On December 16, 1971, Pakistan lost a war with India, leading to the creation of Bangladesh. On this day, the chief of the Pakistani forces, General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi, along with 93000 others including Pakistani troops, surrendered to India and its allied forces in Dhaka.
The 1971 War, which culminated in the birth of Bangladesh, has been one of the most difficult histories for Pakistan to contend with. While India and Bangladesh commemorate December 16 as Victory Day, they also frequently highlight that Bangladesh experienced one of the worst forms of genocide in the history of mankind.
Bangladesh, on several occasions, has claimed that in the 9-month-long civil war against Pakistan about three million innocent people were killed and more than 200,000 women were violated.
To instigate hatred against Pakistan, the claims of the Bengali genocide and the three million dead are regularly repeated by South Asia’s academia. However, it must be noted that the number of killings is disputed. Twitter user Fidato examined this issue in 2021 on Bangladesh’s 50th Independence Day in detail in a string of posts based on literature evidence.
Read more: Bangladesh’s independence: a history marked with India’s tirade against Pakistan
Today is the 50th Independence Day of Bangladesh. The claims of a Bengali genocide and three million dead during 1971 war are regularly repeated by South Asia's academia. Let's examine what the Bengali and western scholars have written on the veracity of this claim.
THREAD
— Fidato (@tequieremos) March 26, 2021
He shared an excerpt from a book by Richard Sisson and Leo Rose called War and Secession: Pakistan, India, and the Creation of Bangladesh where the authors have carried out detailed research on the birth of Bangladesh.
The authors interviewed two Indian officials in 1971 on the actual figures of deaths in Bangladesh. Upon questioning, one of the officials changed his statement on the spot.
On another occasion, a Bengali nationalist who participated in the separatist cause has written in his book Behind the Myth of Three Million that in order to be a true “Bengali patriot” the people back then were required to accept the whole truth without any questions. He even called the claims that the Pakistan Army killed three million people “fiction.”
Read more: Creation of Bagladesh: will the true scale of the tragedy ever be know?
M Abdul Mu'min Chowdhury, a native of Sylhet and a Bengali nationalist was a teacher at Dhaka University. He participated in the separatist cause. He left Bangladesh in 1973 for London and shared his story in his book ‘Behind the Myth of Three Million’. He writes in the Preface: pic.twitter.com/L2C3oYwuPO
— Fidato (@tequieremos) March 26, 2021
Why 3 million?
The Twitter user shared an article by Serajur Rahman explaining the genesis of the three million figure. According to the article, the dispute in numbers was mainly due to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s confusion. The disputed numbers were then portrayed as official figures by publishing agencies.
The Purbadesh editorial claimed the killing of three million and two hundred intellectuals on December 22, 1971. On previous day, the same editorial had asked, ‘how many people of Bengal have been killed’?
Within days, the Soviet daily, Pravada, claimed the fictitious figures. pic.twitter.com/ZJG0KEdPE9
— Fidato (@tequieremos) March 26, 2021
Close associates of Sheikh Mujeeb were also skeptical of the 3 million figure quoted and have expressed their disbelief.
Read more: Bangladesh Politiking to Commemorate March 25 as ‘Genocide Day’
After the fall of Dhaka, Sheikh Mujib formally instituted a 12 member Inquiry Committee to prove the validity of his claims. However, the draft report came with a casualty figure of 56,743 which included the mass killings of Biharis by Mukhti Bahinis. This made Mujib furious.
After the fall of Dhaka, Sheikh Mujib formally instituted a 12-member Inquiry Committee to prove the validity of his claims. However, the draft report came with a casualty figure of 56,743 which included the mass killings of Biharis by Mukti Bahinis. Mujib was furious: pic.twitter.com/D7MQRFmtX6
— Fidato (@tequieremos) March 26, 2021
William Drummond explains why Mujib ur Rehman raised the fallacious claim of the genocide and killings of three million Bengalis. Fidato also shared a paragraph from Sarmila Bose’s book where it has been stated that South Asian and Western Academia quote the three million dead in Bengali genocide without any verification.
Sarmila Bose writes in her book ‘Dead Reckoning’ that the claim of three million dead has been repeated in South Asian and Western academia without any verification. The authors who have added this figure in their books have not provided a single reference. pic.twitter.com/IVgGTsSN2E
— Fidato (@tequieremos) March 26, 2021
Bengali genocide and the real Holocaust
Lt Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora, Commander in Chief of the Eastern Command of Indian Army during the 1971 war, rejected the three million figure. He said that Mujib’s figure was ‘absolutely impossible’ because the Pakistan Army has ‘simultaneously fought within the country and at the borders.
However, Sheikh Mujib refused to take account of the Bihari killings by his own Mukti Bahini, despite eye-witness account.
More than 100,000 men, women and children were killed during the ‘Awami League's reign of terror’ which started on 1 March 1971. The killing of Biharis and West Pakistan was clearly a genocide as per the UN definition. Shiekh Mujib defended the heinous crimes of Mukti Bahini: pic.twitter.com/hCXcM3UMtX
— Fidato (@tequieremos) March 26, 2021
Sarmila Bose further explains in her book how the Bengali genocide is being falsely associated with the Holocaust which is an insult to the victims of the Nazi Holocaust. This exaggeration is exploitation by India.
Sarmila Bose further writes that when Pakistan army came for Mujib on 25 March 1971, soldiers arrested him. When Bangladesh army came for Mujib on 15 Aug 1975, they killed him and his family including his wife, two daughter in laws, three sons- the youngest a child of ten.
— Fidato (@tequieremos) March 26, 2021
The killing of Biharis
Fidato highlights the killing of Biharis in East Pakistan by Mukti Bahini who are also known as Bangladesh forces. As per the 1951 census, there were 671,000 Biharis in East Pakistan and up to 20 per cent of the Bihari population was massacred by the Mukti Bahini. The Twitter user further states how this is an actual genocide.
Mukti Bahini killed 100,000 Biharis (according to the ‘Chronology for Biharis in Bangladesh’) to 150,000 Biharis ('Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace and Conflict').
Abdul Mu'min Chowdhury shares some heart wrenching accounts in his book: pic.twitter.com/bVh3k02BoN
— Fidato (@tequieremos) March 26, 2021
Fidato concludes this extensive research by stressing how both Pakistan and Bangladesh should present well researched and factual accounts that lead to the liberation of Bangladesh as it is the only way forward.
Read more: How Pakistan was ‘Created & Lost’: A journey of ‘Blood & Tears’
