Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the Myth of 3 Million Casualties in 1971

The 2024 revolution in Bangladesh has ousted the tyrant Sheikh Hasina from the state. But in order to prevent a counter-revolution later, the Awami League’s cardinal myth of 3 million needs to be deconstructed!

Myths: A Common Dividing Tactic

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word “myth” as “a usually traditional story of ostensibly historical events that serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon.” Myths can be true (rooted firmly in history), false (stories created to support a particular narrative or creed), or unverifiable (usually ancient tales whose authenticity can’t be verified or denied with complete certainty). The purpose of myths, especially national myths, is to solidify a particular national identity and identify friends and foes in order to guide the nation on the path charted by myth-makers.

Myths have both rational and emotional components and generally, it’s the latter component that comes to the fore when the general populace is concerned. However, the rational element is more important, as this component is foremost in the minds of myth-makers when the myth is being created. For example, Zionist myths like “the promised land,” “land without a people for a people without a land,” and “we are God’s chosen race,” were created with the rational aim of utilizing these concepts for occupying Palestine and then emptying that land of its indigenous people through genocide.

The myth-makers then “sold” these myths to the Jewish masses by packaging them in emotional and shrill rhetoric. The point to be emphasized here is that while analyzing myths and their impact, the rational basis behind them must always be correctly understood.

Myths and Sheikh Hasina

In this article, I will examine a foundational myth of the Bangladeshi Awami League’s ideology. But first, I will briefly mention why this exercise is necessary and in the best interests of Bangladesh. The Awami League, under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his daughter Sheikh Hasina, has ruled Bangladesh for about 24 years since its secession from Pakistan in 1971. Under both rulers, the Awami League’s rule was characterized by repression and subservience to India. The latter trend ensured that Bangladesh’s independence as a sovereign state was severely compromised during the Awami League era.

In August of this year, Bangladeshi youths toppled Sheikh Hasina’s fascist regime. Similarly, in another August 49 years ago, the Bangladeshis toppled Sheikh Mujib’s fascist regime. But how did it become possible for Mujibur Rahman’s daughter to return and then tyrannize Bangladesh for 2 decades? The answer lies in the persistence of the myths created by Mujib even after his demise.

Myths and symbols, even if false and villainous, can’t be killed by guns and bullets. They can only be killed rationally by careful and objective examination that lays bare the nefarious designs behind them and the lies invented to buttress them. If Bangladesh is unable to destroy these myths now, it might find itself getting repressed by Hasina’s son, Sajeeb, and his Indian masters a couple of decades later.

The Pakistani Killing of 3 Million People

Now, let’s examine the myths. According to the Awami League, the Pakistan Army killed 3 million innocent Bangladeshis from March to December 1971 and raped 400,000 women. It must be remembered here that the Pakistan Army had 3 divisions (around 40–45,000 soldiers) in Bangladesh (then East Pakistan). So, if the myth is considered correct, it means that each Pakistani soldier killed 67 people and raped 9 women.

For context, the example of the Holocaust can be invoked. The Jews claim that 6 million of them were killed by the Germans (this figure is disputed by some). There were over 3 million German military soldiers in Eastern Europe where the Holocaust was conducted (not to mention the Schutzstaffel and specialized extermination units like Einsatzgruppen numbering more than a million in the same area). Millions of German military and Schutzstaffel (SS) men ran thousands of trains and hundreds of concentration and extermination camps to transport and kill their victims and dispose of their bodies.

These millions of efficient Germans only managed to kill (supposedly) 6 million Jews in six years. But the 45,000 men of the Pakistani army (while fighting an insurgency and Indian border incursions that caused 4,000 fatalities) managed to kill 3 million civilians and rape 400,000 in 8 months! In the words of journalist William Drummond, who visited Bangladesh soon after its inception, the 3 million figure is “an exaggeration so gross as to be absurd!”

“To his credit, Mujib sought accurate data on the numbers of those killed, and within days of the Frost interview, established two committees to obtain lists of the war dead. However, the government never publicly released the committee’s findings, and it has been suggested that this was because the details of only 57,000 people could be identified. However, since then, no Bangladeshi government has undertaken any further research on this matter.”

David Bergman in, “Questioning an Iconic Number”

David Bergman (who is a son-in-law of Dr. Kamal Hossain, one of Sheikh Mujib’s closest associates) was convicted by a kangaroo court under Sheikh Hasina’s regime for the “crime” of questioning the myth of 3 million civilian casualites.

Dr. Abdul Mu’min Chowdhry (a Bangladeshi who fought for Bangladesh’s independence) has mentioned in his book “Behind the Myth of Three Million” that when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was presented with the report about the number of deaths during the 1971 war showing an overall figure of 56,743, he lost his temper and threw it on the floor, saying in angry voice, “I have declared three million dead, and your report could not come up with three score thousand! What report have you prepared? Keep your report to yourself. What I have said once, shall prevail.” This clearly shows that Mujib, the myth-maker, was supremely unconcerned with facts and only wanted to create a myth for his purposes.

There are numerous smaller myths that have been created to buttress the myth of 3 million. For example, there was a story that Pakistani forces entered the Rokeya Hall of Dhaka University in March 1971 and tortured, raped, and killed hundreds of female Bengali students. Dr. Sarmila Bose, an Indian-American academic, brought Begum Akhtar Imam (who was the provost of Rokeya Hall in 1971) who categorically reported that not a single female student was raped or killed by Pak Army soldiers in Rokeya Hall. It had already been emptied of students beforehand. Pak Army soldiers did vandalize her residence but didn’t physically harm a single person there.

