Wed 1 Aug 2007
From Akku Chowdhury
On the 30th night on ETV program Jamaat leader Ali Ahsan Mujahid and a Pakistani collaborator as a high command of the dreaded Al-Badr in 1971, tried to convince the audiences he was a bystander during the genocide committed by the Pakistan Army. He even claimed that his party Jamaat would eventually make an evaluation of 1971 and make it public. He also claimed they are in no hurry to come to power and is willing to be partner with whoever to reach that ultimate goal.
It was a an attempt by ETV to bring the Jamaat leader to a ‘media trial’ through this program where valiant freedom fighter Lt. General Mir Shaukat BP (who was a Sector Commander also) and Major General Ibrahim BP literally accused him (on the phone) of his participation in the Genocide of Bengalees by collaborating as Pakistani agent in 1971.
The time has come to seriously demand the trial and punishment of the Pakistani Millitary officers and their Bangalee agents (Razakars, Al-Badrs and Al-Shams) who committed crimes against humanity in Bnagladesh in 1971. The mindless killing, rape, arson and forced evacuation by these people cannot remain unpunished. The crimes they have committed keep haunting us and NOW are a perfect time to raise this issue of ‘trial and punishment’ not just ‘truth and reconciliation’. We don’t want just an apology for those heinous crimes but those culprits and killers of 1971 must be punished. Many of who sadly became ministers (like the one on ETV) during the last regime should not only be allowed to come back as political leaders but also punished for their crimes in 1971. As the drive against corruption is being done the drive against the perpetrators of the 1971 Genocide should become our agenda too.
August 1st, 2007 at 2:30 pm
Can someone upload it on YouTube ?
Farhad
August 1st, 2007 at 3:37 pm
As a son of a freedom fighter (my father was tortured immeasurably for a long 7 month by the Pakistani Army) I do get emotional when ever I hear about the Pakistani collaborators, the only thing I can say is there is no hope for Bangladesh unless we punish these animals for the crimes they have committed against the people of Bangladesh, my question is how can animals like these become cabinet ministers in a free Bangladesh, a veteran freedom fighter said it right the other day in an interview on NTV
“Mujib pardoned them, Zia established them and Ershad made them rich.”
August 1st, 2007 at 5:15 pm
I was a 5 year old kid during liberation war living in Darsana, Kushtia.
I saw many innocent urdu-speaking people being rounded up, tortured and killed by ‘freedom fighters’ who later emerged as Awami league leaders in that area after liberation.
All of this started after After 25th March. One urdu speaking colleague of my father was slaughtered like a cow while his daughters who were a few years older than me were raped.
The family was originally from Muzzafarpur, Bihar (India) who migrated to Pakistan after partition of India.
As the war progressed, It was the turn of the Pakistanis. We all know what they did.
I would not go into gory details from my memory.
My father was among the detained by Pakistan army and was being led to the firing squad in Jessore cantonment one morning. One of the ‘crime’ he was accused of was that he gave away his licensed gun to the freedom fighters which was was in fact taken away by the above ‘freedom fighters’.
By sheer luck, he was saved by a Pakistani army officer at the last minute who happened to know him personally.
After the war, the ‘freedom fighters’ mentioned above accused my father of being a ‘collaborator’ and gave him such hard time that my father says not even the Pakistan army gave him.
I believe there should be a war crimes tribunal and all crimes should be investigated and perpetrators punished(Razakars and ‘freedom fighters’ of the above kind).
August 1st, 2007 at 7:07 pm
So Habib, You are asking to start trial against ‘freedom fighters’ too?
August 2nd, 2007 at 1:07 am
Mr. Hasib
Even though I sympathize with the predicament of your father but in no way see any moral equivalency between the pre-planned atrocities committed by the vast majority of Pak Army and their cronies (the Rajakars) and the action of few rough Freedom fighter during and after the liberation war enraged by the sense of vengeance, can you in any way draw a parallel between the execution of 3 million Bengalis and the rape of countless women with the crime committed by a small group of freedom fighters after suffering during the War? Mind you I know way condone any such crime but to draw a moral equivalency is utter nonsense
August 2nd, 2007 at 3:31 am
Mr Matin
you call a rapist a ‘rough Freedom fighter’?
