Behind the Myth of 3 million - Chapter- I: The Making of The Myth
ePublication
Written by Dr. M. Abdul Mu’min Chowdhury
Thursday, 01 February 1996 00:00
1.1. A Belated Bust-up:
In May 1973, Abdul Gaffar Choudhury, a well known newspaper columnist and close associate of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, said: ‘We are now saying three million Bengali’s have been martyred. Without any survey we are telling three million Bengali’s have died.’ [1] After openly raising doubts about the alleged figure, Choudhury left Bangladesh for good for Britain.
It took another twenty years for the question to be raised again. Participating in a debate in the National Assembly of Bangladesh on 15 June 1993, Col. Akbar Hussain, a decorated ‘Mukti Juddha’ and a Cabinet Minister under both General Ziaur Rahman and Mrs Khaleda Zia, returned to the question. Making a pointed attack on the Awami League for its 'propensity to falsify history', he said that the Awami League had created the myth of 'three million killed', whereas in reality it was closer to a tenth of that figure. On the following day Shudhangshu Shekar Haldar, a Hindu member of Awami League, challenged Col. Hussain to substantiate his assertion with ‘recorded proof’. Responding to the challenge, the Minister told the National Assembly that after the creation of Bangladesh an announcement was made to pay Tk. 2,000 to every family that suffered loss of life where upon only three hundred thousand families had claimed such compensation. Had there been three million individuals dead, their families would have claimed for compensation. Poignantly, Haldar could not, and did not, challenge the figure of those actually claimed compensation. Nor could he give any satisfactory explanation for the missing two million seven hundred thousand. Instead, he began inquiring as to what could have prompted the Minister to question' a well-known fact'.
The tactic was "a clear one: if you cannot 'kill' the message, 'kill' the messenger. Having done that however, he requested the presiding Deputy Speaker to expunge Col. Hussain's remarks from the proceedings of the Assembly. At this point Abdus Samad Azad, standing in for the Awami League leader, stood up and spoke in support of his party colleague's demand for the effacement of the remarks. His argument was: 'So far no one, including General Ziaur Rahman, has challenged the figure of three million. We had it from our leader Sheikh Mujib and it must stand as correct'. [2]
1.2. Mujib’s Part in the Myth Making:
Indeed, it was Mujib's stamp of approval which gave the oft quoted number both its life and respectability. On 10 January 1972, the very day of his return to Bangladesh from prison in West Pakistan, he publicly announced:
..... "Three million people have been killed. I believe that there is no parallel in the history of the world of such a colossal loss of lives for the struggle for freedom." [3]
He repeated the same charge before the world in a television interview given to the British broadcaster David Frost. In the same interview, which was recorded at his private residence in Dhaka and was broadcasted from New York on 18 January 1972, he also made the astounding claim that the very house in which the interview was taking place had been destroyed by the Pakistani Army! [4] A day earlier the Time Magazine quoted Mujib saying,
‘if Hitler could have been alive today he would be ashamed’ [5]
During the following weeks and months, his insistence on the three million figure grew and it became his all-purpose 'opening song'. Let me give an example.
"The vice-secretary asked me to sit in the corridor crowded with at least 50 persons. He then walked into the office and informed Mujib of my presence. I heard a terrible growl and the poor man reappeared shaken, asking me to wait. I waited. One hour, two hours, three hours, four hours, then at eight o'clock I was still there in that damned corridor. At 8-30 a miracle occurred: Mujib was ready to receive me. I was asked to enter. I entered into a large room with a sofa and two armchairs. Mujib was sprawled all over the sofa and two fat ministers were seated in the armchairs with their bellies in the air. No one rose. No one made a greeting and no one responded to mine. There was a very long silence until Mujib gestured to me to sit down. I sat on a small corner of the sofa and opened up the tape recorder preparing the first question. But, I didn't have time for that. Mujib started to shout: 'Hurry up, quick, understand?' 'I have no time to waste, is that clear?' 'The Pakistanis have killed three million people, is that clear? Yes, three, three, three.' (How he arrived at that figure, I'll never understand. The Indians speaking of the victims have never gone over the one million figure). I said: 'Mr Prime Minister...' Mujib started to shout again: ‘They killed my women in front of their husbands and children, the husbands in front of their sons and wives, the sons in front of their fathers and mothers, the nephews before their grandfathers and grandmothers, the grandfathers and grandmothers in front of their nephews, cousins in front of cousins, aunts in front of uncles, brother-in-law in front of sister-in-law .. . ‘Mr Prime Minister, I would like .. .’ ‘Listen to her, she would like! She would like. You have no right to want anything, understand? Is that clear?"
This is the account of the well-known Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci's interview with Mujib. [6]
Yet, only on 8 January 1972 in London, on his way back to Bangladesh, the same Mujib had claimed that 'one million people had been killed in Bangladesh.' [7] One might wonder who updated the figure for Mujib? Was it done between his journey from London to Dhaka, via New Delhi or immediately after his arrival in Dhaka? It has been claimed by one of the 'involved' Indian organisers of the 'Freedom Movement' that 'By and by he [Mujib] came to know more details and later in Dacca he put the figure at 3.5 million' .[8] Since Mujib focussed on three million, rather than on his long time benefactor's averred three and a half million, one might think he was still hesitant to paddle out everything his 'involved' benefactors were handing him out. But, where did he get this figure form?
1.3. The Myth Makers at Work:
However inventive Mujib was with facts and however insistent he became with the fiction of 'three million killed' and 'three hundred thousand raped', as we shall see he himself did not fabricate it. He simply parroted in public, what was given to him in private. In fact, the figure which he was eventually handed out, went through several updates at the hands of a number of involved quarters.
1.4. The Swadhin Bangla Betar:
Up to 10 December 1971, Mujib’s own Awami League colleagues, few of whom ever ventured out to face the Pakistan Army and most of whom had reportedly spent their Indian sojourn in enjoyment with their friends and families [9] had been circulating an estimated casualty figure of three hundred thousand, through the 'Swadhin Bangla Betar'. [10] Even years later his party Vice President, Zahirul Qayyum, would implicitly contest the myth of three million by pointing to this estimate broadcasted by the official organ of the Bangladesh Government in exile.[II]
1.5. Indian Authorities:
Yet, on 7 January 1972 the Press Trust of India, quoting Sheikh Abdul Aziz, the newly appointed Communication Minister of Bangladesh [12], reported from Calcutta a casualty figure of over one million. However, the news communicated by the Indian national news agency stressed that the casualty toll was a provisional one and disclosed that the Government of Bangladesh was going to collect statistics in order to obtain the actual figure. Apparently, to give some credibility to the Minister's newly updated estimate, he was quoted as saying that in his own village the Pakistan Army had killed 107 persons. [13] There was no explanation as to how the estimated death toll rose by three-fold in a matter of three weeks, during most of which the ‘culprit’ Pakistan Army had been under Indian custody.
To be fair to the Minister, this figure of one million killed was floating around from the beginning of the insurgency. One Asad Choudhury wrote a poem, called 'Report 1971' at the start of the insurgency. In it he told his readers that the Pakistani Army had, by then, massacred one million Bengalis and have raped forty thousand women. [14] Likewise, on 24 June 1972 the ‘Swadhin Bangla Betar’ broadcasted a speech, supposedly written by Maulana Bhashani, which, inter alia, claimed that 'after sacrificing one million invaluable lives, the struggling masses of independent Bengal would not accept any thing else. Their only road is either full independence or death.' [15] But, one might still want to know, why the Minister suddenly found this preferable over the 'Swadhin Bangla Betar's' hitherto ‘official’ figure of three hundred thousand?
In this connection, it is to be noted that the Indian authorities, including India's military establishment, have consistently maintained that so far as they were concerned the casualty figure stood at one million. What is more interesting, M.R.Akhtar Mukul, who as the head of the' Swadhin Bangla Betar' and the presenter of its best known programme 'Charampatra' (Dire Letter) had been regularly disseminating out the three hundred thousand figure up to 10 December 1971, in his book of recollection ‘Ami Bijoy Dekhechi’ (I Have Seen Victory) he piously authenticated the one million casualty toll without ever mentioning his old vaunted death toll. [16] Those who are familiar with Mukul' s professed willingness to lie for facilitating Indian cover-ups [17] would not be surprised at his volte face. Nor would they doubt that like Mukul, Sheikh Abdul Aziz was also made to endorse the figure deemed appropriate for the occasion by the Indian authorities.
