal]

Good to read your views on the subject. I will discuss the topic in details in my coming chapter of political history and i hope it'll be a cracker and just as good as the previous parts. let me get an extract for you and other readers.

You might find it preferable to read Z. A. Khan, or any other of a dozen Pakistani soldiers who have written about the war and its surrounding incidents.

I have read some credible reports on the subject.

Some people have allowed themselves the inhumanity of laughing at the apparent folly of statistics showing that the PA was involved alone. That is why shallow academics and shallow comment alike are both to be distrusted. The fact is that at the initial stages, a lot of loyalists were attacked, until the administration took to grouping them close by, in defensible locations. Thereafter, when the crack-down took place, there are two features which need emphasis: first, the killing was selective; second, the killing and prior rapes were not so much due to the PA as to the ancillaries, the Razakars. A reading of their activities will be illuminative; the transcripts of the on-going trials in Dhaka speak for themselves.

Very much correct, an extract from hamoodur rehman commission report:
"It is necessary that this painful chapter of the events in East Pakistan be looked at in its proper perspective. Let it not be forgotten that the initiative in resorting to violence and cruelty was taken by the militants of the Awami League, during the month of March, 1971, following General Yahya Khan's announcement of the 1st of March regarding the postponement of the session of the National Assembly scheduled for the 3rd of March 1971. It will be recalled that from the 1st of March to the 3rd of March 1971, the Awami League had taken complete control of East Pakistan, paralysing the authority of the federal government. There is reliable evidence to show that during this period the miscreants indulged in large scale massacres and rape against pro-Pakistan elements, in the towns of Dacca, Narayanganj, Chittagong, Chandraghona, Rangamati, Khulna, Dinajpur, Ghafargaoa, Kushtia, Ishurdi, Noakhali, Sylhet, Maulvi Bazaar, Rangpur, Saidpur, Jessore,Barisal, Mymensingh, Rajshahi, Pabna, Sirajgonj, Comilla, Brahmanbaria, Bogra, Naogaon, Santahar, and several other smaller places.
Harrowing tales of these atrocities were narrated by the large number of West Pakistanis and Biharis who were able to escape from these places and reach the safety of West Pakistan. For days on end, all through the troubled month of March 1971, swarms of terrorised non-Bengalis lay at the Army-controlled Dacca airport awaiting their turn to be taken to the safety of West Pakistan. Families of West Pakistani officers and other ranks serving with East Bengal units were subjected to inhuman treatment, and a large number of West Pakistani officers were butchered by the erstwhile Bengali colleagues.
These atrocities were completely blacked out at the time by the Government of Pakistan for fear of retaliation by the Bengalis living in West Pakistan. The Federal Government did issue a White Paper in this behalf in August 1971, but unfortunately it did not create much impact for the reason that it was highly belated, and adequate publicity was not given to it in the national and international press.
However, recently, a renowned journalist of high-standing, Mr.Qutubuddin Aziz, has taken pains to marshal the evidence in a publication called "Blood and Tears." The book contains the harrowing tales of inhuman crimes committed on the helpless Biharis, West Pakistanis and patriotic Bengalis living in East Pakistan during that period. According to various estimates mentioned by Mr. Qutubuddin Aziz, between 100,000 and 500,000 persons were slaughtered during this period by the Awami League militants. [1]"
As far as we can judge, Mr Qutubuddin Aziz has made use of authentic personal accounts furnished by the repatriates whose families, have actually suffered at the hands of the Awami League militants. He has also extensively referred to the contemporary accounts of foreign correspondents then stationed in East Pakistan. The plight of the non-Bengali elements still living in Bangladesh and the insistence of that Government on their large-scale repatriation to Pakistan, are factors which appear to confirm the correctness of the allegations made against the Awami League in this behalf.[1]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mob Violence by Bengalis against Non-Bengalis

The postponement of the national assembly on March 1 followed by the call to observe “hartal” given by Sheikh Mujib led to widespread lawlessness during March, when the Pakistan government effectively lost control of much of the territory of East Pakistan. Many accounts, both Bangladeshi and Pakistani, have recorded the parallel government run on Sheikh Mujib’s decrees. Apart from sporadic incidents of violence in Dhaka, there was arson, looting and attacks by Bengali mobs on non-Bengali people and property in many parts of the province, some with casualties. The White Paper published by the Pakistan government in August 1971 lists such incidents, of which the worst loss of life appears to have occurred in Khulna and Chittagong in the first week of March. That “the government’s writ had ceased to function in most parts of the province” and that there were attacks upon non-Bengalis by Bengalis on the rampage, is acknowledged by critics of the government too.

