The Bangladesh genocide of 1971 had left a huge scar between the East Pakistani’s (Bengalis) and West Pakistanis (Punjabis). Both groups had different views on religion and power, enough to create atrocities. This conflict had influenced immense tensions between modern day Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan.
How did it all begin? In 1947, Britain gave up its ruling over India and created a new territory with a majority Muslim population; Pakistan. The Hindu West Pakistan military regime soon after had begun to become a dictatorship.
Tension rose as Urdu had become the primary language of Pakistan when it was only spoken by 7% of the population. The West military wanted to get rid of the Bengali language completely. Bans were placed on things
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The league had been created by Maula Adbdul Hamid Khan Bhasani. It was in Bhasani’s interest to create this for the benefits of the Bengali people. The West Pakistani portion of the congress disliked
this because they did not want the Eastern people to have such powers.
Ayub Khan, West Pakistan’s leader in 1967, said that all Bengalis remained “under the considerable influence of the Hindu culture and language”. He also mentioned that all oppressed and dominated races were oppressed because of the “historical evolution”. This was his broad saying, but it was mainly pointed towards the Bengalis.
Towards the end of his regime, his power wasn’t affective. The military had become unstable. The Awami League once again held many seats in the future elections. The league victory was a clear threat as it expressed the likelihood of East
Pakistan’s independence. This caused the uprising of the general of the military, Yahya Khan. Who was responsible for this genocide? West Pakistani Generals: Yahya Khan, Akbar Khan, Tikka Khan, and Umar Khan. All played under the rule of
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A West Pakistani militant group called “Operation Searchlight” was a planned military pacification, targeting Eastern people and Hindu minorities that could’ve been potentially “brainwashed”. Operation Searchlight was created by Mutki Bahini, whom wanted to break down Bengali rebellions. Not only did they fight the Bengali Freedom Fighters, but the unarmed civilians too.
Death squads roamed Dhaka, striking the University of Dhaka. When they arrived, students were being continuously exterminated. Seven thousand people were killed per night. Within a week, half the population had fled to India. East, Pakistan’s population was 75 million during the time, but 30,000 people were killed in a matter of days. Approximately 200,000 women from ages 8-75 were raped, often in front of their families.
The Bengali Liberation war for Independence was thanks to the help of India. India, however, joined due to a journalist named Anthony Mascarenhas, whom wrote about the atrocities occurring in East Pakistan. Bangladesh had received its independence on December 16, 1971 by its first president, Sheik Mahbubur Rahman, a leader of the Awami League. The genocidal rape victims had campaigned and acts supporting them after a few decades called, “Marry them off” for peace. Tensions still exist between Pakistan and India on views of religion and power, but Bangladesh and Pakistan are working on a new, unified
Sharlach, Lisa. “Rape as Genocide: Bangladesh, the Former Yugoslavia, and Rwanda.” New Political Science. 22:1 (2000): 89-102. Google Scholar. Web. 28 April 2014.
In his book, The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide, Gary J. Bass depicts the horror and political nature of the massacre of East Pakistani citizens in which Nixon and Kissinger did nothing to try to prevent the deaths of thousands, instead, they keep good relations with the dictator and continued to supply Pakistan with American weaponry. Bass supports his explanations by illustrating the events using copious amounts of quotes. The author’s purpose is to clarify this confusing period and show Nixon’s role in it. The author writes in an objective tone.
Throughout the book, Malala mentions the conflict between Pakistan and the Taliban, a powerful, violent Muslim group based in Afghanistan and Pakistan. After the 9/11 attacks, advertised propaganda, displaying Osama bin Laden as a hero filled the bazaars where Malala lived, and many religiously devoted Muslims agreed with the idea. The attack not only provided a division between the Muslim community, but the Christian centric Western World and Islamic nations as well. The terrorist attacks on September 9, 2001, triggered extremist Islamic groups, like the Taliban, to take control of the Middle East and bestow absolute Islamic rule. In addition to this, very religious Pashtuns, a major tribe in the Swat Valley, were angry for the removal of the Taliban and invasion of Afghanistan, so this type of power gained support. Consequently, extreme Muslims influenced this government and prohibited all Western-styled objects or ideals. “They harassed men wearing Western-style shirts and trousers instead of the traditional shalwar kamiz and insisted women cover their heads… they wanted to remove all traces of womankind from public life.” Abstaining from Western and/or Christian ideals in order to advance political power for the Taliban, killed thousands of ordinary people and police, kept women in purdah, closed businesses, banned education from women and
Guatemalan Ggenocide Introduction The Guatemalan genocide refers to the massacre of Mayan civilians during the Guatemalan military government's counterinsurgency operations. During the massacre they Fforced disappearances, torture and summary executions of guerrillas and especially civilian collaborators. Guatemalan genocide is a terrible tragedy due to racial discrimination, to violent execution, and to the starvation of the Mayan people. Before the massacre started Destruction started to happen against a certain race because they believed they did not “belong.”
