27 March 2017 World supplement

DT 

VOL1, ISSUE 9 | Monday, March 27, 2017 

World Tribune 

government archive 

2 

Int’l media, politics 

behind the 1971 war 

3 

Atrocious genocides in 

history 

7 

Bangladesh seeks to 

remember what Pakistan 

wants to forget

DT 




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history 

7 



wants to forget

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history 

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wants to forget

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Monday, March 27, 2017 

DT 

Insight 

Int’l media, politics behind the 1971 war 

• Anando Mostofa 

The 1971 Liberation War was the 

result of struggle for independence 

of the Bangalis of East Pakistan 

for over 20 years which finally established 

the People’s Republic of 

Bangladesh. The war witnessed 

large-scale atrocities, genocide 

that claimed over 3m lives, exodus 

of 10m refugees, displacement of 

30m people and massive destruction 

of properties, in only nine 

months. The war broke out just before 

the midnight of March 25, 1971, 

when the Pakistani Army launched 

a crackdown called “Operation 

Searchlight” against the Bengali 

civilians, students, intellectuals 

and armed personnel, who were 

demanding that the military junta 

accept the results of the first democratic 

elections in Pakistan in 1970 

won by the Awami League. Awami 

League President Bangabandhu 

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had declared 

the independence of Bangladesh 

just before the operation was 

launched and got arrested. 

The international mass media 

played a vital role in Bangladesh’s 

War of Independence. The London 

Times, the Sunday Times, the 

Guardian, the Sunday Observer, 

the Daily Mirror and the Daily Telegraph 

were helping in spreading the 

news of genocide and expedite cooperation 

among the international 

community to support Bangladesh. 

The concert for Bangladesh which 

had raised much international 

awareness was organised by Pandit 

Ravi Shankar and George Harrison 

in New York in August 1971. 

International Politics 

The two super powers, the Union of 

Social Soviet Russia (USSR) and the 

US, which dominated a largely bipolar 

world until the middle of 1980s 

played a significant role in the 1971 

Liberation War. On the other hand, 

the UN had not taken any action to 

stop genocide in Bangladesh. The 

people of Bangladesh fought for 

their liberation at the height of the 

cold war. Among the five permanent 

members of the Security Council, the 

US and China had directly supported 

Pakistan, Soviet Union stood for 

Bangladesh, while UK and France, 

despite showing sympathy for Bangladesh, 

could not openly challenge 

the US, and hence, abstained from 

voting. This deep division among 

the permanent members had completely 

paralysed the Security Council. 

The neighbouring country, India, 

has played a significant role in favour 

of Bangladesh. 

The role of Soviet Russia 

The response of Soviet Union to the 

1971 crisis in East Pakistan was conditioned 

by the general Soviet policy 

with regard to Asia in the 1960s. It 

was a policy of growing involvement, 

initially undertaken to contain US 

influence in Asia, but increasingly 

directed at stemming the diplomatic 

and military as well as ideological advance 

of China which at that time was 

emerging as the Soviet Union’s principal 

rival in the Third World. 

The Soviet Union’s close tie with 

India was vital in shaping the Soviet 

response towards the East Pakistan 

crisis in 1971. The relatively high priority 

given by the Soviet policy makers 

was the consequence of their perception 

of the contemporary world 

and Asia, and the proper Soviet role 

in both the world and Asian dimensions 

as a great power. Thus behind 

all that happened in the sub-continent 

over the 1971 Bangladesh struggle 

“was a power struggle between 

China and the Soviet Union and a 

strategic conflict between Moscow 

and Washington.” In South Asia during 

December 1971 the Soviet Union 

seemed to have gained most from 

this three-cornered fight. 

The role of US 

The US played a more complex and 

somewhat negative role in the 1971 

war. Nevertheless, it should be noted 

that the US society’s response was 

one of positive support contradicting 

the state’s negative role. In the 

pluralist and open society of the US, 

influential and articulate segments 

stood solidly behind the cause of 

Bangladesh. As the crisis developed, 

the American response went through 

several discernible phases. 

The first phase of quiet non-involvement 

began on March 25 and 

lasted roughly until July 8, 1971. 

During this phase, the US posture 

was “neutral” and it described the 

problem in East Bengal as Pakistan’s 

“internal matter.” 

The second phase started with 

the secret trip by President Nixon’s 

National Security Adviser Henry 

Kissinger to China during July 9-10, 

1971. This marked the real beginnings 

of the Sino-US detente and led indirectly 

to the formalisation of Indo-Soviet 

alliance by a treaty in August. 

