1971 Bangladesh genocide

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from 1971 Bangladesh atrocities)
Jump to: navigation, search

Coordinates: 23°N 90°E / 23°N 90°E / 23; 90

 This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page.
This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. You can assist by editing it. (March 2013)
This article's lead section may not adequately summarize key points of its contents. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article. (March 2013)

The 1971 Bangladesh genocide refers to the bloodshed and human rights abuses in East Pakistan during the Bangladesh Liberation War. Massacres, killings, rape, arson and systematic elimination of religious minorities (particularly Hindus), political dissidents and the members of the liberation forces of Bangladesh were conducted by the Pakistan Army with support from local militias—the Razakars, Al-Badr and Al-Shams—formed by the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami party.[1][2] The casualties estimated by different sources, numbered between 300,000 to 3 million. The war also witnessed ethnic violence between Bengalis and Urdu-speaking Biharis, including atrocities perpetrated by mobs and militias loyal to both sides in the war.[3]

Contents

Overview[edit]

Bangladeshi authorities claim that as many as 3 million people were killed, although the Hamoodur Rahman Commission, an official Pakistan Government investigation, put the figure as low as 26,000 civilian casualties.[4] The international media and reference books in English have also published figures which vary greatly from 200,000 to 3,000,000 for Bangladesh as a whole, with 300,000 to 500,000 being a figure quoted by news outlets such as the BBC for the estimated death toll as counted by independent researchers.[5] As a result of the conflict, a further eight to ten million people, mostly Hindus,[6] fled the country at the time to seek refuge in neighboring India.[7]

Many of those killed were the victims of militias who fought with the West Pakistan Army: Razakars, Al-Shams and Al-Badr forces,[8] at the instruction of the Pakistani Army.[9] There are many mass graves in Bangladesh, and more are continually being discovered (such as one in an old well near a mosque in Dhaka, located in the non-Bengali region of the city, which was discovered in August 1999).[10] The first night of war on Bengalis, which is documented in telegrams from the American Consulate in Dhaka to the United States State Department, saw indiscriminate killings of students of Dhaka University and other civilians.[11]

Women were raped, tortured and killed during the war though the exact numbers are not known. The numbers are subject of debate with some sources quoting figures as high as 400,000. One particular revelation concerns 563 young Bengali women, some only 18, who were held captive inside Dhaka's dingy military cantonment since the first days of the fighting. They were seized from Dhaka University and private homes and forced into military brothels, with some of the women carrying war babies being released.[12]

There was significant sectarian violence not only perpetrated by the West Pakistani army,[13] but also by Bengali nationalists against non-Bengali minorities, especially Biharis.[14]

On 16 December 2002, the George Washington University's National Security Archive published a collection of declassified documents, consisting mostly of communications between US embassy officials and USIS centers in Dhaka and India, and officials in Washington DC.[15] These documents show that US officials working in diplomatic institutions within Bangladesh used the terms selective genocide[16][17] and genocide (see The Blood Telegram) to describe events they had knowledge of at the time. The complete chronology of events as reported to the Nixon administration can be found on the Department of State website.[18]

Every major publication and newspaper in Bangladesh and some international publications on genocide and human rights abuses use the term genocide to describe the event.[19][20][21][22][23]

Operation Searchlight[edit]

Main article: Operation Searchlight

Operation Searchlight was a planned military operation carried out by the Pakistani Army to curb elements of the separatist Bengali nationalist movement in erstwhile East Pakistan in March 1971.[24] Ordered by the government in West Pakistan, this was seen as the sequel to Operation Blitz which had been launched in November 1970.

The original plan envisioned taking control of the major cities on 26 March 1971, and then eliminating all opposition, political or military,[25] within one month. The prolonged Bengali resistance was not anticipated by Pakistani planners.[26] The main phase of Operation Searchlight ended with the fall of the last major town in Bengali hands in mid May.

Casualties[edit]

The number of civilians that died in the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh is not accurately known. There is a great disparity in the casualty figures put forth by Pakistan on one hand (25,000, as reported in the Hamoodur Rahman Commission[27]) and India and Bangladesh on the other hand, which claim that three million people were killed. From 1972 to 1975, the first post-war prime minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, claimed on several occasions that at least three million died.[28] The international media and reference books in English have also published figures which vary greatly: varying from 5,000–35,000 in Dhaka, and 200,000–3,000,000 for Bangladesh as a whole.[29] It is believed in certain quarters that the figure of three million has its origins in comments made by Yahya Khan to the journalist Robert Payne on 22 February 1971: "Kill three million of them, and the rest will eat out of our hands."[30][31]

Matthew J. White, in his 2012 book The Great Big Book of Horrible Things, estimates the total Bengali civilian death toll at 1.5 million.[32] In October 1997 R. J. Rummel published a book, which is available online, titled Statistics of Democide: Genocide and Mass Murder Since 1900. In Chapter 8, Statistics Of Pakistan's Democide - Estimates, Calculations, And Sources, he states:

“ In East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) [General Agha Mohammed Yahya Khan and his top generals] also planned to murder its Bengali intellectual, cultural, and political elite. They also planned to indiscriminately murder hundreds of thousands of its Hindus and drive the rest into India. They also planned to destroy its economic base to insure that it would be subordinate to West Pakistan for at least a generation to come. This despicable and cutthroat plan was outright genocide.[33] ”

Rummel goes on to collate what he considers the most credible estimates published by others into what he calls democide. He writes that "Consolidating both ranges, I give a final estimate of Pakistan's democide to be 300,000 to 3,000,000, or a prudent 1,500,000."

