Last updated: 1 hour ago
Bangladesh war trial sparks rival calls for justice
DHAKA, Nov 23: Bangladesh has begun trial of suspects accused of collaborating with Pakistani forces in 1971, but claims of appalling crimes against non-Bengalis are now tarnishing the image of "heroes of the independence struggle".
Migrant families who moved to what was then East Pakistan after the partition of India in 1947 say they were targeted as outsiders during the 1971 fight that resulted in an independent Bangladesh.
Thrown out of their homes and often murdered during the country's bloody birth, they believe their suffering at the hands of Bengalis has been forgotten as Bangladesh focuses instead on alleged collaborators with Pakistani forces.
The day after Bangladesh declared independence from Pakistan on Dec 16, 1971, Sairun Nesa survived a massacre in which 15 of her family – including her husband, son and daughter – were killed by "freedom fighters".
As one of tens of thousands of Urdu-speaking Muslims who had migrated to East Pakistan, Ms Nesa said she and her family were rejected by those fighting to establish independent Bangladesh.
"We were stripped naked at gunpoint. Bangladeshi fighters herded us onto the bank of a river. Then they slaughtered us one after another with machetes and knives," she said.
"With a knife one of them gouged out my right eye and stabbed me several times in the chest," she said, adding that she was left for dead in a pile of bodies in Goalonda, a small town west of Dhaka.
Bangladesh's government claims up to three million people were killed and hundreds of thousands of women criminally assaulted after the Pakistan Army launched a crackdown in March 1971.
This week a special court began its first trial with Delawar Hossain Sayedee, an official of Jamaat-i-Islami, charged with genocide against native Bengalis as he fought to prevent independence.
But the separate attacks carried out by Bengalis against Ms Nesa and other 'Biharis' — the migrants who had left India for East Pakistan in 1947 — remain a hidden crime, experts say.
Even well-documented killings of Biharis have never been investigated, much less brought to trial.
"Everyone talks about the killings of Bengalis in 1971. But none dares to mention the pogroms that were carried out against Biharis," said Ezaz Ahmed Siddiqui, a Bihari community leader.
"We estimate that hundreds of thousands of Biharis were killed. In (northwestern) Santahar town alone, several thousand were killed in a matter of days," Mr Siddiqui said. Biharis were not granted citizenship rights in newly independent Bangladesh, lost their property and social status, and were forced to live in refugee camps under UN protection – where many remain to this day.
For decades, Bangladeshi historians and authors have downplayed the Bihari killings. "We agree some Urdu-speaking people were killed in isolated riot-like incidents," said Mofidul Hoque, a trustee of Bangladesh's Liberation War Museum. "But it was not a systematic or state-sponsored genocide like what the Pakistani soldiers did to Bengalis," he said.
A new wave of academics is trying to shed light on the killings, with Oxford University researcher Sarmila Bose's 2011 book, "Dead Reckoning: Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh War", leading the way.
Ms Bose argues that Bangladeshi authorities are in a 'state of denial' about the massacre of Biharis.
"The nature and scale of atrocities committed by the 'nationalist' side had been edited out of the dominant narrative," she wrote after her book was heavily criticised in Bangladesh.
Ishrat Ferdousi, who recently finished a book on the 1971 atrocities, said attacks on Biharis could be seen as 'genocide'.
"I saw at least a hundred Bihari children had been killed, their bodies were floating in the Rupsha river. Some (Bengalis) even boarded boats with machetes to hunt for any Biharis who had survived," he said.
Sairun Nesa survived after being plucked from the pile of bodies on the banks of the Padma River by a saviour who nursed her back to health. Eventually, she married him, changed her name and has tried to forget the past – but the sexagenarian is still haunted by her memories, saying she was 'terrified even to talk' about what happened.
For Mr Siddiqui, official acknowledgement of the atrocities is as important as the trial of alleged collaborators if Bangladesh is to come to terms with its birth. "All we want is recognition of the crimes. We don't want any trial. An admission would start a healing process," he said.—AFP
Read more:
Visit My blogs for a no nonsense, serious discussion of
burning problems facing the humanity :
https://sites.google.com/site/yaqin3/home
burning problems facing the humanity :
https://sites.google.com/site/yaqin3/home
--
Visit my Blog for a no nonsense, serious discussion of problems facing the humanity:
https://sites.google.com/site/yaqeenweb/home/
https://sites.google.com/site/yaqeenweb/home/
Be Carefull in Islamic Discussions;
Disrespect (of Ambiyaa, Sahabaa, Oliyaa, and Ulamaa) is an INSTANT BAN
Abuse of any kind (to the Group, or it's Members) shall not be tolerated
SPAM, Advertisement, and Adult messages are NOT allowed
This is not Dating / Love Group, Sending PM's to members will be an illegal act.
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
Groups "Karachi-Friends" group.
To post to this group, send email to karachi-Friends@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
karachi-Friends+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
No comments:
Post a Comment