During this phase, which lasted until 

September, the US pursued diplomacy 

of restraint, counselling India to 

desist from armed conflict with Pakistan 

and privately pressing Pakistan 

to thrash out a “political settlement” 

of the East Pakistan issue. 

During the third phase, lasting 

from September until December 3, 

when the Indo-Pakistan war over 

Bangladesh broke out, the US attempted 

to promote a constructive 

political dialogue between the Pakistani 

military government and the 

Bengali nationalist leaders in India, 

but in vain. 

President Nixon ordered a task 

force of eight naval ships, led by the 

nuclear aircraft carrier Enterprise, 

to sail into the Bay of Bengal in a 

“show of force.” In response, On 

December 13, Russia dispatched a 

nuclear-armed flotilla, the 10th Operative 

Battle Group (Pacific Fleet) 

from Vladivostok. Russia deployed 

two task groups; in total two cruisers, 

two destroyers, six submarines, 

and support vessels. A group of Il- 

38 ASW aircraft from Aden air base 

in Yemen provided support. 

The Role of International Media 

The Liberation War was fought 

not only by the brave “Mukti Bahini” 

within Bangladesh but also 

supported through the coverage it 

received in the international media 

and artists. Journalists brought 

home to the people of the world the 

stories of the trials and sacrifices of 

the heroic people of Bangladesh, 

During liberation war, the international response in the media in turn drew the attention of political leaders all over the world, 

motivated public opinion and led to editorial comments in diverse newspapers Janmojuddho 71 

and the tribulations they were facing 

under the insensitive and brutal 

military administration of the occupying 

armed forces of Pakistan. 

On March 25, 1971, the Pakistani 

military forcibly confined all 

foreign reporters to the Hotel Intercontinental 

(currently the Rupashi 

Bangla) in Dhaka, the night 

the military launched its genocide 

campaign. The reporters were able 

to see the tank and artillery attacks 

on civilians through the windows. 

Two days later, as Dhaka burned 

the reporters were expelled from the 

country – their notes and tapes were 

confiscated. One of the expelled reporters 

was Sidney Schanberg of the 

New York Times. He would return to 

Dhaka in June 1971 to report on the 

massacres in towns and villages. He 

would again be expelled by the Pakistan 

military at the end of June. 

Two foreign reporters escaped 

the roundup on March 25. One of 

them was Simon Dring of the Daily 

Telegraph. He evaded capture 

by hiding on the roof of the Hotel 

Intercontinental. Dring was able to 

extensively tour Dhaka the next day 

and witness first-hand the slaughter 

that was taking place. Days later 

he was able to leave East Pakistan 

with his reporter’s notes. On March 

30, 1971, the Daily Telegraph published 

Simon Dring’s front page story 

of the slaughter in Dhaka that the 

army perpetrated in the name of 

“God and a united Pakistan.” 

In April 1971, the Pakistan Army 

flew in eight Pakistani reporters from 

West Pakistan for guided tours with 

the military. Their mission was to tell 

the story of normalcy. The reporters 

went back to West Pakistan after 

their tour and dutifully filed stories 

declaring all was normal in East Pakistan. 

However, one of the reporters 

had a crisis of conscience. This 

reporter was Anthony Mascarenhas, 

the assistant editor of West Pakistani 

newspaper Morning News. 

On May 18, 1971, Mascarenhas 

flew to London and walked into the 

offices of the Sunday Times offering 

to write the true story of what he had 

witnessed in East Pakistan. On June 

13 the Sunday Times published a front 

page and centre page story entitled 

“Genocide.” It was the first detailed 

eyewitness account of the genocide 

published in a western newspaper. 

In June 1971, under pressure and 

in need of economic assistance, Pakistan 

allowed a World Bank team 

to visit East Pakistan. The World 

Bank team reported back that East 

Pakistan lay in ruins. One member 

of the team reported that the East 

Pakistani town of Kushtia looked 

“like a World War II German town 

having undergone strategic bombing 

attacks” as a result of the Pakistani 

army’s “punitive action” on 

the town. He also reported that the 

army “terrorises the population, 

particularly aiming at the Hindus 

and suspected members of the 

Awami League.” The Word Bank 

president, Robert McNamara, suppressed 

the public release of the 

report. The report was leaked to the 

New York Times. 

