Dead Reckoning: Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh War: Difference between revisions

**Dead Reckoning: Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh War**
Author	Sarmila Bose
Language	English
Genre	History
Publisher	C. Hurst & Co.
Publication date	1 April 2011
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (hardback and paperback)
Pages	288
ISBN	978-1849040495

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Dead Reckoning: Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh War is a controversial book on the Bangladesh Liberation War written by Sarmila Bose.^[1] The book has been accused of flawed and biased methodology, historical negationism and downplaying war crimes.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]

Overview

Bose aims for a revisionist reconstruction of the Bangladesh Liberation War in a chronological fashion using material evidence as well as public memory.^[7] This was to counter the prevailing multitude of poor and partisan scholarship on the issue, and Bose claimed that hers will be a unique work for years.^[7]^[8]

She notes the war to have had its origins in an xenophobic and communal expressions of Bengali nationalism.^[9] Military operations by Pakistani Army were mostly political reprisals and started in response to provocations by Mujib's movement which engaged in violence despite Yahya Khan's efforts to restore democracy.^[9]^[5] In the process, Bose also seeks to prove that the death-count portrayed by Bangladesh is often unreliable and aimed at distorting the truth about the nature and number of war-crimes.^[7]

Reception

Scholars have accused her of flawed and biased methodology, historical revisionism. cherry-picking sources, and downplaying war crimes.^[3]^[4] In several cases, she misquoted her interviewees and other academics that she cites as reference.^[10]

In a book-launch event at Wilson Center, Arnold Zeitlin, a journalist who covered the '71 war deemed the work to be a "distortion of history" that carried the author's prejudices and overemphasized the number of casualties, whilst refusing to tackle the underlying themes and issues surrounding the event.^[11] Jayanta Kumar Ray accused the author of getting "basic facts wrong" to diminish the number of rapes, and biased in her extensive usage of pro-Pakistan sources.^[12]

Gita Sahgal, writing for The Daily Star, found the work to lack any theoretical or political framework and the author to be in adulation of the Pakistan Military and excessively concerned with the number of deaths and burials.^[13] She also notes Bose to have skipped several issues — Jamaat-e-Islami, Al-Badr etc. — that would have proved inconvenient for her central thesis and also, engage in a selective usage of sources.^[13]

Srinath Raghavan, an Indian historian of contemporary history, reviewing for The Indian Express calls Bose's book a "disturbing misrepresentation of the 1971 war" and further notes that "it is impossible to review the entire catalogue of evasions, obfuscations, omissions and methodological errors that suffuses the book".^[9]

Urvashi Butalia, reviewing for Tehelka, noted the work to be spoiled by her "hubris and irrational biases"; Bose exonerated Pakistani officers of mass-rape and wanton violence by taking their accounts as "straightforward" truth whilst labeling Bangladeshi accounts as "claims".^[8] Nayanika Mookherjee, a social anthropologist studying memories of '71 wartime rapes, found the book to be methodologically inconsistent, informed by a disdain for Bangladeshi Self Determination and extremely biased — Bangladeshis, guided by blind hate against the "fine men" of Pakistan army who had "no ethnic bias", either exhibited "bestial" violence or were cowards.^[14] Mookherjee also criticizes Bose for failing to cite post-nationalist scholarship in vernacular, which discussed the role of Bengali Muslims in killing Bihari/non-Bengali collaborators and communities.^[14]

Bose has been criticized long before publishing the book for her research methodologies. She accepts the statement of Pakistani Brigadier Taj that no women were tortured in Rajarbag to be true even though Taj was not present during the operation. But she invalidates the testimony of an eyewitness of the incidents of rape done by Pakistani Army as the witness is illiterate. In another case, she asserted that since one rape victim feared for her life, she must have consented to having sex with Pakistani soldiers.^[15]

Bose's book implies a claim to being the 'first' to dissect the death toll of 3 million in 1971, Zunaid Kazi had already documented 12 different media estimates of death tolls.^[1]

Pakistan

The book was subject to positive reception in Pakistan.^[16]