The Office of the Historian of the United States Department of State held a two-day conference in late June 2005 on U.S. policy in South Asia between 1961 and 1972.[34] According to a newspaper report published in both Pakistani and Bangladeshi newspapers, Bangladeshi speakers at the conference stated that the official Bangladeshi figure of civilian deaths was close to 300,000, which was wrongly translated from Bengali into English as three million.[citation needed] Ambassador Shamsher M. Chowdhury acknowledged that Bangladesh alone cannot correct this mistake and suggested that Pakistan and Bangladesh should form a joint commission to investigate the 1971 disaster and prepare a report.[35][dead link]

Killing of intellectuals[edit]

Main article: 1971 killing of Bengali intellectuals
Rayerbazar killing field photographed immediately after the war started, showing bodies of intellectuals who demanded a separate, autonomous state from Pakistan (Image courtesy: Rashid Talukdar, 1971)

During the war, the Pakistan Army and its local collaborators carried out a systematic execution of the leading Bengali intellectuals. A number of professors from Dhaka University were killed during the first few days of the war.[36][37] However, the most extreme cases of targeted killing of intellectuals took place during the last few days of the war. Professors, journalists, doctors, artists, engineers and writers were rounded up by Pakistan Army and the Razakar militia in Dhaka, blindfolded, taken to torture cells in Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Nakhalpara, Rajarbagh and other locations in different sections of the city to be executed en masse, most notably at Rayerbazar and Mirpur.[38][39][40][41] Allegedly, the Pakistani Army and its paramilitary arm, the Al-Badr and Al-Shams forces created a list of doctors, teachers, poets, and scholars.[42][43]

During the nine-month duration of the war, the Pakistani army, with the assistance of local collaborators systematically executed an estimated 991 teachers, 13 journalists, 49 physicians, 42 lawyers, and 16 writers, artists and engineers.[40] Even after the official ending of the war on 16 December there were reports of killings being committed by either the armed Pakistani soldiers or by their collaborators. In one such incident, notable film-maker Jahir Raihan was killed on January 30, 1972 in Mirpur allegedly by the armed Beharis. In memory of the persons who were killed, December 14 is observed in Bangladesh as Shaheed Buddhijibi Dibosh ("Day of the Martyred Intellectuals").[9][44][45]

Several notable intellectuals who were killed from the time period of 25 March to 16 December 1971 in different parts of the country include Dhaka University professors Dr. Govinda Chandra Dev (Philosophy), Dr. Munier Chowdhury (Bengali Literature), Dr. Mufazzal Haider Chaudhury (Bengali Literature), Dr. Anwar Pasha (Bengali Literature), Dr M Abul Khair (History), Dr. Jyotirmoy Guhathakurta (English Literature), Humayun Kabir (English Literature), Rashidul Hasan (English Literature) and Saidul Hassan (Physics), Rajshahi University professors Dr. Hobibur Rahman (Mathematics), Prof Sukhranjan Somaddar (Sanskrit), Prof Mir Abdul Quaiyum (Psychology) as well as Dr. Mohammed Fazle Rabbee (Cardiologist), Dr. Alim Chowdhury (Ophthalmologist), Shahidullah Kaiser (Journalist), Nizamuddin Ahmed (Journalist),[46] Selina Parvin (Journalist), Altaf Mahmud (Lyricist and musician), Dhirendranath Datta (Politician), and Ranadaprasad Saha (Philanthropist).

Violence against women[edit]

Main article: Rape during the Bangladesh Liberation War

Numerous women were tortured, raped and killed during the war.[47] Again, exact numbers are not known and are a subject of debate. Bangladeshi sources cite a figure of 200,000 women raped, giving birth to thousands of war-babies. The Pakistani Army also kept numerous Bengali women as sex-slaves inside the Dhaka Cantonment. Most of the girls were captured from Dhaka University and private homes.[12]

Among other sources, Susan Brownmiller refers to an even higher number of over 400,000. Pakistani sources claim the number is much lower, though having not completely denied rape incidents.[48][49][50] Brownmiller quotes:[51]

Khadiga, thirteen years old, was interviewed by a photojournalist in Dacca. She was walking to school with four other girls when they were kidnapped by a gang of Pakistani soldiers. All five were put in a military brothel in Mohammedpur and held captive for six months until the end of the war.

In a New York Times report named 'Horrors of East Pakistan Turning Hope into Despair', Malcom W. Browne [52] wrote:

One tale that is widely believed and seems to come from many different sources is that 563 women picked up by the army in March and April and held in military brothels are not being released because they are pregnant beyond the point at which abortions are possible.

The licentious attitude of the soldiers, although generally supported by their superiors, alarmed the regional high command of the Pakistani army. On April 15, 1971, in a secret memorandum to the divisional commanders, Niazi complained,

“ Since my arrival, I have heard numerous reports of troops indulging in looting and arson, killing people at random and without reasons in areas cleared of the anti state elements; of late there have been reports of rape and even the West Pakistanis are not being spared; on 12 April two East Pakistani women were raped, and an attempt was made on two others.[53] ”

Another work that has included direct experiences from the women raped is Ami Birangona Bolchhi ("I, the heroine, speak") by Nilima Ibrahim. The work includes in its name from the word Birangona (Heroine), given by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman after the war, to the raped and tortured women during the war. This was a conscious effort to alleviate any social stigma the women might face in the society. How successful this effort was is doubtful, though. In October 2005 Sarmila Bose (a Boston, Massachusetts born Harvard-educated Bengali Indian academic), published a paper suggesting that the casualties and rape allegations in the war have been greatly exaggerated for political purposes.[54][55] A number of researchers have shown inaccuracies in the work, including flawed methodology of statistical analysis, misrepresentation of referenced sources, and disproportionate weight to Pakistan army testimonies.[56]