Despite the Pakistani military’s 

best efforts at hiding the truth about 

their genocide campaign against Bangalis, 

reports filtered out of East Pakistan 

to the outside world – thanks 

in part to the efforts of determined 

foreign news reporters. Following 

are the foreign newspaper reports 

from the beginning of the genocide in 

March 1971 to its end. They chronicle 

the bloody birth of Bangladesh. • 

The writer had to go through a number of 

old newspapers and get different accounts 

of researchers for this article. The writer 

also expresses his gratitude towards Omi 

Rahman Pial (Liberation war researcher). 

Date and event references collected 

from Genocide archive, Janmojuddho 71, 

Kagooj, and a JU Journal.

Facts 

3 


DT 

Atrocious genocides in history 

• Md Toufiqul Islam 

Mankind is capable of great things. 

Love, compassion and empathy 

have allowed species to flourish 

and to survive. Human are also capable 

of horrible things as well genocide, 

mass murder and war. While 

we may like to talk about all the 

great achievements of man, we can 

never forget some of the most horrible 

moments as well if only so we 

never repeat it again. Here are some 

of the worst genocide’s committed 

by mankind. 

Native American genocide (1492- 

1900) 

It is impossible to determine exactly 

how many natives were present 

in the Americas before the arrival 

of Christopher Columbus; but even 

conservative estimates usually put 

the number at a minimum of one 

million. In the years following 1492, 

a deluge of Europeans arrived, 

each wave more determined than 

The holocaust 

the last to seize control of the New 

World’s vast natural resources. The 

only thing standing in their way 

were the native populations, who, 

as it turned out, weren’t always 

willing to share. 

Zunghar genocide (1757-1758) 

The Dzungar genocide was the 

mass extermination of the Dzungar 

people, sometimes referred 

as “Zunghars”, at the hands of the 

Manchu Qing dynasty of China and 

the Uyghur Muslims of Xinjiang. 

The Dzungars were a confederation 

of several Tibetan Buddhist Oirat 

tribes that emerged suddenly in 

the early 17th century. The Dzungar 

Khanate was the last great nomadic 

empire in Asia. Some scholars estimate 

that about 80% of the Dzungar 

population, or around 500,000 

to 800,000 people, were killed by a 

combination of warfare and disease 

during or after the Qing conquest 

in 1755–1757. After wiping out the 

native population of Dzungaria, 

the Qing government then resettled 

Han Chinese, Hui, Uyghur, and Xibe 

people on state farms in Dzungaria 

along with Manchu Bannermen to 

repopulate the area. 

Moriori genocide (1835) 

The Maori are the indigenous Polynesian 

people of New Zealand. 

They have dwelled in the area for 

some eight hundred years. About 

five hundred years ago, a group 

of Maori migrated to the nearby 

Chatham Islands, where they began 

their own society that focused on 

peaceful living. They called themselves 

the Moriori. 

The remaining, warlike Maori 

tribes soon came into contact with 

Americans and Europeans, and 

while initial meetings sometimes 

ended in cannibalization of the foreigners, 

the Maoris highly valued 

Western guns—so trade flourished. 

Beginning in 1835, the now wellarmed 

Maori arrived at the Chatham 

Islands, where they proceeded to 

murder and devour their defenceless 

cousins. Those who survived 

were enslaved, and forced to intermarry 

with the Maori. In less than 

thirty years from the moment of 

contact, there were only 101 Moriori 

left. The last pure-blooded Moriori 

died in 1933. 

Moriori genocide 

Armenian genocide (1915) 

The Ottoman Empire, whose centre 

point during its declining years 

was modern-day Turkey, was responsible 

for a great many human 

rights violations—none more horrifying 

than the Armenian Genocide. 

Beginning in 1915, while the 

rest of the world was distracted 

by World War One, the Ottomans 

turned fiercely on the Armenians, 

a Christian minority. Between 1915- 

1916, an estimated 1.5 million Armenians, 

or 75% of Armenians in 

their historic homeland which lies 

within the present-day Republic of 

Turkey, were killed in massacres or 

died as a consequence of military 

deportations, forced marches and 

mass starvation’s carried out by the 

Young Turks. 

The holocaust (1942-45) 

Since ancient times, the Jews have 

been highly persecuted by Egyptians, 

Romans, and Christians alike. 

But few genocides have been as 

sweeping or well-documented as 

the Nazi Holocaust, Adolf Hitler’s 

“final solution to the Jewish question.” 

