The Re-cycling of the Myth
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.