Researchers have accused her of flawed and biased methodology, historical revisionism and downplaying war crimes.^[3]^[4] In several cases, she misquoted her interviewees and other academics that she cites as reference.^[10]

Response

Bose has responded to three of her most notable critics – Naeem Mohaiemen, Urvashi Butalia, and Srinath Raghavan.^[17] She maintains that her research is unbiased and the critics were "those who have profited for so long from mythologizing the history of 1971."^[7]

References

^ ^a ^b Lawson, Alastair (16 June 2011). "Controversial book accuses Bengalis of 1971 war crimes". BBC. Archived from the original on 8 July 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
^ Ahsan, Syed Badrul (13 July 2011). "Sarmila Bose and bad arithmetic". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Naeem Mohaiemen, "Flying Blind: Waiting for a real Reckoning on 1971", Economic & Political Weekly, vol xlvi no 36, 3 September 2011" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Sarmila Bose, "'Dead Reckoning': A Response"; Naeem Mohaiemen, "Another Reckoning"; Economic & Political Weekly, vol xlvi no 53, 31 December 2011" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 July 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
^ ^a ^b Zeitlin, Arnold (17 November 2013). "Thoughts on Dead Reckoning". The Daily Star. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
^ Mohammed Parvez Imdad, Debunking Bose's Myths, The Daily Star, 26 March 2018
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Bose, Sarmila (9 May 2011). "Myth-busting the Bangladesh war of 1971". Opinion. No. 1. Aljazeera. Aljazeera. Archived from the original on 5 June 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
^ ^a ^b Butalia, Urvashi (13 August 2011). "She Does Not Know Best". Tehelka. Archived from the original on 18 July 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
^ ^a ^b ^c Raghavan, Srinath (30 July 2011). "A Dhaka Debacle: A disturbing misrepresentation of the 1971 war". Archived from the original on 18 April 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
^ ^a ^b Mohaimen, Naeem (3 October 2011). "Flying Blind: Waiting for a Real Reckoning on 1971". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 6 December 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
^ "Book Event: Dead Reckoning: Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh War | Wilson Center". www.wilsoncenter.org. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
^ Bhaumik, Subir (29 April 2011). "Book, film greeted with fury among Bengalis". aljazeera. Archived from the original on 30 January 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
^ ^a ^b Sahgal, Gita (18 December 2011). "Dead Reckoning: Disappearing stories and evidence". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 20 October 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
^ ^a ^b Mookherjee, Nayanika (7 June 2011). "This account of the Bangladesh war should not be seen as unbiased". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
^ Rahman, Mashuqur (December 2007). "The continuing rape of our history". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2013.
^ Zia, Afia (12 January 2012). "Reading and writing 1971". The Express Tribune. Archived from the original on 22 December 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
^ Bose, Sarmila (31 December 2011). "'Dead Reckoning': A Response". Economic & Political Weekly. 46 (53): 76–79. Retrieved 19 March 2015.

External links

Publisher's web page on the book

[LawsonControversial-1] Lawson, Alastair (16 June 2011). "Controversial book accuses Bengalis of 1971 war crimes". BBC. Archived from the original on 8 July 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2013.

[BadrulBadArithmetic-2] Ahsan, Syed Badrul (13 July 2011). "Sarmila Bose and bad arithmetic". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2013.

[:0-3] "Naeem Mohaiemen, "Flying Blind: Waiting for a real Reckoning on 1971", Economic & Political Weekly, vol xlvi no 36, 3 September 2011" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2013.

[:1-4] "Sarmila Bose, "'Dead Reckoning': A Response"; Naeem Mohaiemen, "Another Reckoning"; Economic & Political Weekly, vol xlvi no 53, 31 December 2011" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 July 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2013.

[DailyStarThoughts-5] Zeitlin, Arnold (17 November 2013). "Thoughts on Dead Reckoning". The Daily Star. Retrieved 16 December 2013.

[debunking-6] Mohammed Parvez Imdad, Debunking Bose's Myths, The Daily Star, 26 March 2018

[:2-7] Bose, Sarmila (9 May 2011). "Myth-busting the Bangladesh war of 1971". Opinion. No. 1. Aljazeera. Aljazeera. Archived from the original on 5 June 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2017.

