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Hindu Genocide in East Pakistan / Bangladesh
Courtesy of Srikanta N. Mookerjee <snmst1+@pitt.edu>
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HINDU GENOCIDE IN EAST PAKISTAN / BANGLADESH
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This article deals with slaughter of about 2.5 million Hindus in
East Pakistan in 1971.
This article refers to information provided by Dept. of Planning of
Government of Bangla Desh, Encyclopedia Britannica, Senator Edward
Kennedy's report to the U.S.Senate Judiciary Committee, Newsweek,
New York Times,etc. This information and elementary math are used to
show that indeed millions of Hindus were killed in East Pakistan in
1971.
Please feel free to verify the references.
HINDU GENOCIDE IN EAST PAKISTAN
by ShriNandan Vyas
ABSTRACT
It is well known that the 1971 army repression in Bangla Desh
(former East Pakistan) resulted in influx of 10 million refugees
into India. Most world renouned relief and news agencies put the
number of dead at 3 million. However the fact that is glossed over
in these statistics is that THE ENTIRE HINDU POPULATION OF EAST
PAKISTAN WAS THE PRIMARY TARGET OF PAKISTANI ARMY DURING THE 9
MONTHS OF REPRESSION IN 1971. Using the population statistics from
Bangla Desh Government and US Government publications this article
PROVES that 80 percent of the refugees from Bangla Desh were Hindus
and that 80 percent of the 3 million killed were Hindus. THUS IT
WAS A HINDU REFUGEE PROBLEM and IT WAS A HINDU GENOCIDE THAT TOOK
PLACE IN EAST PAKISTAN IN 1971.
10 References - Encyclopedia Britannica, Bangla Desh Government -
Ministry of Planning (for statistics), Newsweek, New York Times,
Senator Edward Kennedy's report to U.S.Senate Judiciary Committee.
INTRODUCTION
In the December 1970 general election in Pakistan, Awami League won
167 of 169 seats and over 80 % of popular votes in East Pakistan.
Numerically Awami League had absolute majority of seats in the
Pakistan e National Assembly (167 of the total 313 seats)(1).
Resource allocation, representation in the federal government were
always much lower for East Pakistan (2). The Pakistani government's
apathy to East Pakistan after a terrible cyclone in November 1970
in which over 250,000 people died, had already alienated East
Pakistani people. The solid outcome of the 1970 elections for Awami
League created an alternative power center for an already alienated
people. The differences between East and West Pakistani politicians
snowballed into a major international crisis. On March 25, 1971
Pakistani army on President Yahya Khan's orders initiated a
campaign of terror which was to last till its final surrender to
the Indian army on December 17, 1971. This terror campaign by Pak
army resulted in 10 million Bangla Deshi refugees crossing over to
India (per Senator Edward Kennedy's report to U.S. Senate Judiciary
Committee (3)) and 3 million killed (4,5) based on reports from
most relief agencies. However the religious mix of both the
refugees and the dead is not mentioned. This significant
information has particularly been absent in the reports from Indian
News Media. This selective news dissemination has kept a more
sinister truth of Hindu genocide in East Pakistan hidden from the
world in general and Indians in particular.
HINDUS IN EAST PAKISTAN WERE SPECIAL TARGET OF PAK ARMY
In the summary of his report dated November 1, 1971 Senator Edward
Kennedy writes (6): 'Field reports to the U.S. Government,
countless eye-witness journalistic accounts, reports of
International agencies such as World Bank and additional
information available to the subcommittee document the reign of
terror which grips East Bengal (East Pakistan). HARDEST HIT HAVE
BEEN MEMBERS OF THE HINDU COMMUNITY WHO HAVE BEEN ROBBED OF THEIR
LANDS AND SHOPS, SYSTEMATICALLY SLAUGHTERED, AND IN SOME PLACES,
PAINTED WITH YELLOW PATCHES MARKED "H". All of this has been
officially sanctioned, ordered and implemented under martial law
from Islamabad. ..' (emphasis added by author of this article)
Sydney Schanberg, pulitzer prize winning journalist (of 'Killing
Fields') was New York Times correspondent in Dhaka in 1971 at the
time of army repression and during the 1971 Bangla Desh war. In his
syndicate column 'The Pakistani Slaughter That Nixon Ignored'
Mr.Schanberg writes: "I covered the war and witnessed first the
population's joyous welcome of the Indian soldiers as liberators ..