Most of these attacks were on civilians and commercial properties, but some were directly on the army, which remained curiously unresponsive under orders. Mostly the army suffered from the refusal of Bengalis to sell them food and fuel, being jeered and spat at, and the widespread disregard of curfew orders, but some encounters were more deadly. “The murder of army personnel, caught in ones and twos, became an everyday occurrence”, writes Major General H A Qureishi, “In our area we lost Lt Abbas of 29 Cavalry. With an escort of Bengali soldiers, he had ventured out of the unit lines to buy fresh vegetables for the troops. The escort was “rushed” by the militants, the officer was killed, weapons were “confiscated” and the Bengali members of the guard sent back unharmed.”[2] Even Anthony Mascarenhas, the Pakistani journalist who became famous for his condemnation of the military action, wrote, “It speaks volumes for the discipline of the West Pakistan army, that its officers were able to keep the soldiers in check during what was to them a nightmare of 25 days.”[3]

The failure of the Awami League leadership in this respect – its inability or unwillingness to control a population it had incited, and encouraged to break the law – was matched by the failure of the regime to respond appropriately to attacks on life and property.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mob Attacks and Post-Military Action

The launching of army action was also followed by another wave of mob violence, in which Bengali mobs slaughtered Biharis or West Pakistanis wherever they held the upper hand, until army units arrived and secured the area.[9] Most of the territory remained in rebel hands after March 25 and it took several weeks for the army to regain control.

One such slaughter of a very large number of Bihari men, women and children occurred at the Crescent Jute Mills in Khulna on March 27-28. According to local Bengali workers at the mill, at the time both Bengali and Bihari workers and their families were barricaded inside the mill compound, to prevent the army from entering. Sporadic violence had occurred between the two communities throughout March, and Awami League supporters among the Bengalis had been training and holding parades. A “truce” agreement had been made, but did not hold. Two Bengali policemen who had come by river with their weapons and a few locals who had guns first shot at the Biharis and then the Bengali mob massacred the fleeing Biharis with ‘da’s (cleavers) and other weapons. The bodies were dumped in the river. [10] Similar killings of non-Bengalis by Bengalis from late March to late April are also reported in many other parts of the province and a vicious cycle of Bengali-Bihari ethnic violence continued even after Bangladesh’s independence. [11]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Attacks on Non-Bengalis and “Loyalist” Bengalis


“We did ‘revenge killings’” said a former “muktijoddha” in Mymensingh, with a sense of exacting justice, about the immediate aftermath following the end of the war in East Pakistan on December 16, 1971. [15] Attacks on non-Bengalis and loyalist Bengalis by pro-liberation Bengalis occurred in many areas in the new country, including public lynching in some cases even in front of the camera. In the capital, Dhaka, a crowd of thousands watched, and foreign journalists photographed, “Muktibahini” commander Kader Siddiqui and his men bayoneted bound prisoners to death. In a chilling mirror-image of the killing of pro-liberation intellectuals earlier, the “loyalist” vice-chancellor of Dhaka University was picked up on December 19, beaten, stabbed repeatedly and left for dead in a paralytic state on a street the next morning.[16] As late as March 1972, with Sheikh Mujib back and at the helm of government in Bangladesh, another mass killing of “Biharis” by Bengalis occurred in Khulna.[17]"
----------------------------------------------------------------

Thereafter, when the crack-down took place, there are two features which need emphasis: first, the killing was selective; second, the killing and prior rapes were not so much due to the PA as to the ancillaries, the Razakars. A reading of their activities will be illuminative; the transcripts of the on-going trials in Dhaka speak for themselves.

