Goebbels believed that if you lied on any matter or issue a thousand times, chances were that people would start believing that this was the truth. It appears that the standard set by him in this regard, particularly the inhumane treatment meted out by Hitler and his cohorts to the Jewish population in Germany and elsewhere in Europe, has nowPakistan tries Goebbelsian strategy
What we need is courage for Pakistan to acknowledge the reality of their criminal inhuman actions in 1971; stop denying that genocide, torture and destruction were carried out in our country during this period by some heinous criminals from the then Pakistani administration and seek forgiveness
Muhammad Zamir
Goebbels believed that if you lied on any matter or issue a thousand times, chances were that people would start believing that this was the truth. It appears that the standard set by him in this regard, particularly the inhumane treatment meted out by Hitler and his cohorts to the Jewish population in Germany and elsewhere in Europe, has now
been eclipsed by the policy makers in Pakistan.
Covering themselves within the darkness of their mental purdah they have denied towards the end of November and the beginning of December this year that the Pakistan government and their armed forces were involved in committing any crimes of major proportions (that could be termed as genocide) against the Bangalee population of Bangladesh during their War of Liberation and their struggle for freedom during 1971.
This latest episode started with Pakistans unnecessary comments and criticism of the implementation of the decision of the International Crimes Tribunal being carried out in Dhaka. This led to the summoning of Pakistan High Commission officials in Dhaka to the Bangladesh Foreign Office on November 23 and the expression of a formal protest in this regard. Bangladesh Officials also underlined that the Pakistan government had presented a misleading interpretation of the Agreement of 1974 and that Bangladesh had decided not to proceed with the trials as an act
of clemency.
The media reported that in response, the Bangladesh Acting High Commissioner in Islamabad was summoned by the Pakistan authorities on 1 December to convey their rejection of what was termed as baseless and unfounded assertions of Bangladesh against Pakistan. It was also underscored through a statement issued by the Pakistan Foreign Ministry that it is regrettable that attempts have been made by the government of Bangladesh to malign Pakistan, despite our ardent desire to develop brotherly relations with Bangladesh.
The statement also pointed out that the peoples of both Pakistan and Bangladesh not only want to maintain but also further strengthen the bonds of friendship and brotherhood. In this context it was also mentioned that it was sad that the government of Bangladesh does not seem to respect these sentiments.
Pakistan has to realize that a genocide had taken place in the then East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, from the fourth week of March, 1971 till the culmination of our struggle for independence on 16 December, 1971. This period witnessed severe human rights violations, death of three million Bangladeshis, rape of nearly 200,000 Bangladeshi women and girl-children and the creation of a refugee situation where more than 10 million of its citizens sought safety and sanctuary across the border in different States of India.
These figures are not imaginary or conjured up without back-up data. What was particularly despicable was the fact that the occupation Pakistani civilian and armed forces authorities also helped to establish auxiliary groups like the Al-Badr, Peace Committees and Razakars who helped the occupation forces to identify intellectuals and freedom-loving people for eventual execution throughout 1971. Yahya Khan and his Generals wanted to exterminate totally the nationalist forces of Bangladesh with a view to subjugating the rest of the people for years to come.
All this happened and yet there has never been a statement by the Pakistani authorities that they regret what had happened, or that, as a nation they are sorry for carrying out these atrocities. Contrary to assurances given to the Indian government (at the time of repatriating the 93, 000 Pakistani POWs from India) and also the directions and advice given in the Hamudur Rahman Commission report that those guilty of criminal activities in 1971 in Bangladesh need to be tried under Pakistani law- nothing was done. In fact, the 195 Pakistani POWs who had been identified by the Bangladesh legal authorities for transgressing human rights and legal obligations and for perpetrating genocide were also never tried in Pakistan.
This was indeed unfortunate, particularly when one compares this situation with what the Allied forces did in Europe and Japan after the end of the Second World War. The principle of accountability was followed in the trials held in Nuremburg and also in Japan. Trials of a similar nature in Pakistan would have brought consolation for the genocide-affected people of Bangladesh at all levels in the different parts of the country.
Leaders of world public opinion condemned Yahyas full-scale military operations against an unarmed people. In almost every country of the world, despite the absence of todays contemporary digitalized landscape and social media, the electronic, broadcast and print media denounced what they rightly termed as genocide. The United States government, eager to establish relations with China through the
help of Pakistan refused to acknowledge reality.