In his reminiscence Field Marshall Sam Manekshaw simply presented the figure as a ‘well-known fact’ and expressed utter incredulity at the figure of three million with which Mujib's name became inextricably linked. [18] Likewise, in a mass produced video interview Lt Gen. Jagjit Singh Aurora said that 'all of us knew' that the Pakistan Army had brutally killed 'about a million people'; yet Sheikh Mujib who 'was more an agitator and less an administrator' decided to 'make it more brutish' by saying that the Pakistan Army had killed three million Bengalis. He pointed out that Mujib's figure was 'absolutely impossible', because the Pakistan Army had 'simultaneously fought within the country and at the borders'. [19] Earlier, Maj.Gen.D.K.Palit, who also had a hand in 'the birth of Bangladesh engineered by the Indian Army', gave the same one million figure as if it was an indubitable fact which required no supporting proof. [20] Despite Palit's stance, one should heed the significance of the fact that neither Manekshaw nor Aurora have vouched for the authenticity of the Indian figure beyond that it was a 'well-known fact' or some how 'known to us'.
The 'absolutely impossible' figure of three million to which Mujib publicly tied up his own name was not absolutely his own invention. The 'credit' for its fabrication was due to one Ehtesham Haider Choudhury, editor of the Dhaka daily Purbadesh and his Russian friend, the Pravda representative in Dhaka.
1.6. The Purbadesh/Pravda/ENA:
In a signed editorial under the heading of 'Hang the Yahya Junta' on the 22 December 1971 issue of the Purbadesh, Choudhury claimed that the 'enemy occupation forces have savagely killed about three million innocent people and more than two hundred intellectuals'. [21] Curiously enough, only on the previous day the same daily printed an eight column red coloured banner heading, asking: 'How many people of Bengal have been killed?' In it Ershad Majumdar, the paper's senior reporter, categorically said that 'every where people are asking: How many people of Bangladesh have been killed? How many 'lakhs' (unit of hundred thousand)? 10,20,30,40 or 50 lakhs? No one seems to have the answer. But the people are not likely to leave the question unanswered. Answer we must have.' [22]
Within days the Pravda printed a news claiming that over three million people have been killed by the Pakistan Army. The Soviet daily carried the news without mentioning the Purbadesh editorial. The report was credited to its Special Correspondent. ENA, the Bangladesh news agency, lifted the Pravda news and reproduced it in all major Dhaka dailies under the beading: 'Pak Army Killed Over 30 Lakh People'. Now it read
"The Communist Party Newspaper Pravda has reported that over 30 lakh persons were killed throughout Bangladesh by the Pakistani occupation forces during the last nine months, reports ENA.
Quoting its Special Correspondent stationed in Dacca, the paper said that the Pakistani military forces immediately before their surrender to Mukti Bahinis and the Allied Forces had killed about 800 intellectuals in the capital city of Bangladesh alone.[23]
The change from 'less than three million' of the Purbadesh editor into 'over three million' is to be marked. The effortless four-fold increase in the number of intellectuals allegedly killed is also to be noticed. We may also keep in mind Jyoti Sen Gupta's false claim regarding Mujib's announcement that 3.5 million people have been killed.
1.7. How Mujib Took to Parroting the Last Figure:
It was reported that on his arrival in Dhaka on 10 January 1972 the lobby behind the fabrication of the ‘absolutely impossible’ figure promptly briefed the returning Bangladesh leader with the added 'fact' of three hundred thousand women raped, who in turn immediately went on parroting it. [24] Thus, the self-serving fiction of ‘three million killed’ and ‘three hundred thousand women raped’ was created.
Behind the Myth of 3 million - Chapter - II: The Probity of the Myth
ePublication
Written by Dr. M. Abdul Mu’min Chowdhury
2.1 An Affront to Common Sense?
It has already been noted that Lt Gen. Aurora has dismissed the very claim of three million killed as 'absolutely impossible'. No firmer rejection of it could have been conceived.
2.2 Fabrication Can’t Stand for Fact
Moreover, the way it had been fabricated by the Purbadesh/Pravda/ENA combined could hardly be said to be worthy of any confidence in terms of reliability and validity. Given the dislocated communication systems and the completely anarchic situation of the time, with the Bangladesh Government still waiting in Calcutta for the Indian permission to return to Dhaka [1], the editor gentleman was apparently in no position to make even a few random estimates with his correspondents outside Dhaka for producing a crude guess-work. This gentleman seemed to have simply taken the mean average of the five hypothetical figures mentioned in a plainly searching mood by his paper's correspondent only twenty four hours before.
2.3 Could the Indian Figure Be Any Better?
Some of the above reasons, for which no confidence could be accorded to the Purbadesh/Pravda/ENA combination's guesswork, apply equally to the figure adopted by the Indian authorities and to which Field Marshall Manekshaw, Lt. Gen. Aurora and Maj.Gen. Palit wanted us to repose our trust. One may ask, if the figure of three million was 'absolutely impossible', could the figure of one million be deemed within the realm of probability?
2.4 From Comparative Perspective
In answering the above we may apply a number of tests. Firstly, a comparison with countries which have all seen 'much bitter and prolonged armed conflict'.
Comparative Casualty Figures
War
Duration*
Casualty
Annual average
Vietnam
12 1,000,000 83,333
Algeria
7.5 100,000 13,333
Cambodia 23 1,100,000**
47,826
Afghanistan 14 2,000,000
142,857
Angola 16 300,000 18,750
Iran/Iraq
9 1,000,000 111,111
Bosnia
3 (up to March '94) 142,592 47,531
Sri Lanka 13 50,000 3,846
Bangladesh 0.75
Purbadesh/Pravda/ENA
3,000,000 4,000,000
Indian
1,000,000 1,333,333
* in year **exclude the citizen who were killed at the hands of the Pol Pot regime.
In Vietnam the US waged a war of attrition of unprecedented scale for 12 years. There was barely any lethal weapon, excepting the atomic bomb, which the mighty Superpower did not use against the North Vietnamese Forces and their South Vietnamese proxies, the Viet Cong guerrillas. Thousands and thousands of tons of bombs were used for carpet bombing insurgent infested villages and valleys. Yet the total Vietnamese casualty figures during the 12 years of contest did not exceed one million or an average yearly toll of little over 83,000.
From 1954 to 1962 the Algerians waged an all-out guerrilla war against French rule provoking serious attacks against them not only from the French Government but also from the Algerian-born Frenchmen. In this seven and a half year long struggle for independence, 100,000 Algerians lost their life at a yearly rate of little over 13,000.
Cambodia has continuously suffered either direct foreign invasion or internal civil war at the behest of foreign powers or both, non-stop for over two decades. The VS alone has dropped 539,129 ton bombs on Cambodia. Yet, over a period of 23 years the Cambodian casualty figure stood at 2,100,000, averaging less than 48,000 a year.
The Afghan Mujahideen confronted Soviet occupation for 14 years. In the plains they fought against the Communist Superpower's tanks and armoured cars and on the hills and valleys they suffered savage aerial bombardment. Their total cost in life was 2,000,000 with an annual average of less than 143,000.
The 16 year long Angolan civil war in which the Government forces aided by the Cuban military personnels fought for the control of the country against the Unita rebels who had the backing of the USA and South Africa. The total loss in Angolan lives was 300,000 with an annual average of less than 19,000.
Between them Iran and Iraq have fought a particularly savage all out frontal war for nine years. In the war both sides even used forbidden chemical weapons and completely destroyed each others towns and cities. Even in that vicious war the average yearly loss of life was about 111,000.
Amidst untold Serb savagery and ethnic cleansing, implicitly facilitated by the Russians and the West European powers, the Muslims of Bosnia have been fighting a grim war to preserve their existence and the integrity of their country. During the first three years up to March 1994 the total casualty figure stood at 142,592 with an annual rate of 47,531.
In Sri Lanka, the Tamil separatists have been fighting a bitter war for the last 13 years. As on January 1996 the total casualty figure of that Indian engineered civil war in Sri Lanka has cost about 50,000 lives at an annual average of 3,846.
Compared to any of the above, as summarized in the preceding Table, either of the casualty figures for Bangladesh, i.e. the Purbadesh/Pravda/ENA three million, and Indian one million, look simply incredible. Lt. Gen. Aurora's description of 'absolutely impossible' could be appropriate not only to the Purbadesh/Pravda/ENA fabricated figure but to his preferred Indian figure as well. Both are inflated out of proportion to suit their much loved propaganda.
2.5 Some Indications of Combatant Casualty:
In this connection one might note that by trawling numerous participant accounts of the Mukti Bahini's 'heroic exploits and sacrifices' that have appeared in print, one would not be able to gather together a grand casualty figure of more than a few thousand. This was not surprising. First, the Mujib Bahini, a major component of the 130,000 or so Mukti Bahini [2}, was specially trained and kept in reserve away from insurgency duty in case the ordinary Mukti Bahini become defiant of India and needed to be brought in line. Secondly, the ordinary Mukti Bahini's primary function was not so much to fight the Pakistan Army but to gather intelligence and to serve as scouts to the Indian Army. Last but not least, much of the publicized encounters between Pakistan Army and the Mukti Bahini were in fact clashes between Pakistan Army and Indian Forces in the guise of Mukti Bahini. As disclosed by Moralji Desai, who later briefly succeeded Indira Gandhi as Prime Minister of his country, about 5,000 regular Indian soldiers were killed while fighting in the disguise of Mukti Bahini. [3] This was further confirmed by the Indian Army's later demand for the formal recognition of these fallen soldiers. [4] Apart from the regular Indian Army, members of her Border Security Forces were also known to have fought under the guise of the Mukti Bahini.