What kind of morality do you have in mind?
A rape is a rape, a murder is murder. In other words a crime is a crime no matter who commits it.
I hope you understand this.
By the way, the 3 million figure is wrong. It has no factual basis.
If you had read my post without getting emotional you woudl see that I did not dispute Pakistani atrocities.
August 2nd, 2007 at 3:43 am
Farhad Bhai do you have the link of this interview like any URL or video footage. or is there any way I can see ETV from Singapore. StarHub is the local provider in Singapore. But they don’t display any Bangladeshi channels.So we are depending on Jump tv via internet. But ETV is not in the subscription of Jumptv as well. It is my really bad luck. I missed one in 1996 before election while Mahfuz Anam, Abed Khan and , Motur Rahman simply trashed Nizami, Abbas Ali khan by making question.
Now I want to see this program. So kindly let us know how can we see this if you have any idea.
August 2nd, 2007 at 6:06 am
Hasib, how many innocent Bengalis did you see slaughtered by the Pakistani army at the ripe old age of 5? How many did you see raped? You noted what you “saw” at the age of 5 what Bengalis did to Urdu speakers yet you just passed over what was done to the Bengalis by the Pakistani army and the Razakars by saying “We all know what they did. I would not go into gory details from my memory.” Why not? Especially since you obviously dispute how many Bengalis were killed? Please dont spare us the gory details.
If you feel that some Bengalis should be charged with war crimes, feel free to make specific allegations against the perpetrators in a court of law.
But trying to create moral equivalency between genocide on a massive scale and your allegations of war crimes is a joke. Bangladesh has a special obligation to put the perpetrators of genocide in 1971 on trial. These persistent attempts to create false balance between the two sides in the 1971 conflict can be charitably characterized as misguided.
You also say that the 3 million figure is wrong and has “no factual basis”? What number do you have in mind? How many Bengalis do you say died? And on what factual basis? 30,000? 300,000? What’s your number? Let’s play the genocide numbers game.
Most studies put the number between 800,000 to 3 million, notwithstanding your comment and the Pakistani government’s assertions to the contrary. Most studies of rapes of Bangladeshi women in 1971 put the number between 200,000 to 400,000. I think given those kinds of numbers, a trial for genocide is more than warranted. Such a trial does not need to be attached to a “war crimes” trial for Bengalis - that is a separate matter entirely. Feel free to ask the Pakistanis to hold such a trial. Otherwise, please file a case with a specific allegation with General Moeen and his government.
If my comment has a tone of ridicule, it is entirely intentional. These types of revisionism need to be dealt with ridicule so that they dont acquire any false legitimacy.
August 2nd, 2007 at 6:16 am
Mash thanks for the comments.
August 2nd, 2007 at 7:56 am
Mash, sadly, the damage that has been done by reinstating these war criminals to positions of national prominence without any attempt to hold them accountable for their crimes leads to such attempts at revisionism.
It is so sad and ironic that Zia’s wife and progeny took the lead in the reinstatement.
August 2nd, 2007 at 8:37 am
Anyone else notice this story from today’s Daily Star? It’s not just Jamaat that’s the problem here.
http://thedailystar.net/2007/08/02/d70802061075.htm
BNP cadres grab land of Hindu families in Munshiganj
Allege victims
Staff Correspondent
Local BNP cadres grabbed the lands and other properties of 50 Hindu families at Louhajang in Munshiganj and forced them out of their houses about two months ago, the victims alleged yesterday.
“The BNP cadres first grabbed our lands and set up a madrasa for girls there. We could not protest in fear of further attack and repression. Finally, they ousted us from our homes. Now we have no shelter and are passing our days like homeless people,” said Kulbhushan Kangsha Banik, one of the victims, at a press conference at the National Press Club in the city.
He also alleged that the cadres have taken signatures of the victims on false land deeds at gunpoint before ousting them from their homes two month ago.
Kulbhushan said the BNP cadres had been torturing the families for the last several years.
“We could not celebrate our religious festivals peacefully. The cadres demolished our temple and puja mandap. They beat us when we tried to save our temple,” he said.
Rashmoni Kangsha Banik, another victim, said they had informed the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) of the situation, but to no avail.