[ButaliaTehelka-8] Butalia, Urvashi (13 August 2011). "She Does Not Know Best". Tehelka. Archived from the original on 18 July 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2013.

[:3-9] Raghavan, Srinath (30 July 2011). "A Dhaka Debacle: A disturbing misrepresentation of the 1971 war". Archived from the original on 18 April 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2017.

[DailyStarFlying-10] Mohaimen, Naeem (3 October 2011). "Flying Blind: Waiting for a Real Reckoning on 1971". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 6 December 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2013.

[11] "Book Event: Dead Reckoning: Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh War | Wilson Center". www.wilsoncenter.org. Retrieved 21 March 2021.

[BhaumikBook-12] Bhaumik, Subir (29 April 2011). "Book, film greeted with fury among Bengalis". aljazeera. Archived from the original on 30 January 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2013.

[SahgalDisappearing-13] Sahgal, Gita (18 December 2011). "Dead Reckoning: Disappearing stories and evidence". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 20 October 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2013.

[:4-14] Mookherjee, Nayanika (7 June 2011). "This account of the Bangladesh war should not be seen as unbiased". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2013.

[MashuqurContinuing-15] Rahman, Mashuqur (December 2007). "The continuing rape of our history". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2013.

[ExpressReading-16] Zia, Afia (12 January 2012). "Reading and writing 1971". The Express Tribune. Archived from the original on 22 December 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2013.

[DRResponse-17] Bose, Sarmila (31 December 2011). "'Dead Reckoning': A Response". Economic & Political Weekly. 46 (53): 76–79. Retrieved 19 March 2015.