2.6 The Extent of Civilian Casualty:
Apparently, the authors of the different casualty figures were aware of the miniscule size of the casualty among the Bangladeshi fighting men, including the Mukti Bahini. Their allegation of indiscriminate killing of civilians was partly intended to cover this up. But how plausible were these claims?
2.7 From Another Comparative Perspective:
To have a measure of their probability, let us compare the two vaunted figures with that of Nazi Germany's. The attempt at the extermination of the Jews during the Second World War, the most extensive and methodical effort of its kind ever, is a legend. It would be recalled that over a six year period the Nazi Germany rounded up the Jews, not only from Germany but also from all other conquered countries of Central and Western Europe, herded them in Concentration Camps and systematically gas them to death on a mass scale. Altogether six million Jews were killed at an annual rate of 1.5 million. As against this, the rate implied in the two vaunted figures for Bangladesh would be as follows:
Purbadeshl/Pravda/ENA - 4 million; and Indian - 1.3 million. Although the last figure is slightly less than that of Nazi Germany's, once the German territorial and population sphere, scale of operation, use of concentration camps and gas chambers were taken into account, the fantastic nature of both the figures for Bangladesh emerge with force.
In order to kill three million the Pakistan Army would have had to kill 11,494 persons a day non-stop from 26 March onwards. If on the other hand, they were to kill one million people, their daily killing would come to 3,831. Seen in another way, for the 60,000 Pakistan Army to kill three million and rape three hundred thousand women, each and everyone of them had to kill 50 persons and rape 5 women. In this context let me quote an apparent believer of the myth of three million:
"Considering that 60,000 armed officers and men had managed this abominable feat in course of few months, it would appear that each individual had on an average, committed about 50 murders, inflicted injuries on about 3 persons, raped about 7 girls/women, burnt numerous houses and looted a sizeable amount of money!" [5]
Plainly, despite his apparent agreement with the myth, the inner incredulity of the author of the above lines could not remain unchecked. His own exclamation mark said it all.
Anyone who has any semblance of rationality would recognise that to produce any of the above killing rates, each and every member of the Pakistan Army would have to be more than a homicidal killing machine. Even the worst serial killers known in human history have not succeeded in killing people at such a high rate! On top of that make them responsible for producing a rape figure of three hundred thousand. One needs to be extra imaginative to even contemplate the scenario. Probably, in spinning the telltale figures the spin doctors' head went spinning! Apparently, in hailing 'the Chief' all 'the Indians' went berserk.
2.8 From Ground Level Perspective:
According to the Government statistics, in 1971 East Pakistan had 69,774,000 people, 12,673,000 family households, 68,385 villages, and 4,472 unions. If either of the above imagined figures were placed alongside the above demographic facts the following ratio of casualty should in reality be found:
Demography and Implied Killing Rate
@3 million
@ 1 million
Per 1000 people
43.154 14.385
Per 100 families 23.675 7.892
Per village
45.03 15.01
Per union
670.84 223.61
Hardly anyone in Bangladesh could relate his or her local knowledge of casualties to any of the above. Although Sheikh Abdul Aziz, the Communication Minister of Bangladesh of the time, had been quoted by the PTI claiming that his own village had suffered a total loss of 107 persons, personal enquiry has shown the utter baselessness of the reported claim. Some of the villagers who have lived through the terrible year of 1971 are still alive, they would freely testify to the make believe nature of the alleged casualty figure.
2.9 Certain Local Testimonies:
Jessore is a boarder district, nearest to Calcutta. The Provisional Government of Bangladesh was presented before the world at Baidayanathtala, a border village of the same district and throughout the civil war the district remained a hotly contested and disruptive area. From a part of Jessore, Maulana Khandkar Abul Khair, a popular religious preacher and published author of several widely circulated books, has said:
"I clearly remember, in our Jessore district there was hardly any village from which 20/25 people did not flee to India. But I shall be able to name numerous villages which did not experience a single killing. For example, my own village and a number of villages around did not encounter a single death." [6]
Jauhuri, a Bangladeshi journalist wrote:
“It is beyond me how three million people could get killed in a guerrilla war of eight months and 21 days. The raping of two hundred thousand women is also beyond my comprehension
.
I. have spoken to no less than five hundred peoples of different districts and have asked them, 'Has anyone in your family or among your relatives, friends or acquaintance been raped by Pakistani soldiers?' None affirmed, everyone said 'no'. It may be that some of them were ashamed to disclose. Besides, it is not impossible for the Pakistan Army to have a few characterless soldiers. But, how could these produce the figure of two hundred thousand? Moreover' how was this figure arrived at within a week of the liberation of the country? Who did the survey?” [7]
William Drummond of The Guardian was no less emphatic:
“The figure of three million' deaths has been carried uncritically in sections of the world press. My judgement, based on numerous trips around Bangladesh and extensive discussion with many people at the village level as well as in the government, is that the three million deaths is an exaggeration so gross as to be absurd.” [8]
Peter Gill, another western journalist, said:
"Sheikh Mujib's wild figure of three million Bengalis killed during those 10 terrible months is at least 20 times too high, if not 50 or 60." [9]
Reporting from the Noakhali district Abdul Muhaimin, well-known author, Awami League MCA and long time friend of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, had this to say:
"As a Member of the Constituent Assembly I was entrusted with the responsibility of finding out the casualty figure for the whole of Noakhali district. After contacting different Police Stations and Unions the figure I had was less than seven thousand. Even after adding up the number of Razakars killed, the total did not exceed seven and a half thousand. At that time, Bangladesh had 19 districts. All these districts were not equally affected by the war. Noakhali was one among the districts which had seen severe fighting. If the figure obtained from Noakhali was seen as the mean average for the rest of the districts, even then the total killed would not exceed more than one hundred twenty five thousand. [10]
So, we are not alone in casting our doubts! Even Sheikh Mujib and his colleagues were not convinced about the story of three or even one million dead and were eager to know the real facts! Was it then that despite telling us 'children' the 'Ghost Story', as grown-up men they knew all along that the 'Monstrous Ghost' did not exist?
ePublication
Written by Dr. M. Abdul Mu’min Chowdhury
3.1. Mujib's Fact-finding Bodies:
As we have seen, according to the PTI news of 7 January 1972, the Bangladesh Government intended to establish the casualty figure. Despite his public utterances claiming that the Pakistan Army had killed three million people and raped three hundred thousand women, Mujib himself was fully aware of the fact that the figures he was made to quote had simply been plucked from the air and had no factual basis. Indeed, not only the post-16 December expanded Government of Bangladesh was on record committing themselves to conduct a survey for establishing the casualty figure, Mujib himself set up, not one but two separate bodies to find the fact of how many were killed.
3.2. Mujib Asked MCAs for Information on 'Genocide'
On 16 January 1972 newspapers in Bangladesh carried news saying that Sheikh Mujib had ordered his party workers and Members of the Constituent Assembly to collect detailed information on the Pakistan Army's 'genocide' in Bangladesh and to file them with the Awami League Office within two weeks. This is how the daily Bangladesh Observer, a stable mate of the Purbadesh, reported Mujib's move:
"Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on Saturday asked the Awami League workers and MCAs to collect detailed reports on genocide, arson and looting committed by the Pakistani Army in Bangladesh and to submit these data to the Awami League Office within 15 days." [1]
It was not clear whether the instruction he had issued was an official one from the Government, or simply an informal move on his part as the Awami League chief. His next move in this respect seemed to suggest that it was an unofficial drive to mobilize the Awami League party machine for gathering 'on-the-ground' information. Whether formal or not, given the fact that in those euphoric days his words were heeded to as if they were 'edicts from the sovereign', the force of his instruction could not be underestimated. That it was more than a general drive to gather information could also be seen from the fact that a specific MCA from each district was particularly asked to lead and co-ordinate the data gathering efforts.[2]
3.3. Mujib’s Inquiry Committee
Within 14 days of the first move, Sheikh Mujib formally instituted a 12-member Inquiry Committee. On 29 January 1972 the Government decision and the membership of the committee was announced through a gazette notice.
Abdur Rahim, Deputy Inspector General of Police, was appointed the chairman of the Inquiry Committee and the members included:
Prof. Khurshed Alam, MCA (Comilla);
Mr Mahmud Hussain Khan, MCA (Bogra);
Mr Abdul Hafiz, MCA (Jessore);
Mr Mohiuddin Ahmed, member National Awami Party (NAP);
Mr Jalaluddin Miah, former Superintendent of Police;
Mr Muhammed Ali, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture;
Mr T. Hussain, Superintending Engineer,
Mr Muhiuddin, Director of Public Instructions;
Dr Mubarrak Hussain, Deputy Director, Health,
Wing Com. K.M. Islam, Bangladesh Air Force; and
Mr M.A. Hye, Deputy Secretary, Establishment Division, Ministry of Home Affairs.