It is important to understand the 

socioeconomic state of Germany in 

the years following World War One; 

the country had acquired a massive 

Native American genocide 

Zunghar genocide 

debt, and forced war reparations 

utterly destroyed their economy. 

Inflation was so bad that normal 

families’ entire life savings were depleted 

on few loaves of bread. 

The Holocaust perpetrated 

against the Jewish people by the 

Nazis resulted in about 6 million 

Jews killed. In other words, 67% of 

the entire Jewish population in Europe. 

Bangladesh atrocities 

Pygmy genocide 

Armenian genocide 

Bangladesh atrocities (1971) 

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. 

During the ninemonth-long 

Bangladesh war for 

independence, members of the Pakistani 

military and supporting Islamist 

militias from Jamaat e Islami 

killed an estimated up to 3,000,000 

people and raped between 200,000 

and 400,000 Bangladeshi women 

in a systematic campaign of genocidal 

rape. 

Rwandan genocide (1994) 

Like the Maori and Moriori, the Hutus 

and the Tutsi likely originated 

from common ancestors—offshoots 

of the Bantu people. In fact, there 

was little delineation between the 

two at all before the arrival of Belgian 

and German imperialists. The 

Europeans divided the two groups 

mostly by economic status, with 

Tutsis being wealthier (the ownership 

of ten cattle being the base requirement). 

Indeed, if a Hutu came 

into money, he could change his 

status to that of a Tutsi. 

An estimated 500,000– 

1,000,000 Rwandans were killed 

during the 100-day period from 

April 7 to mid-July 1994, constituting 

as many as 70% of the Tutsi and 

20% of Rwanda’s total population. 

Some 50 perpetrators of the genocide 

have been found guilty by the 

International Criminal Tribunal for 

Rwandan genocide 

Rwanda, but most others have not 

been charged due to no witness accounts. 

Another 120,000 were arrested 

by Rwanda; of these, 60,000 

were tried and convicted in the gacaca 

court system. 

Pygmy genocide (1998-2003) 

The pygmy tribes are found in central 

Africa, and while they comprise 

several tribes, the general term 

is used to describe people whose 

adult males are less than fifty-nine 

inches tall. Although there are several 

theories as to the reason for 

their tiny stature, no one has truly 

pinpointed the reason. 

The pygmies, who are a largely 

primitive, forest dwelling people, 

have suffered terribly during Congolese 

civil wars fought in the region. 

Pygmy representatives have 

appealed desperately to the United 

Nations, claiming that rebel factions 

such as the Movement for the 

Liberation of the Congo have been 

hunting and cannibalising their 

people as though they were wild 

animals. There are only an estimated 

500,000 pygmies remaining, 

and their numbers are sharply declining 

in the face of slaughter and 

deforestation. •

4 


DT 

Week in Review 

Drought-hit Kenyans burn 

March 20 

Cambodia suspends human 

breast milk exports to US 

Cambodia has temporarily stopped an American company from exporting locally-pumped 

human breast milk, after reports highlighted how some of the country’s 

poorest women were supplementing their income through the trade. 

Utah-based company Ambrosia Labs claims to be the first of its kind to export 

human breast milk sourced overseas into the US for mothers who want to supplement 

their babies’ diets or cannot supply enough of their own milk. 

The milk is collected in Cambodia, frozen and shipped to the States where it is 

pasteurised and sold by the company for $20 each 5 oz (147 ml) pack. 

But on Monday Cambodia’s customs department confirmed it had halted exports. 

“We have asked them (the company) to contact the Ministry of Health because 

the product comes from a human organ, so it needs permission from the Ministry 

of Health but they did not get it yet,” Kun Nhem, General Director of Customs and 

Excise, said. 


Putin meets France’s Le 

Pen in Moscow 

President Vladimir Putin met French far-right presidential 

candidate Marine Le Pen as she visited 

Moscow on Friday, with the Russian leader stressing 

that the Kremlin does not meddle in France’s 

politics. 

Le Pen’s meeting with Putin, their first, according to 

Moscow, comes a month before the first round of the 

French presidential vote and as she tries to boost her 

international status by meeting with world leaders. 

“We by no means want to influence the current 

events but we reserve the right to communicate with 

all representatives of all political forces of the country,” 

Putin said, according to a Kremlin-issued transcript. 

AFP 

AFP 


Taiwan launches submarine 

project in face of China threat 

Taiwan’s president Tsai Ing-wen launched the island’s first ever 

home-grown submarine project Tuesday in the face of what the 

government says are growing military threats from China. 

