The twentieth century saw two world wars, industrialized warfare, and a large number of mass killings perpetrated against various peoples across the world. Some of these killings were committed during the course of war, while others targeted particular communities and were motivated by an intention to wipe them out. Where a particular ethnic, racial or culturally distinct group of people is subjected to intentional killing with the intent to erase its existence, the term genocide is employed.
The term ‘genocide’ was first used by Raphael Lemkin in his 1944 book “Axis Rule in Occupied Europe”. International laws relating to genocide were codified by way of the UN Convention on Genocide in 1948. Apart from the Holocaust, the concept of genocide has been applied to the killing of indigenous peoples in the Americas, the killings of alleged communists in Indonesia (1965–66), the Armenian genocide, the Ukranian Holodomor, the killings of Bangladeshis by the Pakistani Army in 1971, the killings in Cambodia and Guatemala and, more recently, Bosnia, Darfur, and Rwanda.
Brief Historical Background:
In the aftermaths of the partition of India, three separate geographical entities emerged – West Pakistan, India and East Pakistan. Following the defeat of the Pakistani army in the Indo-Pakistani war of 1971, the new nation-state of Bangladesh emerged from what had previously been East Pakistan. At the time of the partition, East and West Pakistan were geographically separated and linguistically dissimilar.[1]The majority of East Pakistan were Bangla–speaking Sunni Muslims, in addition to large Hindus, Buddhists and Christians minority populations. West Pakistan was comprised of substantial Punjabi, Sindhi, Pathan and Muhajir Muslim populations, and only fractional Hindu and Christian minorities.
From the beginning, the secular and ecumenical authorities of West Pakistan considered the majority of East Pakistanis (Bengalis) to be insufficiently religious and far too culturally distinct. As a result, these authorities initiated a program of cultural and linguistic assimilation. Urdu, a language spoken by a tiny minority of the population in East Pakistan, was declared the national language in 1948. Successive governments also refused to accommodate the major spoken languages of the Pakistani peoples as national languages, particularly Bangla, Punjabi and Pashto. These policies led to the Bengali Language Movement and the founding of the Awami League in Eastern Pakistan, which stressed the distinct cultural identity of Bengalis and advocated for a politically autonomous East Pakistan.
During the Indo–Pakistani War of 1965, East Pakistan was not well-defended. Later, in the 1970 general election, the Awami League won a national majority. But the Awami League was prevented from forming a government, confirming the second-class status of East Pakistan. These events strengthened the separatist movement in East Pakistan.
Sequence of Events:
The West Pakistani regime consistently implemented discriminatory policies towards the East, which resulted in deep polarization between pro–Pakistan and pro–liberation Bengalis. Whether the break–up of Pakistan and the resulting deaths and destruction were inevitable is a question for debate, because many Bengalis continued to support the regime, hoping for autonomy rather than independence. Some scholars opine that the period immediately following the dissolution of the Awami League government was characterized by widespread violence. Violence was targeted not just against Bengalis by the West Pakistani military forces, but also against non-Bengalis by pro–liberation Bengalis. In any event, the Pakistani Army launched Operation Searchlight on March 25th, 1971. The operationintended to take control of all major cities in East Pakistan by the following day and to eliminate any political and military opposition within a month. The primary targets of the operation were dissidents, students, prominent public intellectuals, and minority groups. Several thousand persons were killed and arrested on the night of March 25th, 1971. Prominent sites of military action included the Hindu–majority neighborhoods of old Dhaka and Dhaka University, where scores of students and teachers were targeted and killed.
However, the West Pakistani military planners had not factored in the resistance with which Bengalis responded. The last major town in East Pakistan was subdued only by mid-May in 1971,and resistance continued in the countryside afterwards.[2] Following the Pakistani army’s violent crackdown on dissidents, as well as advocates and partisans of self–determination, the Awami League leader ShiekhMujibur Rahman declared East Pakistan’s independence as the State of Bangladesh on 26th March 1971. At first, resistance to the Pakistani army’s initiative was sporadic, disorganized, and not expected to last long. However, over time, the resistance force MuktiBahini became increasingly active, and a substantial number of Bengali soldiers defected to this underground nationalist army. These soldiers merged into the MuktiBahini and bolstered their weaponry with supplies from India.