In some cases they were selective, though the usual targeting of the Hindu community and targeting of intellectuals were rare and selective cases. They were never made general target. Something i will discuss later. In fact these groups were largely targeted by the Mukti Bani, even after PA's surrender.

When, again, you encounter shallow comment about the number of deaths caused by Bangalis themselves, try to recall their ethnic composition. It was the Biharis and the ultra-orthodox Islamists, the ones under trial today, who did the most damage. Much more, I suspect, in an expression of private opinion, than the Army.

You are very much correct. Bangladeshis today don't tend to speak about the atrocities committed on the Biharis.

the Razakars

They were responsible for a lot of misdeeds.

The rest of the misdeeds some PA is pretty documented and very well mentioned in hamoodur rehman commission report. Something i can't really ignore or defend, it was wrong period. But the figures are widely incorrect.

The intensity of war increased when AWAMI league and Mukti bahini started attacking Bihari and Non Bengali Pakistanis in March 1971. It was the turning point where Pakistani Army went berserk .

Correct.

 

[Areesh]

Read my lips:

Not interested in reading lips of a Bharati troll.

Did Japan have any say over investigating the firebombing and dropping of the nukes by US on them?

i don't care about Japan. If there would be any investigation, it would start with crimes of Indian state of breeding and sponsoring terrorism.

McNamara himself said they were pretty much war crimes...but was there some big koombaya get together after World War 2 where all the nasties on both sides were somehow investigated? No.

Irrelevant bullsh!t.

Like I said, the matter I am talking of only is of relevance to the winners (India, Bangladesh) and the world at large who may be interested

World is not interested. And victors have a long list of their own crimes to hide. So such farce trials that you wish to happen won't happen ever. No matter how hard you try.

Everybody except Pakistan basically.

No one except you. A few bharati Pakistan obsessed trolls like you. Or a few wanna be bharatis of Awami league no one else is interested in such trials. I repeat. no one else is interested.

How the boat of truth floats on the ocean of facts formed by such a process is dependent on how you then define all that you see from then on. Of course someone viewing the whole thing far beneath the surface is going to say the boat is not there and the facts arent either given the darkness of the depth.

Meaningless rant. Avoid them next time.

The reason was mostly Indira Gandhi did not want continued pressure from the US and West regarding the release of the Pakistani prisoners. Even the Soviets were putting pressure for normalising everything under an umbrella of peace (which would make the framework of Shimla agreement).

West turned a blind eye towards crimes of India. That was enough for Indira and India. Anymore childish demands by bharatis were always rejected and will always be rejected by the world. Grow up and stop demanding things that are not possible.

She achieved her short term aims and the long terms she thought were of importance...but she didnt quite understand (or ignored in her vanity) the importance of those POWs to Bangladesh and to history + Indian postwar strategy w.r.t 2 nation principle and established hegemony.

She got only clear victory of India against Pakistan with the help of terrorists. And she successfully hide the crimes of India. that was enough for her.

India did not get damaged by Pakistan to the level that Bangladesh did physically (in fact there was little damage at all)....compared to what WW2 did to both sides (even the winners). So there was no immediate or sustained pressure from Indian public opinion in the numbers required to investigate the actions of the POWs under Indian control either.

WW2 or WW2. You weren't allowed by the world to initiate any farcical trials. And world won't allow you in future either. Nobody cares.

All this has led to another unfinished chapter of hate/mistrust in South Asia....... fuzzy truths, half-truths and lies in larger numbers than needed (and which ones are which depend on who you are talking to)....and most importantly a travesty of justice.

Nobody cares really. Yeah not investigating India's crimes and making her pay for them is a travesty of justice. but anyways nothing can be done in this regards anymore. India and its servants in BD need to move on too. That is the only option for them.

But at least you get to wake up every day to a map where it says Bangladesh and not East Pakistan.

True. But i really don't care about a piece of land that is a thousand kilometer away from my country. Same for other Pakistanis.