The move comes after China sent its only aircraft carrier, the 

Liaoning, through the Taiwan Strait in January, in one of a number 

of military drills held as relations deteriorate. 

Taiwan last week warned of an increased invasion risk from 

China and has pledged to boost its military in response. 

Tsai called the launch of the submarine plan a “historic moment” 

at a naval base in southern city of Kaohsiung. 

She was presiding over a formal signing ceremony to initiate 

the project between the navy, Taiwanese shipbuilder CSBS Corporation 

and the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and 

Technology, which develops combat system integration. 


One shot, several injured 

in UK parliament terrorist 

incident 

A policeman was stabbed, an assailant shot and 

several people injured on Wednesday close to 

Britain’s Houses of Parliament in what police 

said they were treating as a terrorist incident. 

Reuters reporters inside the building heard 

loud bangs and shortly afterwards a Reuters 

photographer said he saw at least a dozen people 

injured on Westminster Bridge, next to parliament. 

“Officers, including firearms officers, remain 

on the scene and we are treating this as a terrorist 

incident until we know otherwise,” London’s 

Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

animal carcasses 

Week in Review 5 

DT 


Villagers in northern Kenya have begun to burn piles of animal carcases, hoping to head off an 

outbreak of disease as their livestock starve to death in the region’s worst drought in five years. 

The smell of death hangs heavily over Lake Turkana and dried animal corpses dot the cracked mud 

where the lake has receded, leaving boats stranded on the dry land. The Kenyan government said 

2.7m people are affected by the drought. It estimates 20% of livestock has died in the arid and 

semi-arid counties, an area comprising about 80% of Kenya’s landmass. 

reuters 


Polish PM warns multi-speed EU would bring ‘chaos’ 

AFP 

AFP 

Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo on Thursday said a multi-speed 

Europe would bring chaos, as the EU gears up for a 

Rome summit declaration that Poland warned it may not endorse. 

European Union leaders will plot their post-Brexit future 

at the summit this weekend, held on the occasion of the 

bloc’s 60th birthday. 

The central idea of the proposed multi-speed union is that 

some member states may choose to go faster, or slower, on 

European integration than others with regard to certain policies 

and topics. 

“The union needs to change, to correct what doesn’t work 

optimally, but we won’t make that happen through multi-speed. 

Instead of fixing the (EU) project, we would dismantle 

it,” Szydlo said in Warsaw at a conference on European integration. 


Trump’s truck driver 

moment 

Trump at the wheel of a big rig? Yes, it happened, at the White 

House. 

US President Donald Trump was rallying votes for his 

health care reform bill Thursday but made a pit stop in the 

afternoon to meet with truck drivers and trucking executives. 

During that meeting, he spent a few minutes happily exploring 

the cab of a tractor-trailer parked outside the White House. 

The 70-year-old Republican, dressed in a suit, enthusiastically 

honked the horn before pretending to drive the vehicle 

and making some funny faces, and the internet noticed, with 

#TrumpTruck getting some traction on Twitter. 

“No one knows America like truckers know America. 

You see it every day. You see every hill, and you see every 

valley and you see every pothole in our roads that have to be 

rebuilt,” he told his visitors during their meeting in the Cabinet 

Room. 


Thousands join antiabortion 

rallies in 

Romania, Moldova 

Several thousands of people took to the streets of Romania and 

Moldova in an anti-abortion March for Life on Saturday, including 

2,000 in Bucharest, police said. 

According to the organisers, rallies took place in more than 

300 towns across the two countries. 

“Women deserve better than abortion,” read one of the 

banners, while others said: “Life for the woman and life for the 

family.” 

In the Romanian capital Bucharest, young people joined with 

families and the elderly at a rally also attended by many priests 

from the powerful Orthodox church. 

“This word ‘abortion’ should not exist, it goes hand-in-hand 

with horror and death,” said a demonstrator called Alexandru 

Darie. 

Abortion was banned in Romania during the communist 

regime of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, who was killed in 1989 

after a popular rebellion pushed him from power. 

It was then legalised in 1990. That year, as many as 992,000 

abortions were registered, three times the number of births.

6 


DT 

Facts 

Speeches that shaped history 

• Tribune Desk 

From Abraham Lincoln’s 

speech on the struggle for the 

Unites States to Bangabandhu 

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s 

powerful “The struggle this 

time is for our freedom; the 

struggle this time is for independence,” 

here are the top 

five speeches that changed 

the course of the history: 

1. Abraham Lincoln 

Washington, DC, March 4, 1865 

The Union’s victory was but a 

month away as Abraham Lincoln 

began his second term 

as president of a bitterly ruptured 

US. Like the Gettysburg 

Address, Lincoln kept this 

speech only as long as needful. 