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-'''Dead Reckoning: Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh War''' is a controversial book on the [[Bangladesh Liberation War]] written by [[Sarmila Bose]].<ref name=LawsonControversial>{{cite news|last=Lawson|first=Alastair|title=Controversial book accuses Bengalis of 1971 war crimes|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13417170|accessdate=30 December 2013|newspaper=BBC|date=16 June 2011|archive-date=8 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130708083223/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13417170|url-status=live}}</ref> The book has been accused of flawed and biased methodology, [[Historical revisionism (negationism)|historical negationism]] and downplaying [[1971 Bangladesh atrocities|war crimes]].<ref name="BadrulBadArithmetic">{{cite news|url=http://archive.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=193941|title=Sarmila Bose and bad arithmetic|last=Ahsan|first=Syed Badrul|date=13 July 2011|accessdate=21 December 2013|newspaper=The Daily Star|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304063232/http://archive.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=193941|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name="DailyStarThoughts" /><ref name=debunking>Mohammed Parvez Imdad, [https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/perspective/debunking-boses-myths-1553248.html Debunking Bose's Myths], The Daily Star, 26 March 2018</ref>
+'''Dead Reckoning: Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh War''' is a controversial book on the [[Bangladesh Liberation War]] written by [[Sarmila Bose]].<ref name=LawsonControversial>{{cite news|last=Lawson|first=Alastair|title=Controversial book accuses Bengalis of 1971 war crimes|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13417170|accessdate=30 December 2013|newspaper=BBC|date=16 June 2011|archive-date=8 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130708083223/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-13417170|url-status=live}}</ref> The book has been accused of flawed and biased methodology, [[Historical revisionism (negationism)|historical negationism]] and downplaying [[1971 Bangladesh atrocities|war crimes]].<ref name="BadrulBadArithmetic">{{cite news|url=http://archive.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=193941|title=Sarmila Bose and bad arithmetic|last=Ahsan|first=Syed Badrul|date=13 July 2011|accessdate=21 December 2013|newspaper=The Daily Star|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304063232/http://archive.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=193941|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Naeem Mohaiemen, "Flying Blind: Waiting for a real Reckoning on 1971", Economic & Political Weekly, vol xlvi no 36, 3 September 2011|url=http://www.bricklanecircle.org/uploads/Flying_Blind.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425051119/http://www.bricklanecircle.org/uploads/Flying_Blind.pdf|archive-date=25 April 2012|access-date=20 December 2013}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Sarmila Bose, "‘Dead Reckoning’: A Response"; Naeem Mohaiemen, "Another Reckoning"; Economic & Political Weekly, vol xlvi no 53, 31 December 2011.|url=http://www.bricklanecircle.org/uploads/Bose_and_Naeem.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130723022728/http://www.bricklanecircle.org/uploads/Bose_and_Naeem.pdf|archive-date=23 July 2013|access-date=20 December 2013}}</ref><ref name="DailyStarThoughts">{{cite news|last=Zeitlin|first=Arnold|date=17 November 2013|title=Thoughts on Dead Reckoning|newspaper=The Daily Star|url=http://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-214413|accessdate=16 December 2013}}</ref><ref name=debunking>Mohammed Parvez Imdad, [https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/perspective/debunking-boses-myths-1553248.html Debunking Bose's Myths], The Daily Star, 26 March 2018</ref>
 == Overview ==
-Bose uses personal interviews from all sides of the war.<ref name=":2">{{cite news|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/05/20115983958114219.html|title=Myth-busting the Bangladesh war of 1971|date=9 May 2011|work=Opinion|publisher=[[Aljazeera]]|agency=[[Aljazeera]]|issue=1|last1=Bose|first1=Sarmila|accessdate=3 May 2017|archive-date=5 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170605231254/http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/05/20115983958114219.html|url-status=live}}</ref> It accuses Bangladeshis and Pakistanis of "myth making."<ref name=":2" />
+Bose aims for a revisionist reconstruction of the [[Bangladesh Liberation War]] in a chronological fashion using material evidence as well as public memory.<ref name=":2">{{cite news|last1=Bose|first1=Sarmila|date=9 May 2011|title=Myth-busting the Bangladesh war of 1971|work=Opinion|publisher=[[Aljazeera]]|agency=[[Aljazeera]]|issue=1|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/05/20115983958114219.html|url-status=live|accessdate=3 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170605231254/http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/05/20115983958114219.html|archive-date=5 June 2017}}</ref> This was to counter the prevailing multitude of poor and partisan scholarship on the issue, and Bose claimed that hers will be a unique work for years.<ref name=":2" /><ref name="ButaliaTehelka">{{cite news|last=Butalia|first=Urvashi|date=13 August 2011|title=She Does Not Know Best|newspaper=Tehelka|url=http://www.tehelka.com/she-does-not-know-best/|url-status=dead|accessdate=21 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130718204115/http://www.tehelka.com/she-does-not-know-best/|archive-date=18 July 2013}}</ref>