Despite their independence, Bangladesh continued to be fragmented with many political groups vying for power to overthrow the self-appointed leadership, President H.M. Ershad. Many of the parties sought to influence their people by employing “so-called opposition newspapers, which promote their political positions” (Lane, Distaefano, & Maznevski, 2006 p.144). This cooperation often resulted in strikes and demonstrations from student groups, unions, and supporters from the opposition.
The pursuit of knowledge is something that humans have participated in since the beginning of time. As a society, people have a risked their lives, fought, and have even died to learn the truth. Humanism is defined as “a doctrine, attitude, or way of life centered on human interests or values; especially : a philosophy that usually rejects supernaturalism and stresses an individual's dignity and worth and capacity for self-realization through reason”. In the two films Hunt for the Red October and V for Vendetta, many characters demonstrate the ideals of humanism through their bold actions. Through the use of powerful characters who wish to seek the truth or enlighten others, the two films idolize the ideals of humanism.
Malieckal, Bindu. THE BANGLADESHI GENOCIDE IN ROHINTON MISTRY'S SUCH A LONG JOURNEY 28.2 (2008): 75-88. Dec. 2008. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.
Lawrence Auster wrote an eye-opening blog excerpt titled India and Pakistan: Why the Mass Killing Occurred. The content of this excerpt explore the fundamental issues of identity and religion that led to the violence in 1947. The author makes his point by utilizing current event such as the train massacre in 2002, in which 50 Hindu women and children were burned alive. The blog is for an audience with some prior knowledge on the topic and continues to expand upon that knowledge. The blog is a secondary source because it introduces its own unique ideas regarding the issue and was written after the time of the event. It was very helpful to my research because it simplifies the wordy information often found on scholarly sites and condenses it into something comprehensible and relatable to the reader.
The Bangladesh Genocide is arguably the worst in recent history due to its high death count, state-sponsored massacres, societal treatment of the victims, and the long lasting effects. In 1971, Pakistan was one country split into two regions, the leftist East Pakistan vying for their own rights and the right-wing West fighting for their own ideals. The government of the West Pakistan passed harsh laws that conflicted with East Pakistan ideas, leading to the formation of the Awami League, which would evolve into a nationalist party. The West would eventually campaign for the genocide of the Eastern people of Pakistan which would come to be known as Operation Searchlight that would last from March 25, 1971 until its official end in December 16,
In the book Train to Pakistan, author Khushwant Singh recalls the brutal and unfortunate times when Muslims were being forced out of Mano Majra. They, along with the Hindu and Sikh population, were living in relative peace. But when there had to be change, chaos ensued. There were several key individuals that shared the total responsibility of the expulsion of Muslims from Mano Majra; Even though some had purer motives than others, they all took stock in the unfortunate process.
1909-Revocation of Partition of Bengal. Creates anti-British and anti-Hindu sentiments among Muslims as they lose their majority in East Bengal.
As the Hindu’s in northwest India moved south, the Muslims moved north into Pakistan; millions were displaced, thousands were slaughtered as a result of the riots and the birth of both countries was met with death and destruction. Many believe that Muslims went along with the partition and moved to Pakistan “not because they viewed it, as official Pakistani narrative suggests, as the lan...
“India and Pakistan: Tense Neighbours.” BBC. N.p., 16 Dec. 2001. Web. 15 May 2011. .
We can start by recounting history, where the roots of the conflict lie. India was one massive nation made up of several states, ruled by the British. A long and difficult independence struggle culminated with the British choosing to leave India in August 1947. The Muslims of the land decided that instead of just a Free India, they would create a Free Pakistan for themselves as well. They were fearful that as a minority, the Hindu majority would trample their rights and religion. Both countries would be formed as soon as the British handed back control in August. The rulers of each individual state constituting India would chose which country to join, hopefully following the wishes of its people. This idea was fraught with problems. There were quite a few states that had a majority of one religion yet the ruler belonged to another faith. The states of Hyderabad and Junagarh were examples of this. Both had Hindu majorities and M...
...shown through Lenny’s point of view. Prior the partition, Lahore was a place of tolerance that enjoyed a secular state. Tension before the partition suggested the division of India was imminent, and that this would result in a religious. 1947 is a year marked by human convulsion, as 1 million people are reported dead because of the partition. Moreover, the children of Lahore elucidate the silences Butalia seeks in her novel. The silence of survivors is rooted to the nature of the partition itself; there is no clear distinction as to who were the antagonists. The distinction is ambiguous, the victims were Sikhs, Hindus, and Muslims, and moreover these groups were the aggressors, the violent. The minority in this communal violence amongst these groups was the one out-numbered. This epiphany of blame is embarked in silence, and roots from the embodiment of violence.