A large number of refugees attempting to escape East Pakistan and enter Indian territory created a military conundrum for Indian authorities. Initially, India only provided logistical support to the resistance movement led by MuktiBahini. However, Indian armed forces became directly involved in the conflict starting in December 1971. Thereafter, both Indian and Pakistani authorities acknowledged that a state of war existed between the two states, even though there was no formal declaration of war.
Crimes Against Intellectuals, Women and Minorities:
Local collaborators supported the Pakistani army by participating in military action, providing intelligence, and participating in the rape and targeted killing of dissidents. These collaborators included some leaders of the Muslim League, Jamat-e-Islami, the JamiatUlema Pakistan and the Razakars, and members of militias such as Al-Badr and Al-Shams.
International press reported many instances of targeted killing against doctors, engineers, artists, journalists, and writers by irregulars of the Pakistani Army (combatants with military training who support enlisted soldiers or ‘regulars’ of the army) and the Razakars. A number of professors from Dhaka University were killed during the first few days of military action, but the most egregious quantities of killings targeting intellectuals only occurred during the last days of the conflict.
During the conflict, violence against women was pervasive.[3] Certain religious leaders in West Pakistan declared Bengali women to be ‘gonimotermaal’, or ‘public property’, thus sanctioning mass rapes and other atrocities against women. Additionally, many women were tortured, killed, enslaved, and forced to give birth to ‘war babies’.[4] War crimes against women and other atrocities such as rape and murder were also committed by soldiers of the Indian Army and the resistance force MuktiBahini.[5] There was also targeted and widespread killing of Hindus and other minorities such as Buddhists, which often occurred in tandem with the destruction of their places of worship. Documented instances where Hindus were killed in large quantities include the Chuknagar massacre, the Jathibhanga massacre, and the Shankharipura massacre. Furthermore, a large number of refugees who fled Bangladesh for India were Hindus, lending credence to the view that the killings were motivated by a policy to purge East Pakistan of Hindu influence.
Aftermath:
The Pakistani army was soundly defeated in the Indo–Pakistani war of 1971. When the conflict ended, there were 92,000 Pakistani prisoners of war in the East, some of whom were suspected of having committed war crimes. Following a tripartite agreement between Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, the suspected war criminals were repatriated to Pakistan. In return, Pakistan formally recognized Bangladesh as an independent state. In 1972, the Bangladeshi Collaborators (Special Tribunals) Order was promulgated in order to prosecute the perpetrators of war crimes and their collaborators. Subsequently, on November 30th, 1973, the government of Bangladesh issued a general amnesty to all persons except those accused of rape, murder, attempted murder, or arson. The International Crimes (Tribunals) Act of 1973 was enacted to prosecute the war criminals, irrespective of nationality, and the detainees who had not been released by the general amnesty were to be tried under this Act. However, no trials were in fact held, and the Bangladeshi Collaborators Order was revoked in 1975. After the AwamiLegue won the general election in 2008 with a two-thirds majority, a War Crimes Fact Finding Committee was tasked with investigating and gathering evidence. The committee completed its report in 2008 and identified about 1600 suspects.[6] Following a series of protracted street demonstrations led by youth and women, nine leaders of the Jamaat–e –lslami and two leaders of the Bangladesh National Party were indicted as suspects. To date, only three people – Abdul QuaderMolla, SalahuddinQuader Chowdhury and Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid – have been convicted and executed on the charges of having committed war crimes.
Genocide?