“The cadres once set fire to my seven-year-old daughter and they also beat me when I tried to extinguish the fire,” said Maya Rani Kangsha Banik.
“Two months ago, the BNP cadres beat me and my husband before ousting us from our house. They will kill us if we try to go back to our home,” she said.
Basudeb Kangsha Banik, Gouranga Kangsha Banik and Gopal Chandra Saha were also present at the press conference.
August 2nd, 2007 at 9:10 am
Every blogger in Amar-Akbar-Anthony have their families affected by the creations of Pakistan and Bangladesh. While all of us were born well after 1971, we grew up with family stories of atrocities of Hindus/Muslims/Sikhs and Bangladeshis/Pakistanis against each other. In the case of at least two of us, very close family members found themselves in the opposite sides of the war.
So Mr Hasib, while you ’saw’ Bengalis slaughtering Urdu-speakers as 5-year old, I too can speak of losses on both sides.
And none of the stories I heard, and nothing I read in any serious academic writing, condradict the fact that the Pakistan Army, and the Al Badr/Al Shams death squads perpetrated an organised genocide.
As for Mujahid being questioned on live TV - about time. Jamaatis have been very clever in avoiding questioning on live TV or other such close media scrutiny. I’m glad to see that this is changing.
Mujahid’s claim that they’ll ally with anyone for power is consistent with their actions, and their stated views (available for anyone willing to read their publications). Since the 1980s, everyone have made alliance with Jamaat for short-term tactical gains. So none of our politicians and non-political leaders have the moral high ground in this regard. But better late than never I hope.
August 2nd, 2007 at 9:15 am
And? Is there no follow up on this from the government? Any information on what, if anything, is being done about this?
August 2nd, 2007 at 2:13 pm
The story just came out in the Daily Star today, buried in one of the inner pages. It wasn’t on their web home page either. Guess they have a funny idea as to what constitutes a major story.
May I request that Drishtipat admins focus attention on this news item?
August 2nd, 2007 at 2:34 pm
Dear zeeshan
also visit the following site (http://www.hrcbm.org/) to learn more about the atrocities being committed in free Bangladesh against religious minorities on a daily basis, these miscreants mostly are the same people motivated by the rajakars & their cronies, on a side note let me share a true story of a Hindu family I had the pleasure to know while visiting my uncle (he had traveled to Kolkata like many Bangladeshis for a medical procedure) couple of years back, the surgeon in a watery eye told me the story of his 6 uncles ( all doctors) brutally murdered by the Pak Army and their cronies during the war, his father was lucky enough to escape with his life and ultimately settled in West Bengal, stories like this have been repeated thousand of times, my question is how do we envision a prosperous Bangladesh when millions of dead soul are crying out in pain for the justice they never received.
August 3rd, 2007 at 6:24 am
Mash,
A bit late in the day, but thank you for that comment about the figures.
My personal knowledge is that TECHNICALLY Hasib is right. The funniest part is that there is no factual basis for a lower figure either. I always wonder why detractors claiming that the figure isn’t accurate always assume that the it can’t be HIGHER than the 3 million figure (and I’m not saying 3 million is wrong). If accuracy is all that you’re worried about, then surely a case can be made for that. But of course people who say these sort of things care little about accuracy and more about how to belittle our sacrifice.
Part of the fault lies with us. I don’t think any govt. has yet undertaken a thorough investigation into the matter to settle it once and for all. In the meantime, one Pakistani “white paper” after another is published, revising the number upwards 1000 at a time, a real insult if ever there was one.
Btw, I do believe that the GoB official position is “3 million”. I’d watch out for “anti-state” activities if I were you Mr. Hasib :). Joke, don’t get too worked up!
August 4th, 2007 at 7:18 am
Dear Mash, AsifY and others,
I’m fully in support of Hasib’s view about the Shaheed numbers. Hasib maybe 5 years and the others in this forum mostly in that group or little younger or older. But I’m one of the outliers by age of this group. I was about 17 year at the time of liberatin war. I told many times in this forum I was a very passionate teen age organizers of liberation war. I know what happened, much more than most folks.