The Gazette notification said that the responsibility of the Inquiry Committee would be to establish the exact extent of the loss in life and property suffered by the people of the country due to the operation of the Pakistan Army and their Collaborators. Where possible the Committee would also identify the culprits by name. Hope was also expressed that the public would fully co-operate with the Committee by supplying them with information. The Inquiry Committee was asked to submit their report to the Government by 30 April 1972.[3].
3.4. Mujib’s Rape Victims Became ‘Bengali Heroines’:
Clearly up to this point Mujib was nor indolent on war victims; he was decisively moving to find out their precise numbers and arrange help for them. He was not alone in this as Sheikh Abdul Aziz's announcement of 7 January 1972 showed that the Government intended to establish a casualty figure. As a matter of fact, even before the newly appointed Communication Minister's discloser, Qamruzzaman, the Home Minister of the four-member provisional Government of Bangladesh, had announced from Calcutta on 'Swadhin Bangla Betar' on 22 December 1971 that his Government had decided to describe every rape 'victim' as a ‘heroine of Bangladesh's freedom struggle’. The next day this news was flashed in all Bangladesh newspapers, including the Purbadesh edited by Ehtesham Haider Choudhury. [4]
The Government of Bangladesh opened up a number of ‘Centre for the Bengali Heroines’ at Dhaka and other places. The Dhaka centre, housed at a large complex in the affluent Eskaton area, was headed by one Jahangir Haider, a relation of Mujib. This and other ‘Centre for the Bengali Heroines’ were given maximum publicity and once or twice news with photographs of Government sponsored marriages of a few such 'heroines' with 'patriotic and liberated Bengali nationalists' was published in the Dhaka newspapers. Among foreign visitors of the time, Kurt Waldheim, the Secretary General of the UN and his wife were also taken round to meet the 'heroines' housed in the Dhaka centre.
3.5. Mujib Instituted Compensation Scheme:
In January 1972 Mujib also announced a compensation scheme for the families of those who had been killed at the hands of the Pakistan Army and their collaborators. Under the scheme, every victim's family was promised TK 2,000 as compensation. [5] A media campaign was started to encourage victim's families to apply for the compensation.
3.6. Punishment for War Crime:
Alongside all these concrete actions, the Collaborators Ordinance was proclaimed to punish those who had supported the Pakistan Army and had worked to preserve the unity of Pakistan. Thousands of Pakistani patriots, who were lucky enough to escape the indiscriminate killing' of the early days, were rounded up and placed under detention in jails crowded many times over their capacity limits.[6]
Apart from the systematic drive to penalize the huge number of patriotic Muslims and Buddhists who had refused to be beguiled by the Awami League/Indian machination, the Mujib Government also vouched for its determination to try and punish the members of the Pakistani Army for their alleged 'War Crime', Mujib presented it as a matter of personal honour and unequivocally promised that nothing would stop him from punishing the 'Pakistani War Criminals', [7]
3.7. Mujib Dearly Wanted Proof:
Clearly Mujib and his Government were not just slavish growlers intent on only slapping verbal accusations, they were determined vindictive who dearly wanted all manner of proof of 'Pakistani Crime', In this they showed motivation and made all conceivable moves to encourage, even entice, people in helping them with proof. The proof wanted was not water-tight evidence, only a nominal claim of sufferance, 'The Father of the Nation, Friend of Bengal, President of the Awami League and Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman' - as he was then respectfully mentioned in all official and unofficial references - had no reason for being disobliged by his idolizing 'liberated children', especially when they had a compensation of Tk 2,000 and other rewards awaiting for them. Yet, in the end Mujib and his Government preferred to keep studied silence over the outcome of their fact findings as if these have never been attempted. What happened then with the MCAs' report which was set in motion on 15 January 1972? What became of the report of the 12-member Inquiry Committee which was formed on 29 January 1972 and was asked to report on or before 30 April 1972?
Behind the Myth of 3 million - Chapter - IV: The Truth that Mujib Suppressed
ePublication
Written by Dr. M. Abdul Mu’min Chowdhury
4.1. The MCA’s Report:
The MCAs whom Mujib personally assigned to the task of finding the casualty figures of their respective districts apparently went ahead with their task. With the help of their local district, subdivision, thana, and union Awami League party and governmental machineries, the MCAs concerned begun collating the ground level known casualty figures.
As has already been mentioned, for the district of Noakhali, one of the worst war affected districts of Bangladesh, Abdul Muhaimin could gather together a total of less than seven and. a half thousand reported losses of life. These included Razakars who fought to save Pakistan and were mercilessly killed by the armed Mukti Bahinis mainly after the surrender of the Pakistan Army on 16 December 1971. Even taking Noakhali as a representative of all the other 19 districts of Bangladesh, some of which hardly saw any action, the overall loss of life could not have been computed beyond one hundred and twenty-five thousand. [1]
Apparently, Abdul Muhaimin was not alone in coming up with such an unexpectedly disappointing casualty figure. A few others also came up with such unwelcome truths about the loss of life, property and honour. It has been said that once the MCAs concerned started reporting their preliminary findings to Mujib, the Bangladesh Prime Minister lost his trust in the ability of his Constituent Assembly colleagues to provide him with the expected ‘proof of Pakistan Army's genocide’. Being disappointed at their inefficiency, he then formed the 12-member strong Inquiry Committee under Abdur Rahim. [2]
4.2. The Inquiry Committee Report:
The Inquiry Committee seemed to have also failed Mujib in giving him the kind of truth he was after. The Government of Bangladesh never said a word about officially receiving the report, which was, as per as the original Gazette notification, due on or before 30 April 1972 or what happened to the Inquiry Committee's work.
On 6 June 1972, William Drummond reported:
"Since the third week of March, when the Inspector General's office in the Bangladesh Home Ministry began its field investigations, there have been about 2,000 complaints from citizens about deaths at the hands of the Pakistan Army have been received." [3]
Later, sources in Bangladesh reported that the draft report showed an overall casualty figure of 56,743. When a copy of this draft report was shown to the Prime Minister,
"he lost his temper and threw it on the floor, saying in angry voice 'I have declared three million dead, and your report could not come up with three score thousand! What report you have prepared? Keep your report to yourself. What I have said once, shall prevail." [4]
4.3. The Claim for Compensation:
Seemingly, the claim for compensation from the families of the war victims also did not bring much joy for Mujib and his Government. As has already been mentioned, according to Col. Akbar Hussain's disclosure at the National Assembly of Bangladesh, the number of claimants did not exceed three hundred thousand. But, according to Abdul Muhaimin, the Ministry of Finance, Government of Bangladesh, had informed him that,
"Only 72,000 claims were received. Of them relatives of 50,000 victims had been awarded the declared sum of money. There had been many bogus claims, even some from the Razakars, within those 72,000 applications." [5]
Whatever be the actual figure, the 'victims' whose relatives were compensated might not be all victims of the Pakistan Army. A large number of refugees, 1.6 million according to one Awami League journalist [6], died in Indian refugee camps. Those who claimed compensation, also included families of many such dead refugees. Besides, there were also many false claimants.
4.4. The ‘Bengali Heroines’:
Once the euphoria of 'liberation' started ebbing, the Bengali heroines silently disappeared from the news. One of the later-day myth makers could only report in 1974 that altogether about a hundred of them had been given into marriage at the various centres. [7] How many heroines were housed at such centres, how and when such centres were closed and what happened to the inmates, remained a closely guarded secret up to now. Here too, apparently the hard facts were too embarrassing to be disclosed.
There is little doubt whatever 'hard facts' Mujib had received from his MCAs and the Inquiry Committee, that these did not come any where remotely close to the three million figure raised and by implication made the claim of the alleged systematic killing aimed at genocide look ridiculous. Not surprisingly Mujib and his Government hurriedly placed a firm lid on the ‘hard facts’. Led by him, very conveniently they all went crying for the three million dead and three hundred thousand raped and spat venom on the Pakistani Army and their collaborators who, after all, had no chance of replying.
Behind the Myth of 3 million - Chapter - V: The Recycling of the Myth
ePublication
Written by Dr. M. Abdul Mu’min Chowdhury
5.1. The Later-Day Peddlers of the Myth:
Because Mujib and his Government could not face hard facts and continued to assert unfounded claims, certain individuals and groups hurbouring hatred against Islam and Pakistan had a 'field-day'. Since they had no fresh accusation to make against Pakistan, recycling the old accusation, however ridiculous, became their preoccupation. Numerous articles and a large number of books were written not only with the avowed aim of recording 'Pakistani Crime' but also conveniently saying hosanna to the 'greatest Bengali of all time' and claiming a share of the glory that was the 'freedom movement in Bangladesh'
The situation was opportune. While the Indians professed to having trained 130,000 'freedom fighters' [1], 3,300,000 actually claimed that distinction and obtained certificates by all manner of means to prove that they were bona fide. [2] Those who could not make such a claim because of age, domicile, or some such reason, became seers, soothsayers, or, at the very least, sufferers for Bangladesh. All of them sang and swore. Indeed, what better target for swearing could there be, other than the ‘abnormal Pakistan’ and the ‘abominable Pakistan Army’?