Sarmila Bose further mentions:

“Curiously, Akhtar Imam mentions that on 27 March, when curfew was lifted, her wrecked house was invaded again, this time by a number of aggressive Bengalis, demanding to know how many hundreds of women students had been ‘tortured and killed.‘ As soon as the war was over on 16 December 1971 she was questioned by an Indian army ‘major’ about how many girl students had been in Rokeya Hall on 25-26 March and later. After speaking to her and the house tutors and examining the hall records they presented, the Indian officer remarked that what he had been told earlier now appeared to be completely false. Mrs. Imam was sent on leave in independent Bangladesh, labelled a ‘collaborator,’ and was never allowed to return to her post of provost.”

From the above discussion, it is quite clear that Sheikh Mujib and his daughter discouraged any attempt to “produce well-researched, documented, and thoughtful histories of 1971” in order to cement the myth of 3 million permanently in the national memory of Bangladesh.

“Bangladeshis collectively failed to produce well-researched, documented and thoughtful histories of 1971 which might influence world opinion with any degree of credibility.”

Sarmila Bose on the myth of 3 million

Another cardinal part of the myth of 3 million is the denial of atrocities perpetrated by pro-independence Bengalis against pro-Pakistan Bengalis, Biharis, and West Pakistanis. Pakistani journalist Qutbuddin Aziz claimed that at least 500,000 Biharis were killed and thousands of women were raped, though this figure also seems like a gross exaggeration. But independent researchers like Sarmila Bose accept that thousands of Biharis were killed in 1971 and 1972.

Similarly, Yasmin Saikia, another Indian-American independent academic, has done excellent research on the hardships and atrocities suffered by women during the war of 1971. She has objectively reported that both Bengali and non-Bengali/Bihari women were victims of horrific violence during that terrible civil war. But the Awami League propaganda machine under Mujib and Hasina has always flatly denied that even a single atrocity was committed against Biharis and West Pakistanis in 1971!

The Rationale Behind the Myth

Why were Sheikh Mujib and Sheikh Hasina bent on establishing the myth of 3 million (by force if necessary)? The reason is quite clear to the rational mind. The Awami League, under Mujib and Hasina, had to justify its huge dependence on India to the masses. It also sought to mask its own tyranny and massacres of non-Bengalis by repeating ad nauseam that the Pak Army barbarians killed 3 million people. Even conservative estimates suggest that Mujib’s paramilitary force, Rakhi Bahini, killed at least 30,000 political opponents between 1972 and 1975, whereas Mujib’s opponents, like Sharif-ul-Haq Dalim, suggest that the true figures are in the hundreds of thousands.

Mujib and Hasina also wanted to eliminate any nuance from their myth. They didn’t want to acknowledge any atrocity against pro-Pakistan Bengalis, Biharis, and West Pakistanis because that might dilute their myth and invoke feelings of empathy for these unfortunate souls among the citizens of Bangladesh. The Awami League found India a willing partner in this exercise because it was in the Indian interest to create eternal hatred between the Muslims of Bangladesh and (West) Pakistan.

According to Sisson and Rose (who have written a very well-researched book on the 1971 war), the Indians are well aware that the myth of 3 million is based on blatant lies. This hasn’t stopped them from fully supporting this myth with all the resources at their command. Dr. Abdul Mu’min Chowdhry quite succinctly explained the Indian motivation here:

“It (the myth of 3 million) is pursued with a view to inculcate in all of them (Bangladeshis) a deep-seated emotional revulsion against what is left of Pakistan. India is hoping that through this process she will be able to create a permanent emotional and psychological breach between Bangladesh and Pakistan, and at the same time produce a kind of splintered Muslim self-view among the majority population of Bangladesh. With such a splintered self-view, they will have neither the urge, nor the confidence for breaking out of the Indian embrace.”

Every successful revolution destroys the myths of the ancien régime as a top priority. This is done to guard against a counter-revolution because both revolutions and counter-revolutions are completely dependent on ideas and myths. Thus, the myth of 3 million, which was central to Awami League’s “legitimacy,” and its justification of Indian hegemony in Bangladesh need to be shattered beyond repair.

It is also in the interest of Bangladesh that it be objective toward its own history so that instead of nursing irrational hatred for a far-off brotherly nation, it is able to see India and Awami League for what they actually are: A fascistic regional hegemon bent on domination, and its kleptocratic and treacherous lackey! India, which never spuriously tires of reminding the Bangladeshis that it was the decisive Indian intervention that won Bangladesh its independence, actually never wanted an independent and strong Bangladesh. It only wanted to tear Pakistan asunder and then turn Bangladesh into a satellite.

“India’s attack was on the Islamic name of Pakistan and its Islamic identity. Her own strategical analysts had no misgivings on this.”

Abdul Mu’min Chowdhry

The Awami League was very fond of raising the question of an apology by Pakistan, despite the fact that Pakistan had officially apologized to Bangladesh in 1974. However, Pakistan has also not examined the tragic history of 1971 objectively. It has generally sought to ignore and forget this episode, including the many blunders and misdeeds from our side. We shouldn’t apologize for something that we never did (like killing 3 million people) but we do need to apologize for what we did (Sarmila Bose estimates that 50,000–100,000 people perished during the civil war of 1971).

It is high time that both Pakistan and Bangladesh work together to bury the myth of 3 million once and for all. Independent researchers like Dr. Sarmila Bose, and Dr. Yasmin Saikia should be made part of a commission to thoroughly investigate all atrocities committed by all sides during 1971–72. Both governments should provide all possible support to this team of researchers, which should publish its findings based on facts. The final report must be accepted officially by both governments and only then can proper mutual apologies be made for all the atrocities committed by the respective sides. Only then can we forgive and forget the tragedy of 1971 and move forward as two brotherly nations, or better yet, like one nation having two countries!

---

If you want to submit your articles and/or research papers, please check the Submissions page.

The views and opinions expressed in this article/paper are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Paradigm Shift.