While there are those 

who still debate whether the 

Civil War was truly 

fought over slavery 

4 

or not, Lincoln certainly believed 

so. And with the war 

not quite over, he offered this 

pronouncement: 

‘’Fondly do we hope—fervently 

do we pray—that this 

mighty scourge of war may 

speedily pass away. Yet, if God 

wills that it continue, until all 

the wealth piled by the bondmen’s 

two hundred and fifty 

years of unrequited toil shall 

be sunk, and until every drop 

of blood drawn with the lash, 

shall be paid by another drawn 

by the sword, as was said three 

thousand years ago, so still it 

must be said “the judgements 

of the Lord, are true and righteous 

altogether.” 

He did not relish the 

prospect of coming victory; 

instead, he appealed to his 

countrymen to remember 

that the war was truly fought 

between brothers. When the 

war was over and the Confederacy 

forced to return to 

the Union, Lincoln was prepared 

to treat the South with 

relative leniency. He did not 

believe secession was truly 

possible, and thus the South 

had never truly left the Union. 

Reconstruction would 

not mean vengeance, but the 

return home of a terribly errant 

son. 

2. Mahatma Gandhi 

Banaras Hindu University, India, 

February 4, 1916 

Having spent many years 

outside India, Gandhi on 

return to his homeland reacquainted 

himself with 

the land of his fathers, and 

swapped his Western-style 

dress for the simple robes of 

a peasant. Until that time, 

the independence campaign 

had been largely waged by a 

clique of upper-class intellectuals 

who aped the British 

in manners, but Gandhi saw 

this was a road to nowhere. 

Invited to speak at the opening 

of the Banaras Hindu 

University in front of an audience 

of princes in elegant 

robes, and other worthies, 

some of them British, he declared: 

“There is no salvation for India 

unless you strip yourselves 

of this jewellery and hold it in 

trust for your countrymen.” 

His words outraged 

everybody – need to remember 

that this took place 

during World War I, when 

India’s princes had rallied 

to the imperial cause – but 

it was a keynote speech in 

the struggle for Indian independence, 

and helped 

transform the nature of the 

debate, and turn Gandhi into 

the movement’s spiritual 

leader. Tragically, Gandhi 

would pay for his dedication 

to the cause with his life, 

but despite the conflict that 

followed the declaration of 

Indian independence, his 

dream of an India free from 

colonial rule was achieved. 

3. Winston Churchill 

House of Commons, June 4, 

1940 

It was an absolute classic of 

a speech that Churchill made 

following the Dunkirk evacuation 

just weeks after becoming 

prime minister of the 

United Kingdom. To quote 

the most famous lines: 

“We shall fight on the seas 

and oceans ... we shall defend 

our island, whatever the cost 

may be. We shall fight on the 

beaches, we shall fight on the 

landing grounds, we shall fight 

in the fields and in the streets, 

we shall fight in the hills; we 

shall never surrender ...” 

It was, in effect, an exultation 

to the nation to pick 

itself up and start the struggle 

all over again, despite the 

setback at Dunkirk – and the 

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed’: Martin 

Luther King told a crowd in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC in 1963 

collected 

impending defeat of France. 

4. Martin Luther King 

Lincoln Memorial, Washington 

DC, August 28, 1963 

One of the most powerful 

speeches of modern times 

was that made by the black 

civil-rights leader Martin 

Luther King in front of the 

Lincoln Memorial during the 

1963 “March on Washington 

for Jobs and Freedom.” Using 

soaring Christian rhetoric, he 

told a huge audience: 

‘’I have a dream that one 

day this nation will rise up and 

live out the true meaning of its 

creed … We hold these truths 

to be self-evident, that all men 

are created equal … I have a 

dream today!” 

Tragically, the King was 

assassinated just a few years 

later, but the great thing 

about this speech is that his 

dream was eventually realised 

– even though at the 

time he spoke it was just a 

dream. 

5. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman 

Ramna Race Course Maidan, 

Dhaka, March 7, 1971 

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur 

Rahman’s historic 

March 7, 1971 speech that 

effectively declared Bangladesh’s 

independence has 

been selected as one of the 

most rousing and inspirational 

wartime speeches in 

the last 2,500 years. 