+She notes the war to have had its origins in an xenophobic and communal expressions of Bengali nationalism.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|last=Raghavan|first=Srinath|date=30 July 2011|title=A Dhaka Debacle: A disturbing misrepresentation of the 1971 war.|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/news-archive/web/a-dhaka-debacle/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180418181426/http://indianexpress.com/article/news-archive/web/a-dhaka-debacle/|archive-date=18 April 2018|access-date=5 July 2017}}</ref> Military operations by Pakistani Army were mostly political reprisals and started in response to provocations by Mujib's movement which engaged in violence despite Yahya Khan's efforts to restore democracy.<ref name=":3" /><ref name="DailyStarThoughts" /> In the process, Bose also seeks to prove that the death-count portrayed by Bangladesh is often unreliable and aimed at distorting the truth about the nature and number of war-crimes.<ref name=":2" />
-==Controversies==
-===Criticism===
+==Reception==
+Scholars have accused her of flawed and biased methodology, [[historical revisionism]]. cherry-picking sources, and downplaying [[1971 Bangladesh atrocities|war crimes]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> In several cases, she misquoted her interviewees and other academics that she cites as reference.<ref name="DailyStarFlying">{{cite news|last=Mohaimen|first=Naeem|date=3 October 2011|title=Flying Blind: Waiting for a Real Reckoning on 1971|newspaper=The Daily Star|url=http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=205005|url-status=live|accessdate=20 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111206012922/http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=205005|archive-date=6 December 2011}}</ref>
-Bose's study has been criticized by various Indian historians and academics for numerous inaccuracies and excessive reliance on Pakistani military and government sources, thereby giving a low estimate of the [[1971 Bangladesh genocide]].<ref name=":7">{{cite news|last1=Bergman|first1=David|title=Questioning an iconic number|url=http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/questioning-an-iconic-number/article5940833.ece|accessdate=28 September 2016|agency=The Hindu|issue=1|publisher=The Hindu|date=24 April 2014|archive-date=28 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201228012642/https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/questioning-an-iconic-number/article5940833.ece|url-status=live}}</ref> Researchers have accused her of flawed and biased methodology, [[historical revisionism]] and downplaying<ref name=BhaumikBook>{{cite news|last=Bhaumik|first=Subir|title=Book, film greeted with fury among Bengalis|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2011/04/2011429174141565122.html|accessdate=21 December 2013|newspaper=aljazeera|date=29 April 2011|archive-date=30 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140130073332/http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2011/04/2011429174141565122.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[1971 Bangladesh atrocities|war crimes]].<ref name=SahgalDisappearing>{{cite news|last=Sahgal|first=Gita|newspaper=The Daily Star|title=Dead Reckoning: Disappearing stories and evidence|url=http://archive.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=214510|date=18 December 2011|accessdate=19 December 2013|archive-date=20 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020080034/http://archive.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=214510|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |url=http://www.bricklanecircle.org/uploads/Flying_Blind.pdf |title=Naeem Mohaiemen, "Flying Blind: Waiting for a real Reckoning on 1971", Economic & Political Weekly, vol xlvi no 36, 3 September 2011 |access-date=20 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425051119/http://www.bricklanecircle.org/uploads/Flying_Blind.pdf |archive-date=25 April 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |url=http://www.bricklanecircle.org/uploads/Bose_and_Naeem.pdf |title=Sarmila Bose, "‘Dead Reckoning’: A Response"; Naeem Mohaiemen, "Another Reckoning"; Economic & Political Weekly, vol xlvi no 53, 31 December 2011. |access-date=20 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130723022728/http://www.bricklanecircle.org/uploads/Bose_and_Naeem.pdf |archive-date=23 July 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=DailyStarThoughts>{{cite news |last=Zeitlin |first=Arnold |date=17 November 2013 |title=Thoughts on Dead Reckoning |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-214413  |newspaper=The Daily Star |accessdate=16 December 2013}}</ref> In several cases, she misquoted her interviewees and other academics that she cites as reference.