Is there something very difficult to understand for you?

Nope. I understand that you come up with some comical calculations to prove that comical figure of 300000 rapes and 3 million deaths. You are a comedy. And even though I enjoyed it, I expect something better from you. After all this is a serious forum and not comedy central.

 

[Kompromat]

Day will come when Bangalis will look to Pakistan for support against Hindutva hegemony and Pakistan will look the other way. That day their communal treachery and falsehoods will come to haunt them but no one will stand up for them.

 

[BDforever]

Day will come when Bangalis will look to Pakistan for support against Hindutva hegemony and Pakistan will look the other way. That day their communal treachery and falsehoods will come to haunt them but no one will stand up for them.

I am sure you will come to help me and my followers

 

[airmarshal]

Hon'ble WAJsal

The author is in an Indian in same vein as Hussain Haqqani is Pakistani. She has been much discussed and thoroughly rebutted by Dr. Mookherjee in EP&W. Few excerpts are as follows
......................
The article cites the case of Ferdousy Priyobhashini who as a single woman had to look after her widowed mother and young siblings and continued to work during the war and becomes the focus of sexual violence by various Pakistani officers as well as Bengali collaborators.

The article interrogates Priyobhashini’s account questioning why she stayed back during the war and whether her rape was as a result of coercion or a voluntary sexual act by stating that she "willingly fraternised". By that argument is the article suggesting that Priyobhashini brought the rape upon her since she stayed back? This is extremely problematic and parallels the biases within various rape laws which seem to suggest that women must have brought the rape upon them in different instances.

By this argument the sociologically nuanced analysis of how single women and their sexuality are always suspect, is never addressed and instead Priyobhashini’s experience is highlighted by the derisive comment that she "makes much of her threats". The complexity of war time violence and the various threatening compulsive situations is well articulated in the work of Cynthia Enloe, Veena Das, Urvashi Butalia, Ritu Menon and Kamla Bhasin. Primo Levi’s work on the holocaust also shows the complex negotiations made by survivors.

............

As Bose has gathered most of her information from highly dubious one-sided Pakistani sources following atrocious and unbelievable lines, "The picture painted of captain Ataullah by his fellow officer, who knew him, completely contradicts the one given by Mandal, who appears to have only seen his dead body. Clearly, if captain Ataullah had been based in Nageswari and only gone up to Bhurungamari the day the Indian attack started, he could not have been responsible for whatever might have been going on in Bhurungamari. Mandal offers no corroborating evidence for his character assassination of an officer who had died defending his country, and therefore, cannot speak in his own defence."

…

The article also states the account of Champa from one of my articles [Mookherjee 2003] and tries to infer that no rapes happened during the Bangladesh war. My article was exploring how the trauma of rape is understood in independent Bangladesh and in the process I explore how scholars of memory make sense of the process of forgetting. The nuanced arguments I make about Champa is hinged on long-term fieldwork, cross-checking of hospital files and documents and finding the social workers who found her and brought her to the hospital. These are the "evidences" of Champa’s war-time violent encounter of rape. I have also worked with and written about other women who encountered rape during the Bangladesh war. This was done by means of over a year’s fieldwork as well as cross-checking interviews, and examining archival, official documents, etc.

http://www.epw.org.in/uploads/articles/11334.pdf

P.S. She is an US national of Indian decent.

And we are supposed to believe only the Indian sources that talk against Pakistan! The propaganda component is quite obvious there as India wanted to divide Pakistan and to give legitimacy to its support to terror and invasion, it has to bad mouth Pakistan anyways.

India is not occupying Kashmir and Indian Army does not rape Kashmiri women.

If Indians to be believed.

 

[Stephen Cohen]

The good thing is that Pakistan will NEVER apologise and Bangladesh will never
stop asking for an apology ; this means NO reconcialiation

Hence India Bangladesh relations will keep getting better

Day will come when Bangalis will look to Pakistan for support against Hindutva hegemony and Pakistan will look the other way. That day their communal treachery and falsehoods will come to haunt them but no one will stand up for them.

