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1971 Bangladesh Genocide

1971 Bangladesh genocide
Part of the Bangladesh Liberation War
Location East Pakistan
Date 21 March – 16 December 1971
(8 months, 2 weeks and 3 days)
Target Bengali
Attack type
Deportation, ethnic cleansing, mass murder, genocidal rape
Deaths Estimated between 300,000 to 3,000,000
Perpetrators Pakistan Armed Forces
Shanti committee
Razakars
Al-Badr
Al-Shams

Coordinates: 23°N 90°E / 23°N 90°E / 23; 90

The genocide in Bangladesh began on 26 March 1971 with the launch of Operation Searchlight, as West Pakistan began a military crackdown on the Eastern wing of the nation to suppress Bengali calls for self-determination rights. During the nine-month-long Bangladesh war for independence, members of the Pakistani military and supporting Islamist militias from Jamaat-e-Islami killed up to 3,000,000 people and raped between 200,000 and 400,000 Bangladeshi women in a systematic campaign of genocidal rape. Some estimates mention the number of people killed between 300,000–500,000, and describe the 3 million number as excessively inflated. The actions against women were supported by Imams and Muslim religious leaders, who declared that Bengali women were 'war-booty'. It is estimated that up to 30 million civilians became internally displaced. During the war there was also ethnic violence between Bengalis and Urdu-speaking Biharis. Several thousand non-Bengalis were also killed during the war.

There is an academic consensus that the events which took place during the Bangladesh Liberation War constituted a genocide, and warrant judicial accountability.


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