<ref name=DailyStarFlying>{{cite news|last=Mohaimen|first=Naeem|title=Flying Blind: Waiting for a Real Reckoning on 1971|url=http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=205005|accessdate=20 December 2013|newspaper=The Daily Star|date=3 October 2011|archive-date=6 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111206012922/http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=205005|url-status=live}}</ref> Bose has been criticised for her bias towards Pakistani Army in the language she deploys – Bangladeshi accounts are labelled "claims", Pakistani officers' accounts are straightforward accounts.<ref name=ButaliaTehelka>{{cite news|last=Butalia|first=Urvashi|title=She Does Not Know Best|url=http://www.tehelka.com/she-does-not-know-best/|accessdate=21 December 2013|newspaper=Tehelka|date=13 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130718204115/http://www.tehelka.com/she-does-not-know-best/|archive-date=18 July 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> Bose's impartiality has also been questioned due to her previous role as an advocate of US arms sales to Pakistan.<ref name=SundayGuardianBose>{{cite news|last=Sobhan|first=Zafar|title=Bose is more Pakistani than Jinnah the Quaid|url=http://www.sunday-guardian.com/analysis/bose-is-more-pakistani-than-jinnah-the-quaid|accessdate=16 December 2013|newspaper=The Sunday Guardian|archive-date=12 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212073930/http://www.sunday-guardian.com/analysis/bose-is-more-pakistani-than-jinnah-the-quaid|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Mookherjee|first=Nayanika|newspaper=The Guardian|title=This account of the Bangladesh war should not be seen as unbiased|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/jun/08/bangladesh-liberation-war-sarmila-bose|date=7 June 2011|accessdate=19 December 2013|archive-date=28 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201228012613/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/jun/08/bangladesh-liberation-war-sarmila-bose|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=DhakaDebacle>{{cite news|last=Raghavan|first=Srinath|title=A Dhaka Debacle|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/a-dhaka-debacle/824484|newspaper=The Indian Express|date=30 July 2011|accessdate=19 December 2013|archive-date=28 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131128090645/http://www.indianexpress.com/news/a-dhaka-debacle/824484|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=ExpressReading>{{cite news|last=Zia|first=Afia|title=Reading and writing 1971|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/319980/reading-and-writing-1971/|accessdate=20 December 2013|newspaper=The Express Tribune|date=12 January 2012|archive-date=22 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131222140127/http://tribune.com.pk/story/319980/reading-and-writing-1971/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="NasirReturn">{{cite news|url=http://opinion.bdnews24.com/2011/03/14/return-of-sarmila-bose/|title=Return of Sarmila Bose|last=Nasir|first=ABM|date=14 March 2011|accessdate=20 December 2013|newspaper=bdnews24|archive-date=16 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131216043638/http://opinion.bdnews24.com/2011/03/14/return-of-sarmila-bose/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=CSMonitorRight>{{cite news|last=Milam|first=William|title=The right stuff: F-16s to Pakistan is wise decision|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0411/p09s02-coop.html|accessdate=16 December 2013|newspaper=The Christian Science Monitor|date=11 April 2005|archive-date=22 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131222042110/http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0411/p09s02-coop.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
+In a book-launch event at [[Wilson Center]], Arnold Zeitlin, a journalist who covered the '71 war deemed the work to be a "distortion of history" that carried the author's prejudices and overemphasized the number of casualties, whilst refusing to tackle the underlying themes and issues surrounding the event.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Book Event: Dead Reckoning: Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh War {{!}} Wilson Center|url=https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/book-event-dead-reckoning-memories-the-1971-bangladesh-war|access-date=2021-03-21|website=www.wilsoncenter.org|language=en}}</ref> [[Jayanta Kumar Ray]] accused the author of getting "basic facts wrong" to diminish the number of rapes, and biased in her extensive usage of pro-Pakistan sources.<ref name="BhaumikBook">{{cite news|last=Bhaumik|first=Subir|date=29 April 2011|title=Book, film greeted with fury among Bengalis|newspaper=aljazeera|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2011/04/2011429174141565122.html|url-status=live|accessdate=21 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140130073332/http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2011/04/2011429174141565122.html|archive-date=30 January 2014}}</ref>