There is NO such thing as Hindutva hegemony

Bangladesh wants to control and curb the hardliners in their country

They have rejected hard liners and the religious forces

Bangladesh is focussed on economic development

 

[Joe Shearer]

Such calculation reminds me of....
If 10 workers construct a house in 100 days, then 1000 workers can make it in 1 day.
A mathematically correct statement but really not possible.

While i do believe that there could have been individual or small groups engaged in such practices, it was not an institutional directive as I have not seen any officer or man from that era making that accusation; believe me such things are pointed out by many soldiers as it is not something everyone is comfortable and morally twisted enough to carry out.
The army was stretched thin in a very large theater of operation where they had to be cautious against all sorts of threats, it was not like they were all running around with their pants down.

Yes there was anger and a mutual desire of revenge once Mukti Bahni and Army were fighting each other, one was considered a traitor funded by India and the other was considered the enforcer of a political elite which was anti Bengali.
However, these figures are preposterous to say the least as there never was an institutional directive.
It was not a case of the Nazi party using state apparatus to rape and kill poor Jews as a state policy.

The loss of any life is really something sad, however people exaggerate to demonize their enemies and create absolute relevance for their ideology and political aims.

A case in point:-
As per Laal Masjid administration, Pakistani Army killed hundreds of children and raped hundreds of female students which were secretly buried.
This despite the fact that the Laal Masjid administration asked for meals for 100 odd people in the last days which was in line with the 100 odd militants holed up in the compound.
However many radicals accepted this accusation because it suited their agenda.

Thank you for an eminently sensible post on a particularly sensitive subject. One of these, and something like @WAJsal 's post below, restores my faith in decent human beings. Sincere thanks.

Good to read your views on the subject. I will discuss the topic in details in my coming chapter of political history and i hope it'll be a cracker and just as good as the previous parts. let me get an extract for you and other readers.

I have read some credible reports on the subject.

Very much correct, an extract from hamoodur rehman commission report:
"It is necessary that this painful chapter of the events in East Pakistan be looked at in its proper perspective. Let it not be forgotten that the initiative in resorting to violence and cruelty was taken by the militants of the Awami League, during the month of March, 1971, following General Yahya Khan's announcement of the 1st of March regarding the postponement of the session of the National Assembly scheduled for the 3rd of March 1971. It will be recalled that from the 1st of March to the 3rd of March 1971, the Awami League had taken complete control of East Pakistan, paralysing the authority of the federal government. There is reliable evidence to show that during this period the miscreants indulged in large scale massacres and rape against pro-Pakistan elements, in the towns of Dacca, Narayanganj, Chittagong, Chandraghona, Rangamati, Khulna, Dinajpur, Ghafargaoa, Kushtia, Ishurdi, Noakhali, Sylhet, Maulvi Bazaar, Rangpur, Saidpur, Jessore,Barisal, Mymensingh, Rajshahi, Pabna, Sirajgonj, Comilla, Brahmanbaria, Bogra, Naogaon, Santahar, and several other smaller places.
Harrowing tales of these atrocities were narrated by the large number of West Pakistanis and Biharis who were able to escape from these places and reach the safety of West Pakistan. For days on end, all through the troubled month of March 1971, swarms of terrorised non-Bengalis lay at the Army-controlled Dacca airport awaiting their turn to be taken to the safety of West Pakistan. Families of West Pakistani officers and other ranks serving with East Bengal units were subjected to inhuman treatment, and a large number of West Pakistani officers were butchered by the erstwhile Bengali colleagues.
These atrocities were completely blacked out at the time by the Government of Pakistan for fear of retaliation by the Bengalis living in West Pakistan. The Federal Government did issue a White Paper in this behalf in August 1971, but unfortunately it did not create much impact for the reason that it was highly belated, and adequate publicity was not given to it in the national and international press.
However, recently, a renowned journalist of high-standing, Mr.Qutubuddin Aziz, has taken pains to marshal the evidence in a publication called "Blood and Tears." The book contains the harrowing tales of inhuman crimes committed on the helpless Biharis, West Pakistanis and patriotic Bengalis living in East Pakistan during that period. According to various estimates mentioned by Mr. Qutubuddin Aziz, between 100,000 and 500,000 persons were slaughtered during this period by the Awami League militants. [1]"
As far as we can judge, Mr Qutubuddin Aziz has made use of authentic personal accounts furnished by the repatriates whose families, have actually suffered at the hands of the Awami League militants. He has also extensively referred to the contemporary accounts of foreign correspondents then stationed in East Pakistan. The plight of the non-Bengali elements still living in Bangladesh and the insistence of that Government on their large-scale repatriation to Pakistan, are factors which appear to confirm the correctness of the allegations made against the Awami League in this behalf.[1]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mob Violence by Bengalis against Non-Bengalis