5.2. Two Examples:
To give some idea of the recycling enterprises of the time, I shall choose two out of the many possible: Abul Hasanat's ‘The Ugliest Genocide in History’ and Jyoti Sen Gupta's ‘History of Freedom Movement in Bangladesh 1943-1973 - Some Involvement’. Both of these were written in 1974, the first by a retired Bangladeshi police officer and the second by an Indian journalist from West Bengal.
5.3. The Ugliest Genocide:
The author of 'The Ugliest Genocide in History', Abul Hasanat was a retired Inspector General of Police and a professed atheist in his seventies. Although he opted for Pakistan in 1947 and had enjoyed the highest office in its Police Service, he did not find any difficulty in depicting his once chosen country 'A Geographical Monstrosity' [3] and saying that 'Jinnah Arrogantly Merged the Two Wings'. [4] As if this was not enough for him to say 'Hail Bangladesh', he went on reciting hosanna to Mujib:
“Bangladesh is the sole handiwork of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, our great leader, devotedly served by a band of tireless workers and supported by 99% of the population. Any Zaid, Amr, Bakr with a fair capability can top the Army, Navy, Police and Civil Services but a leader like Mujib is a rare product of a century or so. We salute Mujib for his unswerving devotion to a just cause, his unflinching fortitude in suffering and his unflagging conviction about the ultimate victory. His has been the victory and we share the glory." [5]
Of course, as expected of his kind, he did not forget those who really mattered:
"We salute our great neighbour, the biggest and the most stable post-war Democracy. In spite of tremendous difficulties, it has never thought of Martial Law or a hand-over to the Army. It has been led by illustrious and irreproachable figures - Nehru, Shastri and Mrs Gandhi.
Mrs. Gandhi has upheld lofty human principles by coming all out for the stricken people of East Bengal. Her people have supported her in the noble struggle, and her armed forces in alliance with our Mukti Bahini have taught the Punjabi-Pathan hordes the lesson of their life. We shall be eternally grateful to the Indian people, so near and dear to us." [6]
"In this connection," wrote Abul Hasanat, "let us recall the MARVELOUS SELF-RESTRAINT OF INDIAN HINDUS!" [7] and went on recycling the proof of the Pakistan Army's Punjabi-Pathan hordes' 'The Ghastly Genocide' [8] A large selection of foreign journalists' reports which appeared in world press before December 1971 accusing Pakistan of committing genocide in East Pakistan were, of course, included. But despite every conceivable hyperbole, so far as the 'concrete proof' only the following were provided:
* Kushtia, a city of 40,000 looked ‘like the morning after a nuclear attack’ [9]
* 400,000 women, known to have been raped. [10]
* 200,000 fell pregnant to West Pakistani soldiers. [11] * About 400 killed at Chuadanga. [12]
* 200 students Killed at Iqbal Hall [13]
* 20,000 killed in Jessore town. [14]
5.4. History of Freedom Movement:
Reserving comment on the concrete 'facts' made available by Abul Hasanat, let me turn to Jyoti Sen Gupta. He was, by his own claim, someone 'who had also some involvement in the struggle of the Bengalis of "East Pakistan". This claim coming from a foreign journalist may sound strange. But, then, India was not a passive neighbour: nor was Gupta an ordinary news reporter. He was in the 1950s, as he said by quoting Pakistan intelligence, ‘at the top of the list as a dangerous man who is out to destroy Pakistan.’ and thereafter ‘in constant touch with developments secretly taking place in East Pakistan’. [15] His 'insider' story is fascinating and throws light on the extent and depth of Indian ‘political engineering’ behind the rise of Bangladesh and therefore deserves our close attention.
Apart from other issues, Jyoti Sen Gupta did not forget covering the ‘Full-scale Genocide’ [16] which Pakistan allegedly committed in Bangladesh. More significantly he claimed that Pakistan Army had killed 3.5 million [17] and this figure had supposedly been mentioned .by Sheikh Mujib. [18] To lend credibility to his claim, he has recycled varieties of ‘proofs’ from different sources, including the Government of India. Let me list those mentioned:
* All the inmates of Jagannath Hall and Iqbal Hall were slaughtered. [19] At Iqbal Hall, although the number killed is uncertain, not one survivor was found. At Jagannath Hall all 103 students were killed. Some students were forced at gunpoint to dig a mass grave in the field of the hall and they too were shot. [20]
* All the inmates of Ruqaiya Hall were kidnapped to the cantonment and those who resisted were killed. Many jumped from the windows and many others committed suicide. [21]
* Ten faculty members of Dhaka University were killed on the night of 26 March 1971. [22]
* 50,000 Buddhists were slaughtered. [23]
* 7,000 bodies were seen scattered near a Church in Jessore. [24]
* Most of 5,000 Policemen at Dhaka barracks had been killed [25]
* 60 per cent police force were killed [26]
* 25,000 to 35,000 killed in Shakharipatti (a Dhaka street) alone. [27]
* 500 were burnt at the office of Ittefaq.[28]
* 250 murdered at Ramna Kalibari. [29]
* At least 17,000 Awami Leaguers were killed [30]
* 100,000 killed in the district of Khulna. [31]
* 100,000 killed in Chittagong [32]
5.5. Sifting facts from fictions:
There was no disagreement on the fact that on the night of 26 March 1971 the Pakistan Army in East Pakistan was sent out of their barracks to re-establish government authority and to sort out the secessionists. Like any such army crack down, it was swift, sharp and brutal. There could be no doubt that many innocent, as well as not so innocent, people got killed, not just on that fateful night but throughout the nine months desperate battle to save the integrity of the country. The question is not whether, but how many (and in what manner, perhaps) people were killed?
In the confusing situation of a civil war, especially one that is characterised by insurgency and guerilla warfare, where the bulk of the civilian population found themselves engulfed by the conflict, often literally at the middle of cross fire, people's falling victim at the hands of either of the fighting forces was almost inevitable. In such a situation, a certain degree of confusion and misreporting were also expected. Moreover, as in with any war, deceit, disinformation and propaganda had their part. In the light of all of this, the charges against the Pakistan Army that were repeatedly alleged all over the world, the degree of magnification was astounding by any previous known standards though, were understandable. But what was perplexing was the attempt to pass on these highly exaggerated 'reports', saturated with lies, under the guise of authentic accounts long after the end of the conflict when a little endeavour on the part of the writers could have helped establish the hard facts. This could not be innocuous.
5.6. The Alleged Killing at the Dhaka University:
Both Abul Hasanat and Jyoti Sen Gupta have made pointed claims about the Pakistan Army's killing of students and teachers in the Dhaka University on the night of 26 March 1971. In Western democracies' an armed attack on teachers and students is not easily understood, far less considered justifiable in any circumstances. Therefore, the reported killing provoked a deep sense of outrage and condemnation. [33] The fact that some of the student dormitories were transformed into arsenals and insurgency training centres [34] and a number of the university teachers were actively involved with the secessionist movement [35] were suppressed. That the secessionists were buying arms years before the Army crack down was disclosed by Gupta himself. [36] Those who were involved in organising armed training have themselves reported that at one time there as even a plan for some of them to have military training in Indonesia. [37]
Although Jyoti Sen Gupta avoided specifically quoting the number of those killed at Iqbal Hall, the headquarters of the secessionist student leadership, he has left ample hints that it was very high. Abul Hasanat, on the other hand, has dispensed with all these clever tricks and has given a precise figure of 200. Since at the time in question I was a House Tutor at that very hall and survived the fateful night in one of the staff quarters within the building, I can claim to be an eye witness to it all. I can categorically say that on that night student activists hurriedly evacuated the hall hours before the arrival of the Army and only one student - Chishti Helalur Rahman- was killed. Indeed, if I remember correctly after Bangladesh came into being the hall administration had a total casualty figure of sixteen from among their resident and non-resident students numbering over two thousands for the whole length of the conflict. Two of my former colleagues at Iqbal Hall -Prof. Anwarul Haque Sharif (now at Jahangirnagar University) and Prof. Saefullah Bhuiya (still at Dhaka University) - are still alive and can corroborate what I have said here. Besides, if Gupta and Hasanat were interested in factual truth, they could have taken the trouble of contacting either the university or the hall authorities and certainly find out the definitive figure. What stopped them. form doing so?, one must ask.