The numbers of Shaheed, beeranga or raped women what we know, uttered everyday in millions of mouth and inscribed in zillions of pages are blatantly false. I had once authored an article published in Bengali Weekly of New York titled ” Shaheed Shakha Ebong Shwadinatar Itehash Bikriti” There I talked detail about all these numbers and those numbers remind me the popoular lines from Bengali Puthi “…Lakhe Lakhe Shainnaya More Katare Katar Shumar Koria Dheki Matro Koyek Hazar….”
The total number of our martyrs is no way beyond 2-4 lakhs, and the rape of women may be some scores of thousands. In my article dozens of statistics and logics I put why those numbers are so laughble phantom figures. We are not only most corrupted natiton on the earth but also the most stupid nation of the world. These numbers, especially the number 3 million shaheed came from the holy mouth of our Demi-God Sheik Mujib; so it’s now an unquestionable untouchable, truer than any historical truth or research data, as if, trying to be cynical about what had been told the leader is sin.
We don’t even think that the number came out as a slip of tongue by Sheik Mujib. while traslating 3 lakhs in English by mistake he just uttered 3 million. This mistake was alluded by Sheik Mujib’s one of the closest associate ex-MP of late Mr. Mohaimen who was present in the news debreifing when the firt 3 million numbered came out and later in printed media and then on continued to be the same without any statistical exercise.
Did Pakistani army have the target of killing the exact 3 million Bengalees? How come! they, counting head by head, killed 3 million. How these numbers came to be a such an unique round figure! If that number would have true number based on counting it could never have been a round figure 3 million and we would have other numbers with it like some thousands, hundreds and so on. We have 68,000 villages and so to get 3 million Shaheed, every single village have to have 44 shaheeds. This is totally absurd.
If there had been 3 million death in that year the population growth in that year would have been a negative number. But after 1971 inter-year population census report says that population growth in that year was niether a negative number nor zero, rather it was positive number.
Moreover, Sheik Mujib government had tried to figure out the actual martyrs number. Pilot project was taken up in some thanas to count the Shaheed numbers. But after some works in pilot areas the full protocol, for some reason, didn’t proceed further. The pilot study reports showed the average number of shaheed per thana was around 200-300. We have almost 400 thanas in Bangladesh. So the total numbers comes closer to 80,000 to 1,20,000. The pilot study result won’t give the exact number but we can have some idea. I believe the number can’t be more 2-4 lakhs any way.
Negating the 3 million I’m not diminishing the crime of barabaric Pakistani army. The sin of killing one innocent person to me as the sin of killing of entire humanity. I’m trying to talk about the truth and objective historical facts. By inflating the number of Shaheed Sheik Mujibe really had fathered himself as the father of distortion of history. He was the pioneer of distortion of history. And he did the greatest mischiefs by cheapening our martyrs because the greater the supply of any stuff, lesser is its value, as per economic or trade low. As the number is astronomic, who cares about our cheapened too many martyrs. It’s not thinkable or feasible if any governement wants to do some rehabilitative or welfare program for the Shaheed family because it be too gigantic job.
Thanks.
August 4th, 2007 at 2:49 pm
Bitterboy,
Last night after I read your comment on how Hindus in Bangladesh are going to India to “get a good life”, I was on the verge of posting a really harsh personal comment. I refrained.
Now you’ve earned it. You are a digusting human being.
“I believe the number can’t be more 2-4 lakhs any way.
Negating the 3 million I’m not diminishing the crime of barabaric Pakistani army. The sin of killing one innocent person to me as the sin of killing of entire humanity. I’m trying to talk about the truth and objective historical facts. By inflating the number of Shaheed Sheik Mujibe really had fathered himself as the father of distortion of history”
Your logic - both about OUR Hindu citizens and about the figures - is riddled with soo many, SO many holes that it’s not worth my time to point those out.
I will say this though: dislike Mujib all you want, don’t take it out on the people of Bangladesh who died.
You BELIEVE its 2-4 lakh? Well I believe it’s 3 million. So sue me.
Once again, I am flabbergasted at someone who was against what the GDNC did, who thinks Hindus are not persecuted actively and who uses mere sophism to under-estimate our sacrifice and then says, “I’m not diminishing the crime of the Pakistani army”. Sir, it’s people like you who enabled those crimes to take place in the first place by buying every little piece of bulls*** that the Punjabi ruling elite told you in the 60s!