-[[Srinath Raghavan]], the author of ''1971: A Global History of the Creation of Bangladesh'', calls Bose's book a "disturbing misrepresentation of the 1971 war"<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://indianexpress.com/article/news-archive/web/a-dhaka-debacle |title=Archived copy |access-date=5 July 2017 |archive-date=18 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180418181426/http://indianexpress.com/article/news-archive/web/a-dhaka-debacle/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and further writes that "it is impossible to review the entire catalogue of evasions, obfuscations, omissions and methodological errors that suffuses the book".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://indianexpress.com/article/news-archive/web/a-dhaka-debacle/ |title=Archived copy |access-date=5 July 2017 |archive-date=18 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180418181426/http://indianexpress.com/article/news-archive/web/a-dhaka-debacle/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
+[[Gita Sahgal]], writing for [[The Daily Star (Bangladesh)|The Daily Star]], found the work to lack any theoretical or political framework and the author to be in adulation of the Pakistan Military and excessively concerned with the number of deaths and burials.<ref name="SahgalDisappearing">{{cite news|last=Sahgal|first=Gita|date=18 December 2011|title=Dead Reckoning: Disappearing stories and evidence|newspaper=The Daily Star|url=http://archive.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=214510|url-status=live|accessdate=19 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020080034/http://archive.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=214510|archive-date=20 October 2013}}</ref> She also notes Bose to have skipped several issues — [[Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan|Jamaat-e-Islami]], [[Al-Badr (East Pakistan)|Al-Badr]] etc. — that would have proved inconvenient for her central thesis and also, engage in a selective usage of sources.<ref name="SahgalDisappearing" />
-==== Minimization of rapes ====
+[[Srinath Raghavan]], an Indian historian of [[contemporary history]], reviewing for [[The Indian Express]] calls Bose's book a "disturbing misrepresentation of the 1971 war" and further notes that "it is impossible to review the entire catalogue of evasions, obfuscations, omissions and methodological errors that suffuses the book".<ref name=":3" />
-The most severe criticisms against Bose report that Bose's claims that allegations of genocide and rape by the [[Pakistan Army]] were exaggerated by [[Bangladesh]] and [[India]].<ref>Woodrow Wilson Center [http://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/book-event-idead-reckoning-memories-the-1971-bangladesh-wari Woodrow Wilson Center Book Launch event] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120117115414/http://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/book-event-idead-reckoning-memories-the-1971-bangladesh-wari |date=17 January 2012 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.bricklanecircle.org/uploads/Anatomy_of_Violence_-_Analysis_of_Civil_War_in_East_Pakistan_n_1971.pdf Anatomy of Violence: Analysis of Civil War in East Pakistan in 1971] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425051107/http://www.bricklanecircle.org/uploads/Anatomy_of_Violence_-_Analysis_of_Civil_War_in_East_Pakistan_n_1971.pdf |date=25 April 2012 }} by Sarmila Bose in the [[Economic and Political Weekly]], 8 October 2005</ref><ref>[http://www.bricklanecircle.org/uploads/Losing_the_vitctims_-_Problems_of_Using_Women_as_Weapons_in_Recounting_the_Bangladesh_War.pdf Losing the Victims: Problems of Using Women as Weapons in Recounting the Bangladesh War] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425051114/http://www.bricklanecircle.org/uploads/Losing_the_vitctims_-_Problems_of_Using_Women_as_Weapons_in_Recounting_the_Bangladesh_War.pdf |date=25 April 2012 }} by Sarmila Bose in the [[Economic and Political Weekly]], 22 September 2007</ref> She is alleged to have presented selective interviews of witnesses in favour of her opinions.<ref name="SahgalDisappearing" /><ref name="NasirReturn" />
+[[Urvashi Butalia]], reviewing for [[Tehelka]], noted the work to be spoiled by her "hubris and irrational biases"; Bose exonerated Pakistani officers of mass-rape and wanton violence by taking their accounts as "straightforward" truth whilst labeling Bangladeshi accounts as "claims".<ref name="ButaliaTehelka" /> [[Nayanika Mookherjee]], a social anthropologist studying memories of '71 wartime rapes, found the book to be methodologically inconsistent, informed by a disdain for Bangladeshi Self Determination and extremely biased — Bangladeshis, guided by blind hate against the "fine men" of Pakistan army who had "no ethnic bias", either exhibited "bestial" violence or were cowards.<ref name=":4">{{cite news|last=Mookherjee|first=Nayanika|date=7 June 2011|title=This account of the Bangladesh war should not be seen as unbiased|newspaper=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/jun/08/bangladesh-liberation-war-sarmila-bose|url-status=live|accessdate=19 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201228012613/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/jun/08/bangladesh-liberation-war-sarmila-bose|archive-date=28 December 2020}}</ref> Mookherjee also criticizes Bose for failing to cite post-nationalist scholarship in vernacular, which discussed the role of Bengali Muslims in killing Bihari/non-Bengali collaborators and communities.<ref name=":4" />
