1971 Bangladesh atrocities
| 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 according to Bangladeshi and Indian sources up to 3,000,000 people and raped between 200,000 and 400,000 Bangladeshi women in a systematic campaign of genocidal rape. Pakistani 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 Muslim religious leaders, who declared that Bengali women were gonimoter maal (Bengali for "public property"). 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.
...
Wikipedia