Violence against minorities[edit]

The minorities of Bangladesh, especially the Hindus, were specific targets of the Pakistani army.[13][36] There was widespread killing of Hindu males, and rapes of women. Documented incidents in which Hindus were massacred in large numbers include the Chuknagar massacre, the Jathibhanga massacre, and the Shankharipara massacre.[57] More than 60% of the Bengali refugees who fled to India were Hindus.[58] It is not exactly known what percentage of the people killed by the Pakistan army were Hindus, but it is safe to say it was disproportionately high.[59] This widespread violence against Hindus was motivated by a policy to purge East Pakistan of what was seen as Hindu and Indian influences. The West Pakistani rulers identified the Bengali culture with Hindu and Indian culture, and thought that the eradication of Hindus would remove such influences from the majority Muslims in East Pakistan.[60] Buddhist temples and Buddhist monks were also attacked through the course of the year.[61]

R.J. Rummel has stated that

The genocide and gendercidal atrocities were also perpetrated by lower-ranking officers and ordinary soldiers. These “willing executioners” were fueled by an abiding anti-Bengali racism, especially against the Hindu minority. “Bengalis were often compared with monkeys and chickens. Said General Niazi, ‘It was a low lying land of low lying people.’ The Hindus among the Bengalis were as Jews to the Nazis: scum and vermin that [should] best be exterminated. As to the Moslem Bengalis, they were to live only on the sufferance of the soldiers: any infraction, any suspicion cast on them, any need for reprisal, could mean their death. And the soldiers were free to kill at will. The journalist Dan Coggin quoted one Pakistani captain as telling him, "We can kill anyone for anything. We are accountable to no one." This is the arrogance of Power.
—R.J. Rummel, Death by Government[62]

Violence against Biharis[edit]

Main article: Persecution of Biharis in Bangladesh

In 1947, at the time of partition and the establishment of the state of Pakistan, Bihari Muslims, many of whom were fleeing the violence that took place during partition, migrated from India to the newly independent East Pakistan. These Urdu-speaking people held a disproportionate number in the new country's population. Biharis were adverse to the Bengali language movement and the subsequent nationalist movements because they maintained allegiance toward West Pakistani rulers, causing anti-Bihari sentiments among local nationalist Bengalis. When the war broke out in 1971, the Biharis sided with the Pakistani army. Some of them joined Razakar and Al-Shams militia groups and participated in the persecution and genocide of their Bengali countrymen including the widespread looting of Bengali properties and abetting in other criminal activities against them.[36] It is alleged that in the these Biharis were executed at the time of war. Few researchers are trying to figure it out, but those are not supported by all sides of the war. R J Rummel estimated that 150,000 non-Bengals were massacred, with a low estimate of 50,000 and a high estimate of 500,000.[63] According to The Minorities at Risk Project the number of killed Bihari is about 1000.[64]

There are many reports of massacres of Biharis and alleged collaborators that took place in the period following the surrender of the Pakistani Army on December 16, 1971.[65] In an incident on December 19, 1971, captured on camera and attended by members of the foreign press, Abdul Kader Siddiqui and Mukti Bahini guerrillas under his command bayoneted and shot to death a group of prisoners of war who were accused of belonging to the Razakar paramilitary forces.[66][67] But Siddiqui later stated on his book Swadhinota'71 that he bayoneted those those persons who were Bengali and they were kidnapping two non-Bengali girls. As there were no court or other judicial system was there, so they were executed.[68]

International reactions[edit]

Time reported a high U.S. official as saying "It is the most incredible, calculated thing since the days of the Nazis in Poland." [69] Genocide is the term that is used to describe the event in almost every major publication and newspaper in Bangladesh,[19][70] and is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group" [71]

A 1972 report by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) noted that both sides in the conflict accused each other of perpetrating genocide. The report observed that it may be difficult to substantiate claims that the 'whole of the military action and repressive measures taken by the Pakistani army and their auxiliary forces constituted genocide' that was intended to destroy the Bengali people in whole or in part, and that 'preventing a nation from attaining political autonomy does not constitute genocide: the intention must be to destroy in whole or in part the people as such'. The difficulty of proving intent was considered to be further complicated by the fact that three specific sections of the Bengali people were targeted in killings committed by the Pakistani army and their collaborators: members of the Awami League, students, and East Pakistani citizens of the Hindu religion. The report observed, however, that there is a strong prima facie case that particular acts of genocide were committed, especially towards the end of the war, when Bengalis were targeted indiscriminately. Similarly, it was felt that there is a strong prima facie case that crimes of genocide were committed against the Hindu population of East Pakistan.[72]

As regards the massacres of non-Bengalis by Bengalis during and after the Liberation War, the ICJ report argued that it is improbable that 'spontaneous and frenzied mob violence against a particular section of the community from whom the mob senses danger and hostility is to be regarded as possessing the necessary element of conscious intent to constitute the crime of genocide', but that, if the dolus specialis were to be proved in particular cases, these would have constituted acts of genocide against non-Bengalis.[73]

Many international publications on genocide and human rights abuses classify the atrocities of 1971 as an act of genocide by West Pakistan.[20][21][22][23][74]

After the minimum 20 countries became parties to the Genocide Convention, it came into force as international law on 12 January 1951. At that time however, only two of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council were parties to the treaty, and it was not until after the last of the five permanent members ratified the treaty in 1988, and the Cold War came to an end, that the international law on the crime of genocide began to be enforced. As such, the allegation that genocide took place during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 was never investigated by an international tribunal set up under the auspices of the United Nations.