August 4th, 2007 at 4:04 pm
bitterboy, simply pathetic.
Your “calculations” are bizarre. You say:
As I noted, most studies put the numbers of Bengali dead between 800,000 to 3 million. Here is a web site that nicely compiles death tolls from conflicts, including the Bangladesh Liberation War, and cites sources of the research:
http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat2.htm#Bangladesh
The median of the research is 1,250,000.
Gerndercide has a case study of the war here:
http://www.gendercide.org/case_bangladesh.html
You might do well to read it. Here’s a quote from the study to whet your sophist’s tongue:
The numbers you cite for the rapes of our sisters and mothers is criminal. No one serious has tried to claim that “some scores of thousands” of women were raped. Serious studies put the numbers between 200,000 to 400,000. From Gendercide:
I second most of what AsifY said except for the following:
I will point out that AsifY’s “belief” is backed by serious studies while your “belief” is based on a familiar lie that has been propagated throughout the post-liberation period by an element in Bangladeshi society who miss their West Pakistani masters and continue to do their bidding.
August 4th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
Lastly, just to show the absolute moral bankruptcy of bitterboy’s argument, here’s a direct quote from Yahya Khan:
“Kill 3 million of them and the rest will eat out of our hands!”
But people like bitterboy still ask the DUMBEST questions possible: “Did Pakistani army have the target of killing the exact 3 million Bengalees?”
Hey bitterboy, how many Muslim Punjabis died during Partition in 1947? Show me a non-rounded figure. Never heard you or anyone doubt that figure!
August 4th, 2007 at 4:53 pm
I have no doubt that bitterboy & his likes are part of the sophisticated Jamati mouthpiece in our own backyard, they have been distorting facts for a very long time, the optimistic news is that it seems their days are numbered, looks like our country is finally waking up to the truth about the ideology of these miscreants
August 4th, 2007 at 6:35 pm
Asif Matin, there is bitter irony in your use of the word “miscreants”
Bitterboy’s argument that a large death toll “cheapens” the atrocity or the value of each life is bordering on insanity. It is very similar to what many holocaust deniers say:
You, bitterboy cheapen the memory of the dead by claiming they never existed, by not acknowledging their passing. What you nicely gloss over in your apologia for the Pakistan army and the razakars is that by lowering the number of those killed you reduce the accountability of the Pakistani army and the razakars. I guess more you murder the less it means.Hey, why kill 1 person when you can kill 100.
You cheapen the value of every human life by your little misguided calculation: you hold the level of atrocity constant and ascribe lesser value to each human life. Most human beings, and statisticians, would do the reverse: they would hold the value of each human life constant and then consider one facet of the magnitude of the atrocity by how many were brutally killed. Your macabre formulation of comparing our martyrs to “the supply of any stuff” really exposes your agenda.
Asif Matin is right. This kind of revisionism has festered in Bangladeshi society for too long, feeding on the bowels of society. These deniers of history belong in the dustbin of history - only idiots would listen to their sophistry.
August 4th, 2007 at 7:02 pm
Mash, Asif Matin,
Please note how much of this is simply armchair academics. He claims to know all this not because he has gone and done work on the ground in Bangladesh, but by sitting in America and trying to make sense of it within his own limited imagination, bound by his own biases - political and personal alike. He hasn’t published his writings in Bangladeshi dailies or for a peer-reviewed journal, but in New York Bangla dailies whose readership is limited and whose editorial standards are unknown.
I repeat: instead of doing complex mathematics that can be torn apart by anyone, go down to Bangladesh and talk to the survivors before it’s too late. Then we’ll see whether all villages have 44 Shaheeds or not!
Till then, don’t bother intelligent people with your speculations.
August 4th, 2007 at 9:31 pm
Hi Dear Folks,
Don’t get too outraged. Food for anger is your gray-matter. The more people get angry the more they behave-like moron.
With humble ability I’m trying to let others know the facts what I know. Telling lies again and again, the lies get the color of truth and ultimately sold as truth. So is the 3 million shaheed number and 2-3 lakh number of women raped.
Bangalee is the nation of Huzug or emotion. It’s true, though it was told by Sheik Hasina once as she attributed this title on us while critizing the media about Share-Market fall at the initial year of her rule.
