Farah Mannan The Unknown Genocide: An Analysis of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War Synopsis
Question: Were the events that took place during the Liberation War a genocide?
Thesis: Due to the systematically enacted, frequently denied and ethnically charged actions of the Pakistan Armed Forces, the 1971 Bangladesh Atrocities is indisputably a genocide.
Counter Arguments: 1. The East Pakistani casualty statistics have been exaggerated by the Bangladeshi government 2. The Mukti Bahini was responsible for a significant portion of the violence in East Pakistan 3. The Pakistan Armed Forces were responsible for deaths as part of a civil war, not a genocide
1st Argument: The actions of the Pakistan Armed Forces were of a systematic and exclusionary nature. The UN Office of the Special Prevention of Genocide (OSAPG) states that genocide is committed through “Any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group…including the systematic exclusion of groups from positions of power, employment in State institutions and/or key professions.”1 President Yahya Khan and leader of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Zulfikar Ali Bhutto both took part in a series of exclusionary political activities in 1970 and 19712 o After East Pakistani politician Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (belonging to the Awami League party) was elected into a parliamentary seat with a landslide victory, a decision was made by Khan and Bhutto to prevent him from entering the parliament3 o The PPP had long been lobbying to keep East Pakistani politicians out of parliament4 A series of protests broke out in the country which resulted in the planned storming and invasion of East Pakistan by the PAF5 On March 26th 342,000 PAF soldiers made their way to East Pakistan under the orders of President Khan in a manoeuvre called Operation Searchlight o Soldiers in the PAF were instructed to “terrorise the public into following martial law” o They were instructed to eliminate the Awami League and the civilians that surrounded them o They targeted the intellectual community (universities, higher places of learning, etc.) and it is estimated that 60,000 Bengalis died on the first night of the Operation alone6 The systematic destruction of the Bengali people was further solidified by the creation of rape camps all over East Pakistan7 o Rape camps were used as a method of destroying the “purity” of the Bengali race o They were recognized and justified by President Khan, and an estimated 200,000 girls and women were raped in the course of the nine month Liberation War8 Operation Searchlight saw the systematic targeting of Hindus as well o Officers were instructed to “focus attention on the Hindu population of the East.”9 o The PAF oversaw the deportation of approximately ten million Hindus from East Pakistan to India
2nd Argument: The actions of the Pakistani government during and after the Liberation war follow the patterns of government genocide denial Genocide Watch outlines denial as the “stage that always follows a genocide. It is among the surest indicators of genocidal massacres.”10 The Pakistani government currently denies that a genocide took place in East Pakistan in 1971 During the Liberation war, many of the East Pakistani casualties were said to have been layover body counts from the 1970 Bhola Cyclone that hit the region, according to the West Pakistani government11 o Despite international and third party organizations showing that even the highest estimate of cyclone casualties could not account for all the civilian deaths in 1971, President Khan and his administration maintained that the cyclone was responsible for the fatalities12 Genocide Watch also dictates that “block[ing] investigations of the crimes, and continu[ing] to govern until [being] driven from power” is another method of determining genocide denial.13 The press were banned from major conflict areas, and all evidence was screened by the PAF to ensure it was appropriate for international coverage14 o Proper investigation by international human rights groups were put on hold by martial law and the U.S.A. backing up the West Pakistani government o A West Pakistani reporter who had fled to England reported of mass body burning in the region
3rd Argument: The actions of the Pakistan Armed Forces were of a racially and ethnically charged manner The UN OSAPG outlines the “motivation of leading actors in the State/region…which serve to encourage divisions between national, racial, ethnic, and religious groups” as another framework for genocide.15 The West Pakistan government historically degraded East Pakistani culture, citing its close ties to Hinduism as negative and undesirable.16 The predominant language of the East Pakistanis, Bengali, was banned from West Pakistan and the far less predominant language of Urdu was implemented as the one and only official language of the whole Pakistani state.17 o The West Pakistani president in 1948 Muhammad Jinnah claimed that the only language to be spoken in Pakistan would be Urdu State propaganda was rampant in West Pakistan during the time of rebellion o OSAPG also highlights “Propaganda campaigns and fabrications about the targeted group…to justify acts against a targeted group by use of dominant, controlled media” as a method of acting out a genocide o President Khan made speeches regarding the “un-Islamic” nature of the Bengali people, and made claims that many of them were qafirs, or infidels and anti- Islamic members of society.18 o Many military generals would compare the Bengalis to chickens and low lying farm animals Bengali Hindus were religiously targeted, exterminated, and deported in 1971 o When East Pakistan was stormed by PAF officers, all Hindu shops, homes and places of worship were painted with a large, yellow “H” to signify a Hindu owner or tenant. The PAF would then destroy the building and exterminate the people living inside it.19 o PAF military officers would check for the customary Islamic circumcision amongst the men of the villages they stormed, and would immediately single out those who were missing it and either a) kill them on the spot or b) send them for deportation to India.20 o The refugees fleeing from East Pakistan is the highest any military conflict has ever seen.21
1 United Nations. Office of the Special Prevention of Genocide. Factors and Explanation of Genocide.,