Although both Pakistan and its primary ally the USA have denied genocide allegations,[75] the word ‘genocide’ was and is used frequently amongst observers and scholars of the events that transpired during the 1971 war.[33][76] Even in the USA, senator Kennedy charged Pakistan with committing genocide and called for a complete cut-off of American military and economic aid to Pakistan.[77] It is also used in some publications outside the subcontinent; for example, The Guinness Book of Records lists the Bengali atrocities as one of the top 5 genocides in the 20th century.[74]

On 16 December 2002, the George Washington University’s National Security Archives published a collection of declassified documents, mostly consisting of communications between US officials working in embassies and USIS centers in Dhaka and in India, and officials in Washington DC.[78] These documents show that US officials working in diplomatic institutions within Bangladesh used the terms ‘selective genocide’[16] and ‘genocide’ (Blood telegram) to describe events they had knowledge of at the time. They also show that President Nixon, advised by Henry Kissinger, decided to downplay this secret internal advice, because he wanted to protect the interests of Pakistan as he was apprehensive of India's friendship with the USSR, and he was seeking a closer relationship with China, who supported Pakistan.[79]

In his book The Trial of Henry Kissinger, Christopher Hitchens elaborates on what he saw as the efforts of Kissinger to subvert the aspirations of independence on the part of the Bengalis. Hitchens not only claims that the term genocide is appropriate to describe the results of the struggle, but also points to the efforts of Henry Kissinger in undermining others who condemned the then ongoing atrocities as being a genocide.

However according to Sarmila Bose, a senior research fellow at Oxford University, many Bangladeshi civilians themselves took part in the atrocities and Pakistani troops did not act alone. Her book has proved highly controversial within India and Bangladesh as the popular narrative she states within these countries is that Bangladeshi nationalists won independence in 1971 from Pakistan. She also stated that the death toll was highly inflated.[80]

War crimes trial attempts[edit]

As early as December 22, 1971, the Indian Army was conducting investigations of senior Pakistani Army officers connected to the massacre of intellectuals in Dhaka, with the aim of collecting sufficient evidence to have them tried as war criminals. They produced a list of officers who were in positions of command at the time, or were connected to the Inter-Services Screening Committee.[81]

On December 24, 1971 Home minister of Bangladesh A. H. M. Qamaruzzaman said, "war criminals will not survive from the hands of law. Pakistani military personnel who were involved with killing and raping have to face tribunal." In a joint statement after a meeting between Sheikh Mujib and Indira Gandhi, the Indian government assured that it would give all necessary assistance for bringing war criminals into justice. In February 1972, the government of Bangladesh announced plans to put 100 senior Pakistani officers and officials on trial for crimes of genocide. The list included General A. K. Niazi and four other generals.[82] After the war, the Indian Army held 92,000 Pakistani prisoners of war,[83] and 195 of those were suspected of committing war crimes. All 195 of them were released in April 1974 following the tripartite Simla agreement between Bangladesh, Pakistan and India, and repatriated to Pakistan, in return for Pakistan's recognition of Bangladesh.[84] Pakistan expressed her interest to perform a trial against those 195 officials and furthermore fearing for the fate of 400,000 Bangalis trapped in Pakistan, Bangladesh agreed to handover them to Pakistani authority.[85]

On July 30, 2009, the Minister of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs of Bangladesh stated that no Pakistanis would be tried under the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act of 1973.[86] This decision has drawn criticism from international jurists, because it effectively gives immunity to the commanders of the Pakistani Army who are generally considered to be ultimately responsible for the majority of the crimes that were committed in 1971.[86]

The Bangladeshi Collaborators (Special Tribunals) Order of 1972 was promulgated to bring to trial those Bangladeshis who collaborated with and aided the Pakistani Armed forces during the Liberation War of 1971.[87] There are conflicting accounts of the number of persons brought to trial under the 1972 Collaborators Order, ranging between 10,000 and 40,000.[88] At the time, the trials were considered problematic by local and external observers, because they appear to have been used for carrying out political vendettas. R. MacLennan, a British MP who was an observer at the trials stated that 'In the dock, the defendants are scarcely more pitiable than the succession of confused prosecution witnesses driven (by the 88-year old defence counsel) to admit that they, too, served the Pakistani government but are now ready to swear blindly that their real loyalty was to the government of Bangladesh in exile.'[89]

The government of Bangladesh issued a general amnesty on November 30, 1973, applying it to all persons except those who were punished or accused of rape, murder, attempted murder or arson.[88] The Collaborators Order of 1972 was revoked in 1975.

The International Crimes (Tribunals) Act of 1973 was promulgated to prosecute any persons, irrespective of nationality, who were accused of committing crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, war crimes, "violations of any humanitarian rules applicable in armed conflicts laid out in the Geneva Conventions of 1949" and "any other crimes under international law."[90] Detainees held under the 1972 Collaborators order who were not released by the general amnesty of 1973 were going to be tried under this Act. However, no trials were held, and all activities related to the Act ceased after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975.