Time is passing by but still we can’t change our gene or blood feats. It’s time to get changed. If we still stick to our old negative features of sentimentalism or emotional attachement we can’t move forward. It’s time for looking forward and be objective in every analysis of our life and historical events.
Mash #19, has a link and qoute to tutor me like,
“Gerndercide has a case study of the war here:
http://www.gendercide.org/case_bangladesh.html
You might do well to read it. Here’s a quote from the study to whet your sophist’s tongue: The number of dead in Bangladesh in 1971 was almost certainly well into seven figures. It was one of the worst genocides of the World War II era, outstripping Rwanda (800,000 killed) and probably surpassing even Indonesia (1 million to 1.5 million killed in 1965..”
but Mr. Mash your link would look like to me “Maar Kaache Mammar Bareer Galpo” because what I know and said is not based on research by someone coming from killos of killometers away for the sake of jobs, thesess or degrees. My data is not for such personal gains. One is very objective what was seen by physically being in the field versus other what is based on browsing on books or surfing on imagination.
Mash, are you aware of the genocides report of the last century in either News Week or Times [I can't remember exactly] that published couple years back? And that report didn’t have any mention of Bangladesh genocide in the top 10 greatest genocides of last century. And that list had mention of Vietnam genocide by Polpot but out ours by Pakistani Army. Was it believable to you? At least not to me, because I had been in the field of corpses stewn around. I have seen dead bodies floating in the rivers, drying and decomposing in the farm-lands; known and searched for many people taken away from home and missed for ever. So all you present doesn’t pass the acid-test and so before buying in anything you should probe and reprobe it.
AsifY as you refer to Yahya’s qoute, it’s believable that basis of your 3 million is the Yahya’s qoute and have no objectivity at all.
If any of you are sincere enough to prove or disprove my assumption just do a simple research and honestly present your findings. Ask your living fathers, uncles, elder brothers like me or grandfathers how many Shaheed or martyrs they have in their own village. Take the sample of minimum twenty villages and extrapolate it for 68,000 villages you will get the approximate number. I’m sure none of your fathers, uncles, grandfathers, brother didn’t forget their fellow villagers who died for the country. If do it honestly and sincerely you will find the answer. If you can prove me wrong I will sincerely apologize to all or ready to take any punishment.
That three million figure was a mistake and mere slip of tongue is not my statement. It was disclosed by late Mr Mohaimen, one of Sheik Mujib’s closest associates, Ex-MP of Noakhali area and an intellectual. Before you challenge me, try to know about his works, honesty and integrity.
I was never in any way affiliated with the killers. I reiterate, I value every human life equally, irrespective of one born with silver spoon in its mouth or born with nothing but mother’s very loving index or middle fingers to feed them. I consider the sin of killing an innocent is like the sin of killing entire humanity and saving an innocent is like saving the entire humanity.
I was a far greater fan of late Sheik Mujib, than you folks. As I have later found him lieing to nation and saw in my own eyes an OBISHANGBADITAANETA-TURNED TYRANT I turned away my loyalty to him. I have seen how his different petwa-bahini prominently Rakkhi bahini killed people mericilessly and brutalized. As I’m progressive and loyal to the Lord and have uncessant love for His best creation The Humans, I lend my support to somebody at some point and again waste no time withdraw my endorsement based on my objective observation of their activities if it goes against set criteria for respect and loyalty.
I have profound respect for the people who got killed for their country, right or wrong, as their intention was pure. I used to sob seeing the neglected breaking apart concrete epitaph of one of the greatest heros and reknown Muktijoddahs, Shaheed Nazrul Islam who was a student leader of Dhaka college and killed in Doudkandi. His epitaph was on the Baoshia Ferighat[Dhaka side of Doudkandi Ferigat]. We are too busy to respect the unique one Sheik Mujib who really cheapened all the martyrs and now who cares about others who are too many, in millions! This is kind of pecuncy of mind we have!
I’m no way diminishing the scale of the criminality of perpetrators but hate farcical propaganda and distortion of truth. I believe in justice and if possible,foregiveness but never in revenge. Forgiveness is appreciated in all cultures, languages and religions and it’s sometimes essential for own good, peace, prosperity, reconcilliation and survival, example is SA. That’s why it is said,” Forgiveness is virtue/Samaah Kareem/Khomah-e- Mahatta.”