The postponement of the national assembly on March 1 followed by the call to observe “hartal” given by Sheikh Mujib led to widespread lawlessness during March, when the Pakistan government effectively lost control of much of the territory of East Pakistan. Many accounts, both Bangladeshi and Pakistani, have recorded the parallel government run on Sheikh Mujib’s decrees. Apart from sporadic incidents of violence in Dhaka, there was arson, looting and attacks by Bengali mobs on non-Bengali people and property in many parts of the province, some with casualties. The White Paper published by the Pakistan government in August 1971 lists such incidents, of which the worst loss of life appears to have occurred in Khulna and Chittagong in the first week of March. That “the government’s writ had ceased to function in most parts of the province” and that there were attacks upon non-Bengalis by Bengalis on the rampage, is acknowledged by critics of the government too.

Most of these attacks were on civilians and commercial properties, but some were directly on the army, which remained curiously unresponsive under orders. Mostly the army suffered from the refusal of Bengalis to sell them food and fuel, being jeered and spat at, and the widespread disregard of curfew orders, but some encounters were more deadly. “The murder of army personnel, caught in ones and twos, became an everyday occurrence”, writes Major General H A Qureishi, “In our area we lost Lt Abbas of 29 Cavalry. With an escort of Bengali soldiers, he had ventured out of the unit lines to buy fresh vegetables for the troops. The escort was “rushed” by the militants, the officer was killed, weapons were “confiscated” and the Bengali members of the guard sent back unharmed.”[2] Even Anthony Mascarenhas, the Pakistani journalist who became famous for his condemnation of the military action, wrote, “It speaks volumes for the discipline of the West Pakistan army, that its officers were able to keep the soldiers in check during what was to them a nightmare of 25 days.”[3]

The failure of the Awami League leadership in this respect – its inability or unwillingness to control a population it had incited, and encouraged to break the law – was matched by the failure of the regime to respond appropriately to attacks on life and property.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mob Attacks and Post-Military Action

The launching of army action was also followed by another wave of mob violence, in which Bengali mobs slaughtered Biharis or West Pakistanis wherever they held the upper hand, until army units arrived and secured the area.[9] Most of the territory remained in rebel hands after March 25 and it took several weeks for the army to regain control.

One such slaughter of a very large number of Bihari men, women and children occurred at the Crescent Jute Mills in Khulna on March 27-28. According to local Bengali workers at the mill, at the time both Bengali and Bihari workers and their families were barricaded inside the mill compound, to prevent the army from entering. Sporadic violence had occurred between the two communities throughout March, and Awami League supporters among the Bengalis had been training and holding parades. A “truce” agreement had been made, but did not hold. Two Bengali policemen who had come by river with their weapons and a few locals who had guns first shot at the Biharis and then the Bengali mob massacred the fleeing Biharis with ‘da’s (cleavers) and other weapons. The bodies were dumped in the river. [10] Similar killings of non-Bengalis by Bengalis from late March to late April are also reported in many other parts of the province and a vicious cycle of Bengali-Bihari ethnic violence continued even after Bangladesh’s independence. [11]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Attacks on Non-Bengalis and “Loyalist” Bengalis