Likewise, the killing at Jagannath Hall has been deliberately exaggerated. A poorly recorded video film of the Army movement within the hall premises was later produced. The video, it was claimed, showed the Army using bull-dozers for digging a mass grave. Although special viewing have been arranged to show the video film in and outside Bangladesh, surprisingly up until now no one has bothered to look for the alleged mass grave. Gupta, who has shown a special interest in Jagannath Hall, would have been more believable if he had enquired about the mass grave and had ascertained from the hall authorities the total number of casualties, not only on that night but throughout the whole war. The plain and simple truth is that no such grave existed and that was the reason why the author of the 'Freedom Movement in Bangladesh' stayed away from the supposed Pakistan Army 'killing field'.
In this connection it is worth recalling that immediately after the fall of Dhaka to the Indian Army, there were newspaper reports claiming unearthing of mass graves. But, none of these were seriously followed up and later the stories of these mass graves were conveniently forgotten. Even our two authors avoided any reference to them. However, on the unearthed mass graves William Drummond reported:
"Of course, there are 'mass graves' all over Bangladesh. But nobody, not even the rabid Pakistani hater, has yet asserted that all these mass graves account for more than about 1,000 victims. Furthermore, because a body is found in a mass grave does not necessarily mean that the victim was killed by the Pakistan Army. In the days immediately preceding the March 25, 1971 crackdown by the Pakistan Army, virtual anarchy prevailed in the province. In fact a sinister suspicion has arisen since, that the bodies discovered in mass graves might well have belonged to Biharis, perhaps even Bengalis killed by other Bengalis." [38]
Unlike Iqbal Hall and Jagannath Hall, both of which at least came under fire and suffered casualties, Ruqaiya Hall did not come under the Army's attention either on the night of 25 March 1971 or at any other time. Although Gupta has not mentioned the source of his accusation; it is apparently based on a leaflet that was circulated in London. The Vice Chancellor of the Dhaka University, Syed Sajjad Husain, on his visit to London in 1971 was told about this leaflet:
"When I went to Tanveer Ahmed's (Education Attache) room, whom I. knew before, we talked on various matters. He pulled out a leaflet written in large English letters from his drawer and showed it to me. He said a Bengali woman, who was known to him, was distributing it on the streets of London. The leaflet had it, 'If you have any conscience, then protest against the beastliness.' Under it there were a number of horrifying tales. A father was quoted saying that on the night of the 25th the Army entered the women's hall in Dhaka. There they have not only gunned down many girls, but have also committed beastly oppression on them. The homosexual Pathan soldiers have raped the girls in beastly manner. The father further said that when these were enacted on the ground floor, about fifty girls saw this from the upper floor. When they realised that their turn would come next, they committed suicide by jumping from the upper floor. Included among them was the daughter of the narrator. When Tanveer Ahmed protested and told the lady that she should know that there was no truth behind this, her reply was "Every thing is fair in love and war".
I told Tanveer Shaheb that I myself have spoken to Mrs Ali Imam, the Provost of the women's hall. What I have learnt from her was that after 7th March most of the girls left the hall. On the 24th there were only five girls in the hall. When rumors started spreading in Dhaka about the possibility of Army action, under Mrs Imam' s directive these girls left the hall and took shelter in the home of a House Tutor. So there could not be any question of oppression or rape being suffered by the girls of the hall." [39]
Gupta's list showing 10 faculty members had been killed is largely correct. The total was nine rather than 10 [40] and the responsibility for it was admitted by the Pakistan military authorities. But, strangely he has also quoted two other lists which were circulated by the Indian Government on the authority of foreign witnesses. [41] That some of the names included in those two lists were either nonexistent or suffered no harm was glossed over. That it has shown how some so-called foreign eye witnesses deliberately took upon themselves the task of spreading lies in order to inflame the situation was never pointed out. In this connection, it may be recalled that during the conflict a number of faculty members led by the Vice Chancellor issued a statement listing the correct casualty figure. Yet, some interested quarters abroad condemned their efforts as 'Pakistan Government instigated lies' and all of them were made to suffer in 'liberated' Bangladesh. [42]
The discrepancies between his own list and two other lists which he had included in his book should have made Gupta realise the gap between what was reported and what in fact had happened and led him to be more observant. Had either Gupta or Hasanat been a little more caring about the factual truth, rather than being over-sanguine in condemning Pakistan and her Army indiscriminately, they would have visited the Dhaka University. There they would have seen a comprehensive list of 'martyrs' on public display with the names of all those staffs and students of the university who had lost lives during the whole conflict. And from that plaque they could have counted that the total losses suffered was no more than ///. The fact that they did not, shows their buccaneer approach to truth and the utter hollowness of their casualty figures.
5.7. The Alleged Killing in Other Parts of Dhaka:
Writing about the Rajarbag police barracks, Jyoti Sen Gupta has recorded, on the authority of an American report, that most of the 5,000 policemen who were killed were those who advanced on the night of 25 March 1971 to resist the Pakistan task force intending to quell the disturbance. This claim appeared on page 284 of his book. Yet, on page 274 of his book Gupta himself told us that 'Rajarbag had about 2,500 jawans of Special Force and the Provincial Police Force'! On page 276 he transformed this 'about 2,500' into a firm figure of 2,500 'Bengali policemen'. What Gupta noted in terms of figures was in complete disregard of truth. This became obvious when he made further astounding claim that 60 per cent of the country's police force were killed. The missing members of the Police Force were not beyond accounting. The Police establishment records were in existence. Anyone inclined to believe this Indian propagandist would be well advised to check with the Police Headquarters to find out the enormity of his lie.
Talking about the exactitude of numbers, I would like to ask readers to compare Gupta' s number from 25,000 to 35,000 killed at Shankaripatti, to Anthony Mascarenhas' s estimate of 8,000 for the same part of old Dhaka. [43] The source of the American report of implied 5,000 killed at Rajarbag was, none other than the Goanese-born journalist [44] who was later rewarded by the Mujib Government with 'a London House' for his service in putting slur on Pakistan. [45] At least Gupta could take pride in having beaten the 'defecting' Pakistani journalist in the 'make-up your number' game with regard to Shankaripatti. As seasoned propagandists, perhaps, both of them knew that few readers would ever bother to see whether a small narrow street, where the alleged killing took place, could have accommodated such a number of people. Had either Gupta or Mascarenhas ever visited the street, they would have been ashamed to put such a figure.
One is tempted to say the same as regards Gupta' s casualty figure concerning Ramna Kalibari which got virtually destroyed on the night of 25 March 1971. It was one of the clandestine 'meeting place' of the 'liberationist' student leaders [46] and that could be the reason why it attracted the Army's seize. Anyone who has seen the temple, with no housing facilities around, would find it difficult to understand where from such a large number of people came to be there. Such a temple normally accommodates a priest and his family. For a family of priest to provide 250 'martyrs' for the 'freedom movement in Bangladesh' must rank as an extraordinary contribution.
Similarly, one wonders how and where Gupta got the figure of 500 burnt to death at the Ittefaq office from? The Ittefaq newspaper office is under the same owners who to-date have not said anything to support for Gupta's claim. Why not, if it was the truth? My checking shows that no one can remember reading in the paper a claim such as Gupta' s. It is amazing what Gupta could see from Calcutta, could not be seen by the owners or their management some thing which supposed to have taken place in their premises. What an amazing example of Gupta's journalistic integrity.
5.8. Fifty thousand Buddhist Killed?
Gupta has revamped an old report which claimed that during the early period of the conflict some 50,000 Buddhists were slaughtered by the Pakistan Army in the north of Bangladesh. But, was there even a remotely causal explanation why the Buddhist had to suffer such a retribution at the hand of the Pakistan Army? The answer is none. On the contrary, others have reported that through out the conflict, the Chittagong Hill Tract, where the country's Buddhist population were and still are concentrated, was a no-go area for the pro-Bangladesh insurgents. Moreover, it is a well known fact that the Chakma Chief, Raja Tridiv Roy, staunchly stood against the dismemberment of Pakistan. Even now his loyalty towards united Pakistan is such that he has remained a Pakistani citizen! It was not the Raja alone, other tribal chiefs and notables, belonging to the area and having the Buddhist faith, also stood up for Pakistan. Because of their unflinching faith in Pakistan some tribal chiefs were put behind the bars by the Mujib Government as 'Pakistani collaborators'. [47] Anyone who is familiar with the current Chakma insurgency in Bangladesh would know that it all began because of the Buddhist Chakma tribesmen's refusal to be counted as part' of Mujib's 'Bengali Nation' . [48] Against this background, Gupta's attempt to recycle propaganda report is nothing but tall tale. I have heard some of my countrymen making statement of anguish against Pakistan Army, but I have heard none accusing Pakistan Army of killing any Buddhist tribesmen. I am sure, if Gupta had bothered to check with any member of the Buddhist faith of Chittagong Hill Tract, the Buddhist tribesmen in their characteristic politeness would have invited him in and cooperated with Gupta's enquiry. Gupta did not do that since he knew that the result of his inquiry would have been unfruitful for him.