I solicit foregiveness and reconcilliation for living in peace, prosperity and harmonial society.
Thanks.
August 5th, 2007 at 12:41 am
Bitterboy,
I don’t have to prove a thing. The very government who recognises my right to citizenship backs me in my statement that it is 3 million. If the burden of proof is on anyone, it’s on you.
Calling reality “lies, lies and more damned lies” does not make it any less real. I should ask my uncles and fathers? No sir, I have had enough of your generation and its covert shame at being Bangladeshi: one half goes and hides it away under some sort of “internationalism” while the other half is like you saying things like “hujugey Bangali” (O, Mujib re gali galaaj korey Hasina’r kotha patta den? Apni shotti ek ajob cheez bhai!), “effeminate Bangali” or some other stupid generalization fed to you by years of domination. I prefer my own generation and insha’Allah you will not be able to inject that shame into us.
Please never talk to me again.
August 5th, 2007 at 1:46 am
Let’s take a step back and think about how this discussion has evolved.
The post is about Mujahid, Jamaat’s number 2 man, claiming that he was a bystander during the War and that his party will someday publicly evaluate its action during the War. The post demanded the trial of war criminals. Someone wanted a trial of those responsible for atrocities against Urdu-speakers and then it has become whether 3 million were killed or was a it a few lakhs. And true to his form, Bitterboy hasn’t forgotten to have his 2-cents on Sheikh Mujib.
So what if the actual number those killed by the Pak Army or its allies a lot less than 3 million? Let’s say it is 300,000, or even 30,000 - so what? Does it make a lesser crime?
No one, not even Pakistani generals, claim that there was no indiscriminate killing. Kill a lot of Bengalis and the situation would be under control - this was their very gameplan. Yakub Khan was sent to do this in the first week of March. He refused because he said that lakhs of civilians would die and it would still not solve the issue. Tikka Khan was sent to do what Yakub Khan wouldn’t do. This is well-documented history.
And this is where the Pakistan army’s actions in 1971 is different from all the other atrocities in the modern history of the subcontinent. The army, a disciplined and well-trained force, was ordered to go into an area, round up the people, and shoot them down. Did the army have a plan to kill 3 million people? Well they had a plan to kill a lot of people.
As for the death squads like Al Badr and Al Shams, they had their lists of known local anti-Jamaat people, who were picked up by the squads or the army and never heard of again. This is also a pre-mediated action, and is different from the atrocities like partition riots.
Partition riots, and the anti-Urdu speaking pogroms by Bengalis - yes, there were such events - were mob actions. As deplorable and regrettable as they are, this is not even in the same ball park as the pre-planned actions of the Pak Army and its death squad allies.
And finally, Bitterboy, how about letting go of Sheikh Mujib? Why not practise a bit of forgiveness and let go? I recall once you raised him on a thread on Ekushey TV. Maybe your words would be a bit more credible if you didn’t support things like 15 August massacre.
August 5th, 2007 at 11:00 am
Around 150,000 regular soldiers and irregular gunmen were employed to carry out one of the worst democides on the face of the earth to date in 1971.
3,000,000 people are claimed to be killed.
The figure demands that 20 people were killed by each soldier/razakar, in a time span of 266 days.
That figure demands, one soldier/razakar killed a bangali every 13 days.
Was that too difficult for trigger-happy Paki soldiers and their hind-licking Razakars? Take the case of the razakar who killed 127 people in a single morning, among them the father of the ex-state minister Asadul Habib Dulu. Dulu later welcomed the murderer of his father, who quitted Jamaat and joined BNP, with garlands. His elder brother Ashabul Habib was an eye-witness of the murder and filed a case against the murderer which was never pursued in a decent manner by the then govt. Killing 127 people a day was not very tough a task for an armed razakar. And people like bitterboy are whining about the average figure of 0.075188 (20 murders over 266 days).
August 5th, 2007 at 3:39 pm
My humble request to my fellow like minded friends is please write to your respective senators & congressmen to expose the criminals (perpetrator of the 71 war) living amongst us in opulence (they still influence the political & social outcome in Bangladesh through their proxies) while the victims family pass each and everyday in agony.