That was however not so for the ordinary people of that country or that of the United Kingdom or some other European countries- including their musicians, writers and singers who came together to arouse public opinion against what was happening in Bangladesh and to raise funds for helping the millions of refugees who had taken shelter in India. I would also be remiss, if at this point, I did not acknowledge the important role played by the then US Senator Edward Kennedy in drawing the attention of the world to the mass killings taking place in Bangladesh and the pitiable condition of the refugees in West Bengal State of India (which he visited).
I am reminded at this point also of what appeared in the New Statesman of London on April 16, 1971. It stated that If blood is the price of peoples right to independence, Bangladesh has overpaid. It would also be worthwhile to reproduce excerpts from reports on the genocide in Bangladesh as sent by eminent journalists Simon Dring of the British Daily Telegraph and Sydney H. Schanberg of the US newspaper New York Times.
Simon Dring went into hiding when the Pakistani occupation forces expelled all the foreign Correspondents from Dhaka on 26-27 March, 1971. He went out during the brief curfew-break to see and hear for himself what had transpired during the 72-hour military operation in Dhaka. Simon Drings dispatch was published in the Washington Post on 30 March, 1971. He detailed how three Pakistani Army battalions (one armored, one artillery and one infantry) were used during the merciless attack on students staying in the residential Halls of the Dhaka University, on the teachers in their residences in the Dhaka University Campus, on the policemen in their barracks in Rajarbagh, on the older densely populated parts of the city in English Road, French Road, Naya Bazar and Siddique Bazar. Hundreds of houses were set on fire and thousands of residents shot as they were trying to flee into safer areas.
In the Hindu majority area of Shankari Patti, Dring observed- the soldiers made the people come out of their houses and shot them in groups. This area, too, was eventually razed. He also detailed how the premises of the daily Bengali language paper- Ittefaq was attacked and burnt down with nearly 400 people inside the building. Dring also wrote of how the Pakistani army made fun of those killed and remarked that Bangalees could not kill us even if they tried. It does appear that they were wrong and 16 December is a testament of that.
Schanberg, writing in the New York Times on 14 July, 1971, noted with interest how every day, planes from Pakistan disgorge troops dressed in baggy pajama to appear less conspicuous. He also described how street designations are being changed to remove all Hindu names as well as those of Bengali Muslim nationalists as part of the campaign to stamp out Bengali cultureThe West Pakistanis are discouraging the use of the Bengali language and trying to replace it with their own Urdu.
He also reported that the occupying administration was forming and arming loyal civilians and creating with their help-Peace Committees (essentially para-military home guards) who acted as informants of efforts made by those trying to create Bangalee resistance. This journalist also quoted foreign missionaries from Barisal who reported that Pakistani soldiers were carrying out new massacres almost daily in the remote areas of Bangladesh. In this context he reported the killing of over 1,000 Hindus in a day in a section of that District. He also wrote of how in the rural areas for miles at a stretch villages have been burned to the ground on both sides of the road. In the cities and towns, large areas
have been reduced to rubble by
heavy gunfire.
Most interestingly, he also noted that Bengali resistance, though still disorganized, appears to be gathering momentum- with increasing assistance and sanctuary, and sometimes covering fire from India. This gradual effective emergence of the Mukti Bahini was also referred to by other journalists. It all came to fruition on 16th December with the surrender of the Pakistani forces.
It would also be fitting at this point to acknowledge Pakistani journalist Anthony Mascaranes and his role in sensitizing public opinion in the British press through his book- Rape of Bangladesh.
It seems that the Pakistan Foreign Office and their responsible authorities have decided to seek sanctuary within the folds of their mental Purdah and have also wrapped a black band on their eyes. They need to face reality and understand that the common population of Bangladesh does not hate Pakistanis. This has been proven with the presence of Pakistani cricketers in the current Bangladesh Cricket League matches. We have also admired the presentation of Pakistani writers and musicians in our country.
Nevertheless, what we need is courage for Pakistan to acknowledge the reality of the criminal inhuman actions in 1971; stop denying that genocide; torture and destruction were carried out in our country during this period by some criminals from the then Pakistani administration and seek forgiveness. They should, even though, 44 years have passed, also seek a closure by arranging trials of those guilty of the criminal inhuman acts perpetrated in the name of religion or so-called patriotism. Rape and murder have never been sanctioned in Islam or in any other religion. That could start with those who are still alive among the 195 POWs (identified as war criminals by Bangladeshi legal authorities in 1973) repatriated to Pakistan by India after the Simla agreement between Pakistan and India.
The writer, a former Ambassador, is an analyst specialized in foreign affairs, right to information and good governance. He can be reached at [email protected]
