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
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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