There are no known instances of criminal investigations or trials outside Bangladesh of alleged perpetrators of war crimes during the 1971 war. Initial steps were taken by the Metropolitan Police to investigate individuals resident in the United Kingdom who were alleged to have committed war crimes in a Channel 4 documentary film aired in 1995. To date, no charges have been brought against these individuals.[91]

On December 29, 1991 Ghulam Azam, who was accused of being a collaborator with Pakistan in 1971, became the Chairman or Ameer of the political party Jamaat-e-Islami of Bangladesh, which caused controversy. This prompted the creation of a 'National Committee for Resisting the Killers and Collaborators of 1971', after a proposal by writer and political activist Jahanara Imam. A mock people's court was formed which on March 26, 1992, found Ghulam Azam guilty in a mock trial and sentenced him to death.

A case was filed in the Federal Court of Australia on September 20, 2006 for alleged crimes of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity during 1971 by the Pakistani Armed Forces and its collaborators. Raymond Solaiman & Associates acting for the plaintiff Mr. Solaiman, have released a press statement which among other things says:[92]

“ We are glad to announce that a case has been filed in the Federal Magistrate's Court of Australia today under the Genocide Conventions Act 1949 and War Crimes Act. This is the first time in history that someone is attending a court proceeding in relation to the [alleged] crimes of Genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity during 1971 by the Pakistani Armed Forces and its collaborators. The Proceeding number is SYG 2672 of 2006. On October 25, 2006, a direction hearing will take place in the Federal Magistrates Court of Australia, Sydney registry before Federal Magistrate His Honor Nicholls. ”

On May 21, 2007, at the request of the applicant "Leave is granted to the applicant to discontinue his application filed on September 20, 2006." (FILE NO: (P)SYG2672/2006)[93]

The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) is a war crimes tribunal in Bangladesh set up in 2009 to investigate and prosecute suspects for the genocide committed in 1971 by the Pakistan Army and their local collaborators, Razakars, Al-Badr and Al-Shams during the Bangladesh Liberation War.[94] During the 2008 general election, the Awami League (AL) pledged to establish the tribunals in response to long-demanded popular calls for trying war criminals. The first indictments were issued in 2010.

The government set up the tribunal after the Awami League won the general election in December 2008 with more than two-thirds majority in parliament.[95] The War Crimes Fact Finding Committee, tasked to investigate and find evidence, completed its report in 2008, identifying 1600 suspects.[96][97] Prior to the formation of the ICT, the United Nations Development Programme offered assistance in 2009 on the tribunal's formation.[98] In 2009 the parliament amended the 1973 act that authorized such a tribunal to update it.[99]


By 2012, nine leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami, the largest Islamist party in the nation, and two of the Bangladesh National Party, had been indicted as suspects in war crimes. Three leaders of Jamaat were the first tried; each were convicted of several charges of war crimes. The first person convicted was Abul Kalam Azad (Bachchu), tried in absentia as he had left the country; he was sentenced to death in January 2013.

While human rights groups[100] and various political entities[101][102] initially supported the establishment of the tribunal, they have criticised it for issues of fairness and transparency, as well as reported harassment of lawyers and witnesses representing the accused.[100][103][104][105] Jamaat-e-Islami supporters and their student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir, called a general strike nationwide on December 4, 2012, which erupted in violence. They have demanded the tribunal be scrapped permanently and their leaders be released immediately.[106][107][108]

After Abdul Quader Molla, assistant secretary general of Jamaat, was convicted in February 2013 and sentenced to life imprisonment rather than capital punishment, a peaceful demonstration started at Shahbag intersection in Dhaka. Tens of thousands of mostly young demonstrators, including women, have called for the death penalty for those convicted of war crimes. Non-violent protests supporting this position have occurred in other cities as the country closely follows the trials.