The speech delivered at 

the Race Course Maidan (now 

Suhrawardy Udyan) encouraged 

the Bangalis to start the 

bloody struggle for freedom 

that lasted for nine months. 

He spoke at a time of increasing 

tensions between 

East Pakistan and the powerful 

political and military 

establishment of West Pakistan. 

The Bangali people 

were inspired to prepare for 

a potential war of independence, 

amid widespread reports 

of armed mobilisation 

by West Pakistan. 

During the 13-minute 

speech, Awami League president 

Mujib made the most 

famous declaration: 

“Since we have shed blood, 

we shall shed more blood but we 

will free the people of this land, 

Insha-Allah [If God is willing]. 

The struggle this time is for our 

freedom; the struggle this time 

is for independence. Joy Bangla 

[Victory to Bangladesh].” 

He also announced the 

civil disobedience movement 

in the province, calling for 

“every house to turn into a 

fortress.” The war eventually 

began 18 days later, March 

25, when the Pakistan Army 

launched “Operation Searchlight” 

against Bangali civilians, 

intelligentsia, students, 

politicians and armed personnel, 

shortly after Mujib declared 

independence of Bangladesh 

through a message. • 

1 

The second inaugural address of Abraham Lincoln, given on 4 March 

1865 on the east portico of the US Capitol collected 

2 

Mahatma Gandhi gave a speech in front of an audience of princes 

in elegant robes, and other worthies, some British, which outraged 

everybody and turned him into a spiritual leader for the Indian 

independence campaign 

collected 

3 

We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds’: 

Winston Churchill made this classic speech following the Dunkirk 

evacuation just weeks before becoming prime minister in 1940 AP 

5 

Bangabandhu made the most famous declaration on March 7, 1971: ‘Since we have shed blood, we shall 

shed more blood but we will free the people of this land, Insha-Allah’ 

government archive

Analysis 

7 


DT 

Protesters attend a mass candlelight vigil around a portrait of Jahanara Imam, a late political activist pioneer widely known to bring the accused of committing war crimes in the Bangladesh Liberation War to trial, 

at Shahbagh intersection in Dhaka February 14, 2013. Thousands of protesters participating in the Shahbagh demonstration demanded capital punishment for Jamaat-e-Islami leaders awaiting a court verdict for 

war crimes committed during the 1971 Independence War 

REUTERS 

By marking Genocide Day, Bangladesh seeks 

to remember what Pakistan wants to forget 

• Anam Zakaria 

Earlier this month, Congress MP 

Shashi Tharoor boldly declared 

that Britain was suffering from 

“historical amnesia”. By censoring 

its colonial past, it was ensuring 

that younger generations grew up 

without an inkling of the atrocities 

committed by their ancestors. 

Britain’s attempt to shove its colonial 

past under the carpet is not 

unique. 

Belgium has gone through a 

similar process, reconstructing 

itself as a neutral country, and 

thereby becoming the prime candidate 

for hosting the European 

Union and North Atlantic Treaty 

Organisation headquarters, institutions 

believed to promote peace 

and stability. The country works 

hard to avoid exploring its dark 

colonial past in Congo and it is not 

alone. 

But it is not only colonisers that 

have ugly histories. Many nations 

around the world have violent 

pasts that they long to forget. Some 

choose to access those histories in 

order to heal and move on, while 

others diligently work to not only 

reconstruct their present self-image 

but also manipulate their histories 

in the process. Newer, purer 

versions are offered, carefully tailored 

and packaged to fit the state 

narratives. Pakistan’s engagement 

– or lack thereof – with its past perfectly 

encapsulates this process. 

Genocide Day 

This March 26, Bangladesh celebrated 

its 46th Independence Day. 

The date commemorates the fateful 

proclamation of separation from 

West Pakistan in March 1971. The 

night before, the Pakistan Army 

had launched Operation Searchlight 

in East Pakistan. As the name 

suggests, Operation Searchlight 

aimed to hunt down any Bengali 

who wanted a separate homeland, 

after decades of struggling for basic 

human rights under oppressive 

governments, dominated by West 

Pakistan. 

Under Operation Searchlight, 

terror spread like wildfire in East 

Pakistan. Innocent and unarmed 

Bengalis were targeted and eliminated 

one by one. The army used 

the support of Islamist parties and 

their paramilitary wings, the likes 

of Al Badr and Al Shams, to launch 

an accompanying jihad with the 

goal of purifying the Bengalis of 

Hindu influences and making them 

true Muslims and, hence, true Pakistanis. 