5.9. Seventeen thousand Awami Leaguers Killed?
Another revelation from the same author was that during the disturbance a total of 17,000 Awami Leaguers gave up their lives for Bangladesh. However, it was strange that he could name only one Awami Leaguer - Mosihur Rahman, MNA from Jessore [49] Like most of his claims, he did not feel the necessity of telling us where he came to have this figure from.
Why could not Gupta name more than one Awami Leaguer? The answer is no Awami League parliamentarian, other than Mosihur Rahman, was killed. The plain truth is that not a single provincial, district, subdivision, or even thana Awami League office bearer 'gave his life' for Bangladesh. Nor any of the publicly known figure of its students or labour wing was reported to have been killed.
5.10. Alleged Destruction and Killing in Kushtia, Jessore, Khulna and Chittagong:
Abul Hasanat, the author of The Ugliest Genocide stated on the strength of an agency report which in its turn based its news on the authority of a certain World Bank Team that while liberating Kushtia from the Mukti Bahini, the Pakistan Army had turned Kushtia town of 40,000 people into an utterly devastated land, as if it had suffered a nuclear attack. The implication was that none of its inhabitants was spared. This again was nothing more than a fantasy. If our author really believed in what he stated, he would have immediately visited the town after the evacuation of the Pakistan Army, with the intention of helping anyone who may have survived the alleged army action. That would have been an utmost priority for a professed humanist like Hasanat. As an experienced and well read police officer, he would have known that even Hiroshima and Nagasaki had their few survivors. Had he made such a visit, he would have found that what he stated was lie. He did not do that because in that case he would not have been able to avail the opportunity of re-telling the tales of the 'Ghastly Genocide' supposedly committed by the 'Punjabi-Pathanhordes'!
The claims that 20,000 were killed in Jessore town, 100,000 in Khulna district and 100,000 in Chittagong also fall into the above genre of lie. If these were true why did not both the claims attract simultaneous attention of both the authors? The plain and simple answer is that each figure was cooked up story of each propagandist. Besides, both Jessore and Khulna do still exist and at least a portion of their present day population had lived through those troublesome days. It is easy to establish the truth by questioning the local people. Earlier, we have seen a reputable author from Jessore, Maulana Abul Khair, telling us what the real condition of his district was. After reading the statements of Abul Hasanat and Jyoti Sen Gupta and then listening to Maulana Abul Khair, the man from the spot, one could not help but feel revulsion towards the myth makers.
5.11. Four Hundred Thousand Raped and Two Hundred Thousand Pregnant?
Apparently Abul Hasanat was not least bothered about what ordinary men and women on the spot would think of his shameless efforts, so long the 'Men That Mattered' [50] were pleased. For the benefit of his mission, he was even prepared to up-stage the 'Men That Mattered'! Otherwise he would not have belched out the above, when even his 'great leader' the 'rare product of a century or so' could not contemplate mouthing the same!
This product of superhuman divination was on the authority of a Sydney Surgeon who had purportedly spent six weeks in Bangladesh. The figure quoted give away the lie. Anyone with a minimum knowledge of female physiology would find the alleged 50 per cent pregnancy, rate utterly unbelievable. The good doctor had further said, we were reminded by our good author, that 'Between 150,000 and 170,000 of the 200,000 who fell pregnant were aborted in highly undesirable but unavoidable conditions before we even knew the problem existed.' [51] So at least between 30,000 and 50,000 raped victims were known and they and their babies were cared for? Lest you want to know where these victims were, the honest doctor has already provided the answer: 'As soon as they gave sarees to them a number did hang themselves. Many tied stones to themselves and jumped off bridges. Thousands of survivors have been abandoned by their families .. .' [52]
But what we would like to know how all these figures were arrived at? What happened to the remains of those who hanged themselves with saris (given by an agency?) or jumped off bridges? What happened to those abandoned thousands? If the Surgeon from Sydney could have all these information, surely our author could have also obtain them. Why he did not? Moreover, why the then Bangladesh Government kept these highly incriminatory facts hidden? Most of all why the 'guardians of the spirit of liberation' did not collate a few shred of such a damning truth? As we have seen earlier, Jauhuri, the Bangladeshi journalist, did try to find from the people from various districts of the country and none claimed to have personally known an incident of rape.
So what is to be made of such allegations? There must be one and only one conclusion: they were manufactured in the same manner as the myth of three million was manufactured.
Behind the Myth of 3 million - Chapter - VI: The Forgotten Humanity
ePublication
Written by Dr. M. Abdul Mu’min Chowdhury
6.1. The Other Side:
It is admitted that there have been victims in this conflict. Some victims were totally innocent, who were caught up in the crossfire. Some of the victims died while they were actively engaged in combating Pakistan defence forces. This is one side of the story which has been magnified many folds with the sinister idea of falsifying those who tried to defend Pakistan from being dismembered.
What about the other side? The so-called liberators took innumerable human lives, inflicted physical injuries and left many of them mayhemed in their attack both on army and civilian who were loyally defending the country. Yet, in recounting this sad conflict hardly any notice was taken of these other victims: the Pakistan Army personnel and their families who were killed by their one time brothers and colleagues who together took oath to defend Pakistan; the Bihari civilians, many of whom committed no crime other than remaining loyal to Pakistan and above all the countless East Pakistani Muslims who refused to be beguiled by the Indian/Awami League's plot and either remained silent or had taken part in the struggle to save Pakistan.
It should not be forgotten that in war, a side claiming to be on the right side can not abandon the time honoured norms for waging war. Nor can they expect to be condoned simply because their opponents had violated those norms. Having noted this central code of behaviour, let me ask a simple question to those who suavely condemned the Pakistan Army for all manner of atrocities whether they would at least concede that atrocities were also committed by them on the other side. If 'abnormal Pakistan' did not care to punish its 'killers', what stopped the 'civilized' and 'morally sensitive' Bangladesh Government to punish its own offenders? Even if these 'Men That Mattered' were busy with other matters, what stopped men of 'PEACE and JUSTICE' like Abul Hasanat [1] from coming out with another tome, like his 'The Ugliest Genocide', 'Addressed to' those 'Men That Mattered’ in the 'liberated' Bangladesh? Their very silence shows, like their loathsome figure game, their protestation for civilized human values, their cry in the name of suffering humanity and their call for justice, were all fraud.
6.2. The Killing of the Biharis:
To give an idea of heart-rendering savagery which was committed against the 'Bihari' Muslims, I shall confine myself to the testimony, not of those who supported Pakistan, but of those who took part in dismembering Pakistan. Such a well-known 'Bengali nationalists', M.R.Akhtar Mukul in his ‘Ami Bijoy Dekhechi' (I Have Seen Victory) stated:
“At around sunset they came back. But, the report they gave about Shantahar is difficult to narrate in words". Since I was busy with various tasks and also because train and road communications were cut off, 1 could not obtain any information about this railway town. For three days in Shantahar medieval fiendish killings have been carried out. Now the town cannot be entered into, because of the stench from the dead bodies.” [2]
From the river crossing-point in Khetlal, the same writer reported this:
"There is a wooden bridge to help private car, jeep and pedestrians to cross the river. But its middle portion is missing. Someone has removed it. To speak to the local people I got down from the jeep along with Mr Asad. Seeing my large body, big moustache and long hair, the locals started whispering with one another suspecting me to be a non- Bengali. I sensed my heart getting cold out of fear. Luckily, I am an accomplished speaker in Bogra's local tongue. My habitual jokes and manner of speaking removed their suspicion and helped make certain rapport between us. Afterwards I came to learn that they have been engaged in a awesome mission. The non-Bengalis from Jaipurhat-Pachbibi area who have been fleeing towards Dhaka through Bogra were finished off here on the bank of the river. Women and children have been kept unharmed in a homestead. For a number of days the villagers have been doing this at night with 'mashals' in hand." [3]
These Bihari Muslims had no other fault except that they were non-Bengalis. They did not even have the chance of 'col1aborating', as alleged, with the Pakistan Army. Beside, is it a crime to stand up and fight for one's own country? If any, those so-called 'liberators' who actively and brazenly collaborated with the Indians to destroy Pakistan - a sovereign country - should be guilty, not those who tried to safeguard a well-established country as being moral duty.
The retribution that was meted out to them after Bangladesh came into being had few parallel in savagery. Many of the males became victim of a systematic program during and after the fall of Dhaka to the Indian Army. According to one source, their number killed 'is estimated in thousands' [4]
Those who survived this carnage were deprived of their hearths and homes, stripped off all their possessions and denied their jobs and sources of livelihood. The miserable plight in which they found themselves evoked this appeal from Abul Fazal, the well-known author and educationist:
" ... they are utterly helpless and dispossessed. Most of them are women and children. They have no means of livelihood, no occupations or anything to cling to. They cannot envisage a future. This is a queer and pathetic problem. Theirs is a human problem. When some of them are found in bad health, wearing tattered garments, hungry and helpless, begging alms with tearful eyes in streets and market places, this morbid scene appears to me as a great insult to humanity. Any sensitive person cannot stand such a sight." [5]
Yet, persons like Hasanat, Gupta and their associates have little time to mention any of these, far less to acknowledge that the Bihari Muslims and many other Muslims of East Pakistan too have suffered and got killed and became the subject of atrocities.