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

 This article uses bare URLs for citations. Please consider adding full citations so that the article remains verifiable. Several templates and the Reflinks tool are available to assist in formatting. (Reflinks documentation) (March 2013)
  1. ^ Siddiqui 1990, p. 153.
  2. ^ A. R. Siddiqui, East Pakistan - the Endgame: An Onlooker's Journal 1969-1971, Oxford University Press, 2004, p. 171.
  3. ^ http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/SOD.CHAP8.HTM
  4. ^ Hamoodur Rahman Commission Report, chapter 2, paragraph 33
  5. ^ "Bangladesh Islamist leader Ghulam Azam charged". BBC. 13 May 2012. Retrieved 13 May 2012. 
  6. ^ Hugh Russell Tinker, Encyclopædia Britannica. "History (from Bangladesh)". Encyclopaedia (in Englsh). Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved June 11, 2013. 
  7. ^ Rummel, Rudolph J., "Statistics of Democide: Genocide and Mass Murder Since 1900", ISBN 3-8258-4010-7, Chapter 8, Table 8.2 Pakistan Genocide in Bangladesh Estimates, Sources, and Calcualtions: lowest estimate 2 million claimed by Pakistan (reported by Aziz, Qutubuddin. Blood and tears Karachi: United Press of Pakistan, 1974. pp. 74,226), some other sources used by Rummel suggest a figure of between 8 and 10 million with one (Johnson, B. L. C. Bangladesh. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1975. pp. 73,75) that "could have been" 12 million.
  8. ^ Many of the eyewitness accounts of relations that were picked up by "Al Badr" forces describe them as Bengali men. The only survivor of the Rayerbazar killings describes the captors and killers of Bengali professionals as fellow Bengalis. See 37 Dilawar Hossain, account reproduced in ‘Ekattorer Ghatok-dalalera ke Kothay’ (Muktijuddha Chetona Bikash Kendro, Dhaka, 1989)
  9. ^ a b Asadullah Khan The loss continues to haunt us in The Daily Star (Bangladesh) 14 December 2005
  10. ^ DPA report Mass grave found in Bangladesh in The Chandigarh Tribune 8 August 1999
  11. ^ Sajit Gandhi The Tilt: The U.S. and the South Asian Crisis of 1971 National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 79 16 December 2002
  12. ^ a b East Pakistan: Even the Skies Weep, Time Magazine, October 25, 1971.
  13. ^ a b U.S. Consulate (Dacca) Cable, Sitrep: Army Terror Campaign Continues in Dacca; Evidence Military Faces Some Difficulties Elsewhere, March 31, 1971, Confidential, 3 pp
  14. ^ Sen, Sumit (1999). "Stateless Refugees and the Right to Return: the Bihari Refugees of South Asia, Part 1" (PDF). International Journal of Refugee Law 11 (4): 625–645. doi:10.1093/ijrl/11.4.625. Retrieved October 20, 2006. 
  15. ^ Gandhi, Sajit, ed. (16 December 2002), The Tilt: The U.S. and the South Asian Crisis of 1971: National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 79
  16. ^ a b U.S. Consulate in Dacca (March 27, 1971), Selective genocide, Cable (PDF)
  17. ^ Telegram 959 From the US Consulate General in Dacca to the Department of State, March 28, 1971, 0540Z ("Selective Genocide")
  18. ^ Foreign Relations, 1969-1976, Volume E-7, Documents on South Asia, 1969-1972
  19. ^ a b Dr. N. Rabbee Remembering a Martyr Star weekend Magazine, The Daily Star 16 December 2005
  20. ^ a b Rummel, Rudolph J. (1998). Statistics of Democide: Genocide and Mass Murder Since 1900. Berlin: LIT Verlag Berlin-Hamburg-Münster. pp. 153–164. ISBN 3-8258-4010-7. 
  21. ^ a b Totten, Samuel; Parsons, William S.; Charny, Israel W. (2004). Century of Genocide: Critical Essays and Eyewitness Accounts. London: Routledge. pp. 295–321. ISBN 0-415-94430-9. 
  22. ^ a b Charny, Israel W. (1999). Encyclopedia of Genocide. California: ABC-Clio Inc. pp. 115, 116. ISBN 0-87436-928-2. 
  23. ^ a b Totten, Samuel (2000). Teaching About Genocide: Issues, Approaches and Resources. North Carolina: Information age publishing. pp. 143–155. ISBN 1-59311-074-X. 
  24. ^ Sarmila Bose Anatomy of Violence: Analysis of Civil War in East Pakistan in 1971: Military Action: Operation Searchlight Economic and Political Weekly Special Articles, 8 October 2005
  25. ^ Salik, Siddiq, Witness To Surrender, p63, p228-9 ISBN= 984-05-1373-7
  26. ^ Pakistan Defence Journal, 1977, Vol 2, p2-3
  27. ^ Hamoodur Rahman Commission, Chapter 2, Paragraph 33
  28. ^ "3 MILLION Slaughtered Sheik MUJIB Charges 'Greatest Massacre'" The Portsmouth Herald, Monday, 17 January 1972, Portsmouth, New Hampshire
  29. ^ Bangladesh war crimes
  30. ^ Pierre Stephen and Robert Payne References needs a page number
  31. ^ Scott Lamb Never Again? in Der Spiegel 26 January 2005
  32. ^ White, Matthew J. The Great Big Book of Horrible Things New York:2012 W.W. Norton Page 190.
  33. ^ a b Rummel, Rudolph J., "Statistics of Democide: Genocide and Mass Murder Since 1900", ISBN 3-8258-4010-7, Chapter 8, table 8.1
  34. ^ "Conference Agenda". State.gov. The Office of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affairs. Archived from the original on April 9, 2008. 
  35. ^ Anwar Iqbal Sheikh Mujib wanted a confederation: US papers, The Dawn, 7 July 2005, this article was also published in the in Financial Express, 16 December 2005 under the byline US State Department's declassified documents
  36. ^ a b c Telegram 978 From the Consulate General in Dacca to the Department of State, March 29, 1971, 1130Z
  37. ^ Ajoy Roy, "Homage to my martyr colleagues", 2002