Mass killings and rape 

marked every street and corner. It 

is estimated that 3 million Bengalis 

and non-Bengalis were killed from 

March 1971 onwards. Operation 

Searchlight ignited an all-out war 

that served a huge blow to the West 

Pakistani establishment. By the 

end of the year, Pakistan stood utterly 

defeated both politically and 

militarily. On December 16, 1971, 

East Pakistan became Bangladesh. 

Those who had fought for their independence 

stood victorious but 

also deeply wounded by the months 

of killings, rape and bloodshed. 

On March 11, the Bangladeshi 

Parliament unanimously passed 

a motion declaring March 25, the 

night Operation Searchlight was 

launched, as Bangladesh’s Genocide 

Day, to commemorate the brutalities 

committed by West Pakistan. 

Selective memory 

Today, just as Britain resists acknowledging 

its exploitative and violent 

colonial past, Pakistan too remains 

mum on the issue. Perhaps the best 

way to ensure that the silence is 

maintained is by strategically eliminating 

any alternative discourse. This 

butchered history taints the pages of 

state textbooks. The Class 9 and Class 

10 Pakistan Studies textbook of the 

Federal Textbook Board of Islamabad 

portrays all bloodshed and instability 

as propagated by Indian-backed 

Bengalis, who have been painted as 

unruly, uncontrollable and violent. 

An excerpt reads: 

“Raging mobs took to streets… 

banks were looted and the administration 

came to a halt. Public 

servants and non-Bengali citizens 

were maltreated and murdered. 

Pakistan flag and Quaid’s portraits 

were set on fire… reign of terror, 

loot and arson was let loose. Awami 

League workers started killing 

those who did not agree with their 

Six Points Programme. Members of 

Urdu-speaking non-Bengali communities 

were ruthlessly slaughtered. 

West Pakistani businessmen 

operating in East wing were forced 

to surrender their belongings or 

killed in cold blood, their houses 

set on fire. Pro-Pakistan political 

leaders were maltreated, humiliated 

and many of them even murdered. 

Armed forces were insulted; 

authority of the state was openly 

defied and violated. Awami League 

virtually had established a parallel 

government and declared independence 

of East Pakistan.” 

Meanwhile, Pakistani leaders of 

that time, such as General Yahya 

Khan, are shown as making desperate 

attempts to negotiate with 

these “out-of-control” Bengalis. At 

one place, the book states, “Yahya 

flew to Dhaka, in a hurry; he wanted 

to make a last effort”, but he 

was received by “obviously unacceptable” 

demands put forward 

by Mujibur Rehman. The leader of 

the Awami League is dismissed as 

impractical and his requests as unrealistic. 

Further, far from acknowledging 

the atrocities committed by 

the Pakistan Army and paramilitary 

groups, the textbook states that on 

the night of March 25 and March 

26, “the Awami League militants 

committed a large scale massacre 

of West Pakistani families living in 

East Pakistan”. Later, the textbook 

complains, “Indians and Bengalis 

charged Pakistan Army with wholesale 

massacre and desecration of 

women. On December 19, 1971, 

world media teams were shown 

the dead bodies of Bengali professors, 

intellectuals and professionals 

who were allegedly killed during 

the said unrest. Large-scale killings 

were publicised in the media to defame 

Pakistan Army.” 

Ideology, not history 

No mention is made of the rape and 

murder of thousands of East Pakistani 

families. No mention is made 

of the brutality of West Pakistanis. 

Just as Hindus are portrayed as the 

sole instigators of violence in 1947, 

East Pakistanis are depicted as the 

perpetrators in 1971. 

As state policy, Pakistan has always 

done an exceptional job at 

eradicating, distorting and denying 

its history. History as a discipline 

is replaced by Pakistan Studies in 

schools so that it is ideology – and 

that too of the Islamic Republic – 

and not history that is taught. The 

Partition of 1971 is just another victim 

in this process. As Bangladesh 

celebrates its Independence Day 

and, from this year onwards, also 

commemorates Genocide Day, a 

deafening silence will engulf the 

country. The “historical amnesia” of 

its coloniser will be embraced tightly 

as one of the most powerful legacies 

left behind by the British. • 

Anam Zakaria is the author of Footprints 

of Partition: Narratives of Four 

Generations of Pakistanis and Indians.

27 March 2017 World supplement

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