Later I toured the country by road to see the Pakistani legacy
firsthand. In town after town there was an execution area where
people had been killed by bayonet, bullet and bludgeon. In some
towns, executions were held on a daily basis .
This was a month after the war's end (i.e. January 1972), ... human
bones were still scattered along many roadsides. Blood stained
clothing and tufts of human hair clung to the brush at these
killing grounds. Children too young to understand were playing
grotesque games with skulls. OTHER REMINDERS WERE THE YELLOW "H"s
THE PAKISTANIS HAD PAINTED ON THE HOMES OF HINDUS, PARTICULAR
TARGETS OF THE MUSLIM ARMY." (7).
Thus two independent observations one dated prior to November 1,
1971 and other in January 1972 confirm that Hindu houses in East
Pakistan were marked with yellow "H"s and that Hindus were
particular targets of the Pakistani army. The situation thus bears
an uncanny resemblance to the predicament of Jews targeted by Nazis
from 1939 to 1944, with similar out come.
MOST OF THE REFUGEES FROM BANGLA DESH WERE HINDUS
Senator Edward Kennedy in his report gives following details about
the the refugees from Bangla Desh in 1971. As of October 25, 1971,
9.54 million refugees from East Pakistan had crossed over to India.
The average influx as of October 1971 was 10,645 refugees a day
(3). Hence the total refugee population at the start of Indo-Pak
war on December 3, 1971 was about 10 million (5).
Sen. Kennedy further mentions that Government of India had set up
separate refugee camps for Hindus and Muslims where possible, i.e.
refugee camps of Hindus were located in Hindu majority areas and
similarly Muslim camps were located in Muslim majority areas. THE
COMMUNAL REPRESENTATION OF REFUGEES WAS 80 PERCENT HINDU, 15
PERCENT MUSLIM AND 5 PERCENT CHRISTIAN AND OTHER (8).
This means that 8 MILLION OF THE 10 MILLION REFUGEES WERE HINDUS
(8). Other fact that corroborates this is that when Sen.Kennedy
asked several Chief Relief officers in charge of refugee camps what
was needed most urgently, their reply was "crematoriums".
THE MISSING 2 .5 MILLION HINDUS
Several agencies indicate that the brutal Pakistani army repression
killed 3 million Bengalis. This estimate is even given by the
Government of Bangla Desh (5). However no religious mix of the dead
is easily available.
Let us therefore look at the population demographics for Bangla
Desh.
TABLE I
Source : Based on Information from Bangladesh Ministry of planning,
Bureau of Statistics (9)
Year Total Population Hindu Population Hindu Population
millions as % of total millions
1941 42.00 28.0 11.76
1961 50.84 18.5 9.41
1974 71.48 13.5 * 9.65
1981 87.13 12.2 10.63
* Encyclopedia Britannica (10) gives 13.5 % figure for 1974, where
as Government of Bangla Desh gives 13.5 % figure for 1971 & total
population of 71.48 million for 1974 (9).
Since Hindus and Muslims in Bangladesh have similar socio- economic
and educational backgrounds, the birth and death rates for these
two groups must be very similar. This means that the Hindu
population must grow at the same pace as the total population
growth rate. Hence any unusual drop must be accounted for by influx
of Hindu refugees and mortality rate from non natural causes.
Thus if 1947 partition had not resulted the Hindu population of
East Pakistan area should have increased proportionally from 11.76
millions to 14.24 millions (11.76 * 50.84 / 42 = 14.24). However
the Indian Government records indicate that between 1947 and 1958,
4.12 million (Hindu) refugees crossed into India from East
Bengal(3). This means the Hindu population in East Pakistan in 1961
should have been 10.12 million (14.24 - 4.12) compared to the
actual 9.41 million. The missing 0.7 million Hindu population can
be accounted by several hundred thousands killed in the riots in
1947 on the Bengal border, plus the refugee influx from 1958 to
1961.
Table II -
Year Hindu Population Expected Hindu Regugees from Hindus
Of East Pak/ BD Population in E.Pakistan to missing
Actual (9) Absence of India (8)
Strife
(millions) (millions) (millions) (millions)
1941 11.76
1961 9.41 14.24 4.12 (1947-58) 0.71
1974 9.65 13.23 1.11 (1964-70) 2.47
Source - Info from Table I
Let us now look at Hindu population in East pakistan from 1961 to
1974. With a similar calculation, the expected Hindu population of
Bangla Desh in 1974 should have been 13.23 million ( 9.41 * 71.48 /
50.84 = 13.23 ). However the actual Hindu population as per Bangla
Desh Census data for 1974 was 9.65 million. The Government of
India's record indicate that 1.11 million (Hindu) refugees crossed
into India between 1964 and 1970 (3) PRIOR to the 1971 crisis.
