Qammer Abbass Anka
Security of life and living had become a rare commodity in Mujeeb’s Bangladesh. Lawlessness was promoted by Mujeeb himself and his own clans and his bully boys. His own son Sheikh Kamal, nephew Fazl-Ul-Haq Moni, his pet Dacca Police Chief, S.P. Mahboob, etc. became a synonym for terror in Dacca city itself. The unconstitutional Para Military Force, the Rakhi Bahini, raised under the guidance of Indian General Ovan, having been in the sole direction and control of Mujeeb himself from about mid 1972 became another terror symbol for peaceful and patriotic people of Bangladesh”.
(Mohammad Tajammul Hussain)
All Awami League lead Bangladeshi Governments have been raising loud voices alleging Pakistan and the Pak Army of committing genocide and women crimes. They go out of way in implicating their old political and ideological rivals’ the Jammat Islami and BNP in fake cases of war atrocities committed during 1971. The one way judicial process has seldom convicted any other culprit either from ex Mukti Bahni or from Awami League, whereas, scores of people from Islamist groups have been hanged. Unfortunately, the international voices against this highly biased judicial drama could not bear fruit. It would be pertinent to analyze the events which took place before and after 16 December, 1971 to unveil the main culprits of genocide in East Pakistan.
Awami League (AL) and its sponsored Mukti Bahinis carried out large scale massacre of non Bengalis and Pro-Pakistani population of East Pakistan/Bangladesh before and after the debacle 1971. These killings and tortures were mostly done in open and were witnessed by thousands of people including eminent journalists and the writers. Unfortunately, stories of these atrocities have been totally forgotten deliberately by Bangladesh and its anti Pakistani masses. Nevertheless, the history has been preserved by the contributions of many journalists and writers both Bangladeshis as well as those from international community. The massacre left behind the pathetic, grisly and untold stories of more than half a million non-Bengalis and pro-Pakistan Bengalis. The details of the genocide waged by the rebels in those murderous months were concealed from the people of West Pakistan by then Federal Government to prevent reprisals against the local Bengalis and also not to wreck the prospects of a negotiated settlement with the (AL).
Lawrence Lifschultz in his book titled ‘Bangladesh: The Unfinished Revolution’; Zed Press, 1979, narrates that Mukti Bahini / (AL) leader, Abdul Kader Siddiqui, personally bayoneted three prisoners to death and the entire incident was filmed by foreign film crews invited by Siddiqui. According to another report published in ‘The Times’ on 21 December 1971, “Siddiqui’s guerillas beat up and subsequently bayoneted and shot to death a group of prisoners after a rally near Dhaka Stadium on 19 December 1971, where Siddiqui himself gave an hour-long speech. The prisoners were murdered after performing prayers”.
Eminent Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci herself witnessed gruesome murders of pro-Pakistan Bengalis in Dhaka by Mukti Bahni. She discussed the matter of killings of Bihari Muslims and Razakars in her interview with Sheikh Mujeeb. She mentioned how on December 18, two days after Bangladesh had achieved independence, in Dhaka Stadium she had witnessed the Liberation War hero Kader Siddiqui (Bagha Siddique) lynching the presumed ‘Razakars’ with bayonets while their hands and legs remained fastened with ropes. Sheikh Mujeeb did not believe her and abruptly called off the interview. The bloody rage of ruthless killings of innocent people was never confessed by Mujeeb and his allies including present Government. During her interview with Mujeeb, Oriana Fallaci, wanted to know what Bangladesh leader thought of this massacre. Her conversation with Mujeeb became an important document of history. Some excerpts of the conversation are briefly mentioned in this article for our elite readers.
Mujib – Massacre? What massacre?
Fallaci – The one committed by the Mukti Bahini at Dacca Stadium.
Mujib – There has never been a massacre at the Dacca stadium. You are lying.
Fallaci – Mr. Prime Minister, I am not a liar, I saw the massacre with other journalists and 15,000 persons. If you’d like, I’ll show you photographs. My paper has published them.
Mujib – Liar, they were not Mukti Bahini.
Fallaci – Mr. Prime Minister, please do not repeat the word liar, they were Mukti Bahini and they were led by Abdul Kader Siddiqui and were in uniform.
Mujib – Then it means that those were Razakars that had opposed resistance and Siddiqui was compelled to eliminate them.
Bengali analyst Taiammul Hussain in his Book titled ‘Bangladesh: Victim of Black Propaganda Intrigue and Indian Hegemony’ narrates, “Neutral observers know that killing in East Pakistan did not start just on the 25th March 1971 when the Federal Army had cracked down. The truth is that riots, looting and killing started soon after the announcement on 1st March by President of Pakistan Yahya Khan of the postponement of the newly elected National Assembly scheduled earlier to meet on the 3rd March at Dacca. On the night of 25th March sudden Army action resulted in killing of some people of Dacca. Immediately after 25 March, mass killings of non-Bengali speaking people, no matter civilians or non-civilians staying in far lying areas and towns started more or less all over East Pakistan. Thus the widespread killings of non- Bengalis all over the country in far lying areas had continued until the arrival of the Federal Army in particular areas away from Dacca. The figure of killings during the period of war in 8.3 months between 25th March and 3rd December 1971, as recorded by New York based organization named Co-relates of War was noted as 50,000”.
The excerpts from Tajammul Hussain’s book reveal that possibly the worst and most inhuman killings took place during post 16 December period. The victorious Mukti Bahini men killed thousands of civilians, Razakars and pro- Pakistani and Islamic scholars and Muslim nationalists all over the country. In the capital city of Dacca itself, those who wanted to preserve Pakistan’s unity and integrity as loyal Pakistanis, no matter linguistically Bengalese or non-Bengalese, were indiscriminately butchered by the Mukti Bahini men and their commanders. According to reliable source, in the Seraj Ganj town in the then district of Pabna in Northern Bangladesh, many non-Bengali Muslims were dumped into the jail campus which was later set on fire, and thus all inmates were burnt down to death. In the same town, there was a killing house where non-Bengalis used to be killed almost every day until 15th August 1975, the day when Sheikh Mujib fell from power and the killers fled to India immediately afterwards. Killings of this nature were common games and sports by Mujeeb’s private armies including notorious Rakhi Bahini which killed nearly 37,000 civilians between 1972 to 1975.
(To be Continued…)