The United Nations defines genocide as “the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious or national group.”[7] There is substantial disagreement as to the numbers of persons killed during the events of Operation Searchlight, the subsequent Indo-Pakistani war of 1971, and the Bangladeshi war of independence. It is also unclear whether these killings qualify as genocide under international law.[8] However, the Genocide Convention, which came into force in 1951, only began to be enforced after 1988 when all five permanent members of the UN Security Council ratified the convention. As such, the events of the Bangladeshi Liberation War were never investigated by an international tribunal.
A report by the International Commission of Jurists in 1972 noted that both sides of the conflict accused the other of perpetrating genocide. The Commission also observed that it is difficult to substantiate any claims that the entire operation carried out by the Pakistani Army and its affiliates was genocidal in its intent. This argument is difficult to validate particularly because three different sections of the Bengali people – members of the Awami League, dissident students and intellectuals and East Pakistani Hindus – were specifically targeted.[9] The events are generally described as genocide in almost every major newspaper and publication in Bangladesh. Contemporary observers such as government officials of the United States refer to the killings as genocide in their internal communications. Even the Guinness Book of World Records lists the killings as one of the five largest genocides in the twentieth century. However, there are divergent views in academia as to whether the events in question ought to be termed “genocide”.[10]
In spite of the indictments, executions, andgreater scrutiny by international media more recently with regards to the events of 1971, the designation of the aforementioned historical actions as ‘genocide’ is not unequivocal. The Pakistani government has apologized for the crimes committed but denies the charge of genocide. Moreover, no person outside of Bangladesh has ever been tried or prosecuted for the events that occurred in 1971. Thus, in the absence of unambiguous proof of the intent to wipe out or exterminate the Bengali people, multiple eye witness accounts of war crimes such as rape, murder, and sexual slavery committed in 1971 do not satisfy the criteria of “genocide” as laid out in the relevant United Nations convention.
[1] The western wing of Pakistan comprised three Governor’s provinces (North-West Frontier, West-Punjab and Sindh Province), one Chief Commissioner’s province (Baluchistan Province), and the Baluchistan States Union along with several other independent princely states (notably Bahawalpur, Chitral, Dir, Hunza, Khairpur and Swat), the Federal Capital Territory around Karachi, and the tribal areas. The eastern wing of the new country – East Pakistan – formed the single province of East Bengal (including the former Assam district of Sylhet).
[2] Browne, M. W. (1971, October 14). Horrors of East Pakistan Turning Hopes Into Despair. New York Times.
[3] ISLAM, K. S. (2012). Breaking Down the Birangona: Examining the (Divided) Media Discourse on the War Heroines of Bangladesh’s Independence Movement. International Journal of Communication, 2131-2148. Retrieved April 19, 2018, from http://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/viewFile/874/787
[4]Roychowdhury, A. (2016, December 19). Birth of Bangladesh: When raped women and war babies paid the price of a new nation. The Indian Express. Retrieved April 19, 2018, from http://indianexpress.com/article/research/birth-of-bangladesh-when-raped-women-and-war-babies-paid-the-price-of-a-new-nation-victory-day-4430420/
[5] There are several eyewitness accounts of ‘rape camps’ established by the Pakistani army. There is a 2014 film about this issue called ‘children of war’
[6] Bangladesh sets up war crimes court. (2010, March 25). Al Jazeera. Retrieved April 19, 2018, from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2010/03/2010325151839747356.html
[7] Article 2, Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Dec 9 1948, Resolution 260 (III) A United Nations General Assembly
[8] See Bose, Sarmila (8 October 2005). “Anatomy of Violence: Analysis of Civil War in East Pakistan in 1971” (PDF). Economic and Political Weekly: 4463.
See also Mansur, Salim. “Genocide and Justice in Bangladesh”. Gatestone Institute. Retrieved 2016-03-31
[9] See International Commission Of Jurists, The Events In Pakistan: A Legal Study By The Secretariat Of The International Commission Of Jurists 9 (1972)
[10]Sarmila Bose (2011): The question of genocide and the quest for justice in the 1971 war, Journal of Genocide Research, 13:4, 393-419
Deepak Jain is currently serving as a contributor for Synergy.
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