“We did ‘revenge killings’” said a former “muktijoddha” in Mymensingh, with a sense of exacting justice, about the immediate aftermath following the end of the war in East Pakistan on December 16, 1971. [15] Attacks on non-Bengalis and loyalist Bengalis by pro-liberation Bengalis occurred in many areas in the new country, including public lynching in some cases even in front of the camera. In the capital, Dhaka, a crowd of thousands watched, and foreign journalists photographed, “Muktibahini” commander Kader Siddiqui and his men bayoneted bound prisoners to death. In a chilling mirror-image of the killing of pro-liberation intellectuals earlier, the “loyalist” vice-chancellor of Dhaka University was picked up on December 19, beaten, stabbed repeatedly and left for dead in a paralytic state on a street the next morning.[16] As late as March 1972, with Sheikh Mujib back and at the helm of government in Bangladesh, another mass killing of “Biharis” by Bengalis occurred in Khulna.[17]"
----------------------------------------------------------------


In some cases they were selective, though the usual targeting of the Hindu community and targeting of intellectuals were rare and selective cases. They were never made general target. Something i will discuss later. In fact these groups were largely targeted by the Mukti Bani, even after PA's surrender.

You are very much correct. Bangladeshis today don't tend to speak about the atrocities committed on the Biharis.

They were responsible for a lot of misdeeds.

The rest of the misdeeds some PA is pretty documented and very well mentioned in hamoodur rehman commission report. Something i can't really ignore or defend, it was wrong period. But the figures are widely incorrect.

Correct.

I feel very confident now, after reading the extracts you posted, and your clarity of thought. There are small points on which I disagree, but those are more verbal quibbles than matters of substance. Very encouraging: go for it!

 

[Zabaniyah]

The intensity of war increased when AWAMI league and Mukti bahini started attacking Bihari and Non Bengali Pakistanis in March 1971. It was the turning point where Pakistani Army went berserk .

I was told that by the older Bangladeshis about Biharis and other pro-Pakistan minorities being attacked by the Bengali-nationalist insurgents. In turn, it was also well known that the Hindus were attacked as well by pro-Pakistan militias.

Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury had a very low opinion of Hindus. His office manager was a Hindu though

 

[Joe Shearer]

I will say this in public:

@WAJsal , have you ever thought of doing some serious academic work in history? If not, I think you should consider it seriously.

I was told that by the older Bangladeshis about Biharis and other pro-Pakistan minorities being attacked by the Bengali-nationalist insurgents. In turn, it was also well known that the Hindus were attacked as well by pro-Pakistan militias.

Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury had a very low opinion of Hindus. His office manager was a Hindu though

There was a mention of the Mukti Bahini attacking Hindus and intellectuals post-liberation, which I found flabbergasting.

 

[Kompromat]

You've lost permanently and irreversibly.

I am sure you will come to help me and my followers

 

[All-Green]

Thank you for an eminently sensible post on a particularly sensitive subject. One of these, and something like @WAJsal 's post below, restores my faith in decent human beings. Sincere thanks.






I feel very confident now, after reading the extracts you posted, and your clarity of thought. There are small points on which I disagree, but those are more verbal quibbles than matters of substance. Very encouraging: go for it!

I had been inactive for a long time but I am very glad to see that you are still around and contributing on the forum.

Indeed there are lots of dark chapters in the history of our peoples, but there are lots of examples to the contrary as well.
In my opinion, it takes a lot of effort and perversion to nurture hatred in an entire people; barring individuals or small groups which maybe highly toxic.
Sadly such groups are present across all our countries and will always demonize others to become more relevant and powerful.

The common man only wants to earn his livelihood and have a decent future for his children...if only we can ensure this much!

 

[asad71]

Rape is heinous, but rapes happen in wars. The perpetrators are more non-military or semi-military than regular combatants. Occurs more prior to the fighting and after one side is victorious. And it is correct that these are always exaggerated. Civilized nations find it prudent to avoid public discussion on these. In human history women of no nation has suffered rapes more than German women post WW II. But Germans don't talk about this. In case of BD Indians and their cohort likes to keep BD frozen in 1971. That's why exaggerated stories and figures of atrocities are told and retold again and again.