THUS 2.47 MILLION (13.23 - 9.65 - 1.11 = 2.47) HINDUS FROM EAST
PAKISTAN ARE UNACCOUNTED FOR FROM THE 1971 PAK ARMY REPRESSION.
OTHER PROOF FOR 2.4 MILLION HINDUS KILLED IN EAST PAKISTAN
Since the 80 percent of the refugees in 1971 were Hindus,a similar
proportion of the dead are likely to be Hindus also. The official
Bangla Desh government estimate puts the number of Bengalis killed
at 3 million. 80 percent of 3 million put THE NUMBER OF HINDUS
KILLED AT 2.4 MILLION which is close to the number of Hindus
missing calculated comes above.
SUMMARY & CONCLUSIONS
1. Independent accounts indicate that Hindus from East Pakistan were
special target during the 1971 army repression. HINDU HOUSES WERE
PAINTED WITH YELLOW "H"s, THEY WERE ROBBED OF THEIR LANDS AND SHOPS,
AND THEY WERE SYSTEMATICALLY SLAUGHTERED.
2. 80 percent of the refugees to India in 1971 were Hindus, THUS IT WAS
A HINDU REFUGEE PROBLEM.
3. NEARLY 2.5 MILLION HINDUS WERE KILLED DURING THE 9 MONTHS OF
PAKISTANI ARMY REPRESSION OF EAST PAKISTAN IN 1971. THUS IT WAS A
HINDU SLAUGHTER IN 1971.
4. ALL THE ABOVE BEAR AN UNCANNY RESEMBLANCE TO THE PERSECUTION &
HOLOCAUST OF JEWS BY THE NAZIS.
5. GOVERNMENT CONTROLLED MEDIA DELIBERATELY HID THE SINISTER
TRUTH OF HINDU GENOCIDE IN EAST PAKISTAN.
6. In any internal political problem of an Islamic country, Hindus
(or minorities of other religions) become the scapegoats and will be
liquidated at the first chance the Islamic Government gets.
COMMENTS & FUTURE WORK
This is just the tip of the iceberg. The ethnic cleansing of Hindus
in Bangla Desh did not end in 1971. Since 1974 to 1981 the Hindu
population as a percent of total Bangla Deshi population decreased
from 13.5 % to 12.2 %. This slide has continued over the last
decade. Same is true about Hindus in Pakistan and in Kashmir
valley.
This topic is extensively dealt in a book 'Genocide in East
Pakistan/ Bangla Desh' by S.K.Bhattacharya. However the present
author has verified the findings of S.K. Bhattacharya based on
completely independent sources. For detailed descriptions and news
reports of 1971, reader should refer to the original book.
However there is a need for systematic record keeping of this
recent history, so that we don't repeat again (and again and
again..) Also there is a need to build a memorial of this Hindu
holocaust similar to the Jewish Holocaust memorial in Washington
DC.
REFREENCES
1. Bangladesh: The Birth Of A Nation, A hand book of Background
information and Documentary Sources Compiled by Univ.of Chicago
Group of Scholars, by M.Nicholas, P.Oldensburg, Ed.W.Morehouse,
M.Seshachalam & Co., India, 1972, p.7
2. Same as reference 1, p.73
3. Crisis in South Asia - A report by Senator Edward Kennedy to
the Subcommittee investigating the Problem of Refugees and
Their Settlement, Submitted to U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee,
November 1, 1971, U.S. Govt. Press, pp.6-7.
4. Newsweek, August 1, 1994, p.37
5. Same as reference 1, pp.44-45
6. Same as reference 3, p.66
7. The Pakistani Slaughter That Nixon Ignored , Syndicated Column by
Sydney Schanberg, New York Times, May 3, 1994.
8. Same as reference 3, p. 19
9. Bangladesh A Country Study, Ed. J.Heitzman & R.L.Worden, 2nd Ed,
Federal Research Division, Library of Congress, Publisher U.S. Army,
1989, pp.250,255
10. Encyclopedia Britannica, 1982 Book of the Year, Section on Bangla
Desh.
regards,
Srikanta Moojerjee
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