  38. ^ "125 Slain in Dacca Area, Believed Elite of Bengal". New York Times (New York, NY, USA). 19 December 1971. p. 1. Retrieved 2008-01-04. "At least 125 persons, believed to be physicians, professors, writers and teachers were found murdered today in a field outside Dacca. All the victims' hands were tied behind their backs and they had been bayoneted, garroted or shot. They were among an estimated 300 Bengali intellectuals who had been seized by West Pakistani soldiers and locally recruited" 
  39. ^ Murshid, Tazeen M. (December 2, 1997). "State, nation, identity: The quest for legitimacy in Bangladesh". South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, (Routledge) 20 (2): 1–34. doi:10.1080/00856409708723294. ISSN 14790270. 
  40. ^ a b Khan, Muazzam Hussain (2003), "Killing of Intellectuals", Banglapedia, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh
  41. ^ Shaiduzzaman (December 14, 2005), "Martyred intellectuals: martyred history", The Daily New Age, Bangladesh
  42. ^ Dr. Rashid Askari, "Our martyerd intellectuals", editorial, the Daily Star, December 14, 2005
  43. ^ Dr. M.A. Hasan, Juddhaporadh, Gonohatya o bicharer anneshan, War Crimes Fact Finding Committee and Genocide archive & Human Studies Centre, Dhaka, 2001
  44. ^ Shahiduzzaman No count of the nation’s intellectual loss The New Age, December 15, 2005
  45. ^ Killing of Intellectuals Asiatic Society of Bangladesh
  46. ^ Story of a Martyred Intellectual of 71’s war
  47. ^ Log in om een reactie te plaatsen. (2009-12-15). "BANGLADESH GENOCIDE 1971 - RAPE VICTIMS Interview". YouTube. Retrieved 2013-06-02. 
  48. ^ Debasish Roy Chowdhury 'Indians are bastards anyway' in Asia Times 23 June 2005 "In Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape, Susan Brownmiller likens it to the Japanese rapes in Nanjing and German rapes in Russia during World War II. "... 200,000, 300,000 or possibly 400,000 women (three sets of statistics have been variously quoted) were raped.""
  49. ^ Brownmiller, Susan, "Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape" ISBN 0-449-90820-8, page 81
  50. ^ Hamoodur Rahman Commission, Chapter 2, Paragraphs 32,34
  51. ^ GlobalWeb post, 1975 published reprint of extract from Susan Brownmiller's book
  52. ^ [1], The New York Times, October 10, 1971.
  53. ^ Mamoon, Muntassir; translation by Kushal Ibrahim (June 2000). The Vanquished Generals and the Liberation War of Bangladesh (First ed.). Somoy Prokashon. p. 30. ISBN 984-458-210-5. 
  54. ^ Sarmila Bose Anatomy of violence: An Analysis of Civil War in East Pakistan in 1971, later published in the Indian Journal, Economic and Political Weekly, issue 8 October 2005
  55. ^ Editorial [ New impartial evidence debunks 1971 rape allegations against Pakistan Army], Daily Times (Pakistan), 2 July 2005
  56. ^ Salma Khatun Sarmila Bose Rewrites history website of Drishtipat "A non-profit, non-political expatriate Bangladeshi organization ... registered public charity in the Unitied States."
  57. ^ S. Bose, 'Dead Reckoning: Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh War', Hust and Co, London, 2011, pg. 73, 122.
  58. ^ US State Department, "Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969-1976", Volume XI, South Asia Crisis, 1971", Page 165
  59. ^ Kennedy, Senator Edward, "Crisis in South Asia - A report to the Subcommittee investigating the Problem of Refugees and Their Settlement, Submitted to U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee", November 1, 1971, U.S. Govt. Press, page 66. Sen. Kennedy wrote, "Field reports to the U.S. Government, countless eye-witness journalistic accounts, reports of International agencies such as World Bank and additional information available to the subcommittee document the reign of terror which grips East Bengal (East Pakistan). Hardest hit have been members of the Hindu community who have been robbed of their lands and shops, systematically slaughtered, and in some places, painted with yellow patches marked 'H'. All of this has been officially sanctioned, ordered and implemented under martial law from Islamabad."
  60. ^ "The Government's policy for East Bengal was spelled out to me in the Eastern Command headquarters at Dacca. It has three elements: 1. The Bengalis have proved themselves unreliable and must be ruled by West Pakistanis; 2. The Bengalis will have to be re-educated along proper Islamic lines. The - Islamization of the masses - this is the official jargon - is intended to eliminate secessionist tendencies and provide a strong religious bond with West Pakistan; 3. When the Hindus have been eliminated by death and flight, their property will be used as a golden carrot to win over the under privileged Muslim middle-class. This will provide the base for erecting administrative and political structures in the future."Peter Hazelhurst (13 June 1971). "Dwindling flow of refugees suggests West Bengal border has been closed". The Times of London. 
  61. ^ BANGLADESH: A BENGALI ABBASI LURKING SOMEWHERE? South Asia Analysis Group - April 23, 2001
  62. ^ DEATH BY GOVERNMENT, By R.J. Rummel New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers, 1994 [2]
  63. ^ Democide estimates for the Bangladesh War
  64. ^ "Chronology for Biharis in Bangladesh". The Minorities at Risk (MAR) Project. Retrieved 27 March 2013. 
  65. ^ ICJ EAST PAKISTAN 1971 REPORT, supra note 5, at 44–45, quoted in S. Linton,Criminal Law Forum (2010), p. 205.
  66. ^ H. Stanhope, 'Mukti Bahini Bayonet Prisoners After Prayers, The Times, December 20, 1971, pg. 4.
  67. ^ INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS, THE EVENTS IN PAKISTAN: A LEGAL STUDY BY THE SECRETARIAT OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS 9 (1972)
  68. ^ Abdul Kader Siddiqui. স্বাধীনতা'৭১ (Freedom'71). 