-Bose has been criticized long before publishing the book for her research methodologies. She accepts the statement of Pakistani Brigadier Taj that no women were tortured in [[Rajarbagh|Rajarbag]] to be true even though Taj was not present during the operation. But she invalidates the testimony of an eyewitness of the incidents of rape done by Pakistani Army as the witness is illiterate. In another case, she asserted that since one rape victim feared for her life, she must have consented to having sex with Pakistani soldiers.<ref name="MashuqurContinuing">{{cite news|last=Rahman|first=Mashuqur|title=The continuing rape of our history|url=http://archive.thedailystar.net/forum/2007/december/rape.htm|accessdate=21 December 2013|newspaper=The Daily Star|date=December 2007|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304074150/http://archive.thedailystar.net/forum/2007/december/rape.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
+Bose has been criticized long before publishing the book for her research methodologies. She accepts the statement of Pakistani Brigadier Taj that no women were tortured in [[Rajarbagh|Rajarbag]] to be true even though Taj was not present during the operation. But she invalidates the testimony of an eyewitness of the incidents of rape done by Pakistani Army as the witness is illiterate. In another case, she asserted that since one rape victim feared for her life, she must have consented to having sex with Pakistani soldiers.<ref name="MashuqurContinuing">{{cite news|last=Rahman|first=Mashuqur|date=December 2007|title=The continuing rape of our history|newspaper=The Daily Star|url=http://archive.thedailystar.net/forum/2007/december/rape.htm|url-status=live|accessdate=21 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304074150/http://archive.thedailystar.net/forum/2007/december/rape.htm|archive-date=4 March 2016}}</ref>
 Bose's book implies a claim to being the 'first' to dissect the death toll of 3 million in 1971, Zunaid Kazi had already documented 12 different media estimates of death tolls.<ref name="LawsonControversial" />
-===Response===
+=== Pakistan ===
+The book was subject to positive reception in Pakistan.<ref name="ExpressReading">{{cite news|last=Zia|first=Afia|date=12 January 2012|title=Reading and writing 1971|newspaper=The Express Tribune|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/319980/reading-and-writing-1971/|url-status=live|accessdate=20 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131222140127/http://tribune.com.pk/story/319980/reading-and-writing-1971/|archive-date=22 December 2013}}</ref>
-Bose has responded to three of her most notable critics – [[Naeem Mohaiemen]], [[Urvashi Butalia]], and Srinath Raghavan.<ref name="DRResponse">{{cite journal|last=Bose|first=Sarmila|date=31 December 2011|title='Dead Reckoning': A Response|url=https://www.academia.edu/1190472/Debating_Sarmila_Bose_2_Bose_responds_Mohaiemen_rejoinder|journal=Economic & Political Weekly|volume=46|issue=53|pages=76–79|accessdate=19 March 2015}}</ref>   Sarmila Bose has responded to her critics,<ref name="DRResponse" /> and maintains that her research is  unbiased and those she calls her critics who were accusing her of "betrayal" were "those who have profited for so long from [[mythology|mythologizing]] the [[Bangladesh Liberation War|history of 1971]]."<ref name=":2" /> Bose also maintains that books written by [[Pakistanis]] on [[1971 Bangladesh genocide|Pakistan Army's atrocity during 1971]], were 'limited'.<ref>{{cite book|title=Dead Reckoning|last=Bose|first=Sarmila|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=2011|page=195}}</ref>
+Researchers have accused her of flawed and biased methodology, [[historical revisionism]] and downplaying [[1971 Bangladesh atrocities|war crimes]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> In several cases, she misquoted her interviewees and other academics that she cites as reference.<ref name="DailyStarFlying" />
+=== Response ===
+Bose has responded to three of her most notable critics – [[Naeem Mohaiemen]], Urvashi Butalia, and Srinath Raghavan.<ref name="DRResponse">{{cite journal|last=Bose|first=Sarmila|date=31 December 2011|title='Dead Reckoning': A Response|url=https://www.academia.edu/1190472/Debating_Sarmila_Bose_2_Bose_responds_Mohaiemen_rejoinder|journal=Economic & Political Weekly|volume=46|issue=53|pages=76–79|accessdate=19 March 2015}}</ref> She maintains that her research is unbiased and the critics were "those who have profited for so long from [[mythology|mythologizing]] the [[Bangladesh Liberation War|history of 1971]]."<ref name=":2" />
 ==References==