1971: A People’s History from Bangladesh, Pakistan and India

A must read for people who want to study 1971.

Considering this book is written by a Pakistani female, I’m truly impressed with the amount of honestly, fact finding, frankness which is rare or negligent amongst most Pakistani writers barring a few like historian Ishtiaq Ahmed. Not that I fully liked this book but it’s a good beginning for the world to understand what happened in then East Pakistan especially coming from a Pakistani Punjabi who lives in Pakistan and therefore is even more gutsy & praise worthy. I’ve read other independent (non subcontinental) authors books on this subject like ‘Blood Telegram’’ and ‘Vortex’ but this one is more of a social research.But as a social research experiment which derives opinions and experiences of all those involved and affected by the Bangladesh war of independence, there was minuscule feedback or opinions from India. Even this minuscule data seems to come from irrelevant sources like her editorial staff, colleagues or friends in India which cannot be considered as genuine social feedback from those involved but just vague memories, imaginations and mere generalized opinions. While she got it perfect with her interviews and conversations with the right people in Bangladesh and then to some lesser extent from Pakistan. And I can understand that such projects require substantial expenses or external support in funding.In attempting to highlight both sides of the story, I found the book being pretty sympathetic to the abusers; the Pakistani military, politicians and their cronies. By emphasizing the plight of non Bengalis, some of whom may have been victims of violence by the Mukti Bahini, the reasoning or justification for the brutal Operation Searchlight by the Pakistani army is given. Obviously when General Tikka Khan created the Razakars, they were not meant to help or take care of the Bengalis or Hindu minority community but help commit heinous crimes with the Pakistani army. Instead this book only points out or details concentration camps, torture chambers, locations run by the Mukti Bahini freedom fighters and hardly any details of Pakistani army operations, detention and execution chambers. It’s like saying that in 1943 the Jews of Warsaw Ghetto were to blame or responsible coz they decided to stand up and fight the Nazis. The sheer numbers of Bengalis massacred, tortured and raped by the Pakistan army even if Sheikh Mujibur’s estimates were misinterpreted into millions for lakhs, it’s still a genocide in every aspect and definition whether Pakistan eventually apologizes for it or keeps denying it. Regarding the issues post liberation, the onus lies on Pakistan especially in the case of the stranded Biharis who were abandoned by Pakistan despite them being their active supporters and staunch ideologues. This was the 2nd abandonment by Pakistan; the previous being during partition in 1947 when it prevented additional muslim migration from India, though publicly it promulgated and still justifies the ‘two nation theory’. Whatever suffering or reprisals the Biharis or Punjabis endured is minor ‘collateral damage’ when you look at what the Bengalis had gone through to achieve Bangladesh.India’s contribution in this book is made to look as a mere enemy that took advantage with the intention of breaking up Pakistan. Not one mention of how over a crore of Bangla refugees were feed and settled in make shifts camps at a time when India itself suffered from massive food shortages, poverty etc. with no support coming from so called freedom loving Western democracies who instead chose to back the military dictator General Yahya in this genocide. Yes, the Mukti Bahini played a major role in the Pakistani army surrender but again no mention of the sacrifices made by Indian soldiers who were welcomed as liberators by crowds on the streets nor the fact that 93.000 Pakistani POW’s were saved from reprisal attacks from the Mukti Bahini or from any punishment for their crimes.The book mentions Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s banning of the Jamaat party and punishing those involved in the 1975 coup and murder of her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most family members without mentioning all the years of suffering and even hiding she had to go through or her contribution in improving the Bangladesh economy or efforts in making it a more secular nation unlike the previous Islamic political parties and military rulers who wanted it to become a mirror image of Pakistan. No doubt most Bangladeshis cheer for Pakistan against India in cricket matches due to their common religious identity though there are more muslims in India; many intelligent and conscious Bangladeshis are grateful to India. The best gesture of this was by PM Sheikh Hasina who after almost four decades honored, thanked and awarded the now retired Indian army officer who rescued and saved her life along with her sister and mother (wife of Mujibur) and other family members when they were held in captivity by the Pakistani army and had orders to kill all of them in the final days of 1971 war.