  69. ^ Pakistan: The Ravaging of Golden Bengal, Time, 1971-08-02
  70. ^ Editorial The Jamaat Talks Backin The Bangladesh Observer December 30, 2005. Accessed 2009-05-25. Archived 2009-05-28.
  71. ^ Funk, T. Marcus (2010). Victims' Rights and Advocacy at the International Criminal Court. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. p. [3]. ISBN 0-19-973747-9. 
  72. ^ INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS, THE EVENTS IN PAKISTAN: A LEGAL STUDY BY THE SECRETARIAT OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS 9 (1972), p. 56., cited in S. Linton, 'Completing the circle: accountability for the crimes of the 1971 Bangladesh war of liberation', Criminal Law Forum (2010) 21:191-311, p. 243.
  73. ^ INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS, THE EVENTS IN PAKISTAN: A LEGAL STUDY BY THE SECRETARIAT OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS 9 (1972), p. 57.
  74. ^ a b Guinness World Records (2006). Guinness World Records 2007. London: Guinness World Records Ltd. pp. 118, 119. ISBN 1-904994-12-1. 
  75. ^ Genocide Denial; The Case of Bangladesh by Donald W. Beachler - Online summary hosted at Institute for the Study of Genocide
  76. ^ DISENT FROM U.S. POLICY TOWARD EAST PAKISTAN (PDF) 6 April 1971. Accessed 2009-05-25. Archived 2009-05-28.
  77. ^ [4] (PDF) 17 August 1971. Accessed 2013-03-07. Archived 2011-12-16.
  78. ^ Gandhi, Sajit (ed.), The Tilt: The U.S. and the South Asian Crisis of 1971: National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 79. Accessed 2009-05-25.
  79. ^ Memorandam for the Record(PDF) August 11, 1971. Accessed 2009-05-25. Archived 2009-05-28.
  80. ^ "Controversial book accuses Bengalis of 1971 war crimes". BBC News. 16 June 2011. 
  81. ^ S. Dring, 'Pakistani officers on list for war crimes trials', The Times, December 23, 1971, pg. 5.
  82. ^ The Times, '100 face genocide charges', The Times, February 23, 1972, pg. 7.
  83. ^ Trial of Pakistani Prisoners of War (Pak. v. India) (Req. for the Indication of Interim Measures of Protection) (Order of Jul. 13, 1973), – 1, available at http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/60/10697.pdf
  84. ^ S. Linton, 'Completing the circle: accountability for the crimes of the 1971 Bangladesh war of liberation', Criminal Law Forum (2010) 21:191-311, p. 203.
  85. ^ THE CURIOUS CASE OF THE 195 WAR CRIMINALS BANGLADESH – Audacity of Hope
  86. ^ a b S. Linton, Criminal Law Forum (2010), p. 228.
  87. ^ President’s Order No. 8 of 1972 (1972) (Bangl.); Collaborators (Special Tribunals) Order (1972) (Bangl.).
  88. ^ a b S. Linton,Criminal Law Forum (2010), p. 205.
  89. ^ A. Mascarenhas, 'Bangladesh: A Legacy of Blood', Hodder and Stoughton, 1986, p. 25.
  90. ^ S. Linton,Criminal Law Forum (2010), p. 206.
  91. ^ REDRESS, Torture in Bangladesh 1971-2004: Making International Commitments a Reality and Providing Justice and Reparations to Victims, August 2004, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4bf3a6e92.html [accessed 4 February 2012]
  92. ^ Raymond Faisal Solaiman v People's Republic of Bangladesh & Ors In The Federal Magistrates Court of Australia at Sydney.
  93. ^ This judgement can be found via the Federal Court of Australia home page by following the links and using SYG/2672/2006 as the key for the database
  94. ^ Wierda, Marieke; Anthony Triolo (31). Luc Reydams, Jan Wouters, Cedric Ryngaert, ed. International Prosecutors. Oxford University Press. p. 169. ISBN 978-0199554294. 
  95. ^ Kibria, Nazli (2011). Muslims in Motion: Islam and National Identity in the Bangladeshi Diaspora. Rutgers University Press. p. 19. ISBN 978-0813550565. 
  96. ^ Rahman, Syedur; Craig Baxter (2010). Historical dictionary of Bangladesh (4th ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. p. 289. ISBN 978-0-8108-6766-6. 
  97. ^ Montero, David (July 14, 2010). "Bangladesh arrests are opening act of war crimes tribunal". Christian Science Monitor. 
  98. ^ D'Costa, Bina (1). Nationbuilding, Gender and War Crimes in South Asia. Routledge. p. 76. ISBN 978-0415565660. 
  99. ^ "Will ban on Islamic party heal wounds?". Deutsche Welle. 2013-02-18. Retrieved 2012-02-28. 
  100. ^ a b Adams, Brad (18 May 2011). "Letter to the Bangladesh Prime Minister regarding the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act". Human Rights Watch. 
  101. ^ Haq, M. Zahurul (5). M.N. Schmitt, Louise Arimatsu, T. McCormack, ed. Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law - 2010 (1st ed.). Springer. p. 463. ISBN 978-9067048101. 
  102. ^ Ullah, Ansar Ahmed (3, February 2012). "Vote of trust for war trial". The Daily Star. 
  103. ^ Adams, Brad (2 November 2011). "Bangladesh: Stop Harassment of Defense at War Tribunal". Thomson Reuters Foundation. 
  104. ^ Karim, Bianca; Tirza Theunissen (29). Dinah Shelton, ed. International Law and Domestic Legal Systems: Incorporation, Transformation, and Persuasion. Oxford University Press. p. 114. ISBN 978-0199694907. 
  105. ^ Ghafour, Abdul (31, October 2012). "International community urged to stop ‘summary executions’ in Bangladesh". Arab News. 
  106. ^ "Jamaat, Shibir go berserk". The Daily Star. November 13, 2012. Retrieved 26 January 2013. 
  107. ^ "Jamaat-Shibir men run amok". New Age. November 14, 2012. Retrieved 26 January 2013. 
  108. ^ "Jamaat desperately on the offensive". The Daily Sun. Retrieved 26 January 2013. 


References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

Independence of Bangladesh
History
and events
Bangladesh
Pakistan
India
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1971_Bangladesh_genocide&oldid=559358348"