6.3. The Pakistan Supporters:
At least the plights of the Bihari Muslims have been mentioned by writers such as Mukul and had compassion from Abul Fazal. But few have spoken about the treatment meted out to the men and women who have either served Pakistan faithfully in the past or refused to join the conspiracy to destroy Pakistan.
Many of these were killed in the conflict on the spot and many more were killed cold-blooded after the conflict was over. After the fall of Dhaka countless persons were 'lynched, flogged, flayed, mutilated, cleaved and butchered'. [6] Let me mention a few.
Ajmal Ali Choudhury, a Muslim League leader and a Minister of Commerce of Pakistan at one time, who played absolutely no part during the conflict was taken out from the Dargha of Hazrat Shah Jalal in the heart of Sylhet town in broad day light and killed. Thereafter his body was mutilated and was left in an open field for public display near the Government College. For three days his family was kept away from collecting his dead body. Thus, this good patriot and decent Muslim was deprived of his entitlement of a decent burial. Dr Abdul Majid, another Muslim League leader, was similarly gunned down and his dead body was desecrated.
Earlier during the conflict, Abdul Mu'nem Khan, another Muslim League leader, and a former Health Minister of Pakistan and former Governor of East Pakistan, was gunned down at his Dhaka residence in presence of his family. Like Ajmal Ali Choudhury, Abdul Mu'nem Khan was also living in retirement and had no role either way during the conflict. Their only 'crime' appeared to have been that they worked for the creation of Pakistan, served it faithfully and did not renounce their allegiance in favour of 'Joy Bangla'
Maulvi Farid Ahmed, Vice President of Pakistan Democratic Party and a former Commerce Minister of Pakistan, was detained in Dhaka. While under detention, he was 'whipped first and then his skin was cut by sharp blades and salt was added to his wounds'. After this beastly treatment, he was put to death. His dead body was mutilated and 'desecrated in a wild fury'.
Maulana Asadullah Shirazi, a former Member of the National Assembly, writer, poet and sufi and the eldest son of the famous poet and Khilafat Leader Ismail Hussain Shirazi, was dragged through the streets of Sirajgonj, with a hook pierced through his nose. After this act of utter barbarity he was 'trailed to the place of his martyrdom'.
Prof. Tariqullah, Bengali Department of Choumuhani College, Noakhali, was arrested and then taken before a gathering where he was commanded to recant his support for Pakistan. This man of true faith told his captors that if he was not convinced that Pakistan was created mainly in the interest of the Bengali Muslims and that they still needed the Muslim State of Pakistan in their own interest, he would have joined them. Since that was his faith, he could not recant his support for Pakistan even if it meant death to him. And death he met under a hail of bullet.
Muhammad Illyas, a student leader belonging to Islami Chatra Sangha, 'was tied to a rear wheel of a slowly moving motor vehicle and was trailed to Feni from Dagan Bhuiya, ten miles away, where he was whipped by the Indian Army. Hot iron rods were used on the moribund body of helpless Illyas. His eyes were gouged out; his ears and nose were clipped. Finally, he was tortured to death and his dead body was displayed at a crossroads in Feni.'
Maulana Azharus Sobhan, a prominent alim and the principal of Mithachara Madrasa, Chittagong, was severely flogged breaking several of his bones. "Three of his students were beheaded in his presence. A garland of the heads of three students was put around his neck and he was kept standing for three consecutive days' before he was killed.
Maulana Pir Dewan Ali of Dhaka was 'shaved of his beard and flogged cruelly'. With his bones broken, he was tied by his hands and legs and 'thrown into the middle of a river' to sink alive.
Jalaluddin, a boy of 14, from Kaliganj in Dhaka district, the constituency of Tajuddin Ahmed, the Prime Minister of the Bangladesh Government in exile formed in India, was buried alive. 'He was forced to dig his own grave, to fix it with the thorns of date trees and finally he was made to lie on this thorny bed to death." [7]
6.4. A Survivor’s Account:
These are the tales of a few. It is difficult to give the precise figure of how many people met their death in this way. However, it can be said with utmost honesty that they number many thousands. Those who survived various forms of brutalities were greater in number than those killed. To give some idea about their ordeal, I shall quote the account of two persons only:
"Typical of the intolerance and vindictiveness displayed towards the intellectuals who did not vocally support the Awami League was the case of Syed Sajjad Husain, Vice Chancellor of Dhaka University. He earned the party's wrath by declaring his opposition to secession in a press statement. The "Free" Bangladesh radio operating in Calcutta sentenced him to death for his offence and three days after the fall of Dhaka, on 19th December, a band of armed guerrillas raided his private residence, beat up his protesting wife and daughters, broke into his room, and dragged him away to a Mukti Bahini camp. Here he was stripped of all his clothes, except the trousers, beaten black and blue, blindfolded, handcuffed and gagged, and left, tied to a post like an animal, to wait execution the following morning. The next day at dawn his executioners took him to a public square, stabbed him in six places and dealt him a shattering blow on the spine. When he collapsed, bleeding and unconscious, they thought he had died and moved off. He survived miraculously after being rescued by a passer-by who recognised him, but remained almost totally paralysed from the waist down for a month and a half. When after some treatment in hospital he partially regained the ability to move about on crutches, the Government had him removed to the Dhaka Central Jail. There he was detained for two years. The former Vice-Chancellor is a permanent paraplegic today with both legs affected and needs a staff to balance him.
"In the like manner Hasan Zaman, director of the Pakistan Bureau of National Integration, an outspoken defender of Pakistan's ideology, was seized from his home on the same day as Syed Sajjad Husain and left for dead in the same square, bruised, blind-folded and handcuffed, He too was subsequently detained in Jail for two years. For several months after the assault Hasan Zaman could not walk erect because of the tortures he had undergone." [8]
Some writers on Bangladesh have argued that the killings and punishments of Pakistan supporters that went on after Bangladesh came into being was an inevitable vendetta carried out by the over zealous Mukti Bahini and the Government of Bangladesh had no hand in it. Yet the case of Syed Sajjad Husain showed that it was the exiled Government of Bangladesh in India which 'sentenced him to death', announced the sentence through its radio for no other reason other than for his statement opposing secession. How then the Government of Bangladesh could be absolved of their responsibilities in these horrendous crimes?
6.5. Could Mujib be Absolved?
Lest doubt remains, let me give another instance with regard to Mujib's own ingenious argument in support of these brutal killings by his own Mukti Bahini.
"As a frenzied, shouting mob of 5,000 Bengalis screamed encouragement, young Mukti Bahini guerrillas methodically tortured four suspected Pakistani quislings. For 30 minutes, the guerrillas battered the bound bodies of the helpless prisoners with kicks and karate blows with the bayonets, Quietly and systematically, they began stabbing their victims over and over again - all the time carefully avoiding the prisoners' hearts. After more than ten minutes of stabbing, the grisly performance seemed at an end. The soldiers wiped the blood from their bayonets and begun to depart. But before they left the scene, a small boy - perhaps a relative of one of the victims - flung himself on the ground next to a prisoner's near lifeless body. In an instant the guerrillas were back, kicking the boy and beating him with their rifle butts. And as he writhed, the child was trampled to death by the surging crowd."
This horrendous bloodletting took place next to Dhaka stadium. The man who ordered the public killing and personally saw the order being carried out is Abdul Kader Siddiqui, the Mukti Bahini commander from Tangail. [9].
During her interview with Mujib, Oriana Fallaci, the Italian journalist, wanted to know what the Bangladesh leader thought of this massacre. The following conversation took place between Mujib and Fallaci:
Mujib - Massacre? What massacre?
Fallaci – The one commited by the Mukti Bahini at the Dacca stadium.
Mujib - There has never been a massacre at the Dacca stadium. You are lying.
Fallaci - Mr Prime Minister, I am not a liar. I saw the massacre with other journalists and 15,000 persons. If you'd like, I'll show you photographs. My paper has published them.
Mujib - Liar, they were not Mukti Bahini.
Fallaci - Mr Prime Minister, please do not repeat the word liar, they were Mukti Bahini and they were led by Abdul Kader Siddiqui and were in uniforms.
Mujib - Then it means that those were Razakars that had opposed resistance and Siddiqui was compelled to eliminate them.’ [10]
A substantial proportion of people of all ranks and professions had indeed opposed the conversion of East Pakistan into Bangladesh and a good many of them even took arms alongside the Pakistan defence forces. [12] Countless of these men, old and young, were eliminated in the 'liberated' Bangladesh with the connivance of Mujib and his Government.