1971 killing of Bengali intellectuals

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1971 killing of Bengali intellectuals
Part of the
Bengali intellectuals
Attack type
Deportation, ethnic cleansing, mass murder
Deaths1,111[1]
PerpetratorsPakistan Army

In 1971, the

1971 Bangladesh genocide. However, the largest number of systematic executions took place on 25 March and 14 December 1971, two dates that bookend the conflict. 14 December is commemorated in Bangladesh as Martyred Intellectuals Day
.

Black Night of 25 March

See also: 1971 Dhaka University massacre

On 25 March 1971, Pakistan army launched an extermination campaign, codenamed Operation Searchlight, against the Bengali people in East Pakistan.[2] A number of professors, physicians and journalists were abducted from their homes by armed Pakistani soldiers and their local collaborators, and executed during this operation and its aftermath.[3][4]

14 December executions

Dead bodies of Bengali intellectuals found on 15 December 1971

As the war neared its end and

Day of the Martyred Intellectuals.[6]

It is widely speculated that the killings of 14 December were orchestrated by Major General Rao Farman Ali. After the liberation of Bangladesh a list of Bengali intellectuals (most of whom were executed on 14 December) was discovered in a page of his diary left behind at the Governor's House. The existence of such a list was confirmed by Ali himself although he denied the motive of genocide. The same was also confirmed by Altaf Gauhar, a former Pakistani bureaucrat. He mentioned an incident in which Gauhar asked Ali to remove a friend's name from the list and Ali did so in his presence.[7]

Notable victims

Many notable intellectuals who were killed from 25 March to 16 December 1971 in different parts of the country include:

Verdict on the killing

On 3 November 2013, a Special Court in Dhaka has sentenced two former leaders of the al-Badr killing squad to death for war crimes committed in December 1971. Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin, based in London, and Ashrafuz Zaman Khan, based in the US, were sentenced in absentia after the court found that they were involved in the abduction and murders of 18 intellectuals – nine Dhaka University professors, six journalists and three physicians – in December 1971. Prosecutors said the killings were carried out between 10 and 15 December, when Pakistan was losing the war in Bangladesh (then East Pakistan), and were part of a campaign intended to strip the newborn nation of its intellectuals.[43]

On 2 November 2014, International Crimes Tribunal, Bangladesh sentenced Mir Quasem Ali to death for war crimes which include the killings of intellectuals. It was proved in the tribunal that he was a key organiser of the Al-Badr, which planned and executed the killing of the intellectuals on 14 December 1971.[44][45]

Statistics

The number of intellectuals killed is estimated in Banglapedia[1] as follows:

  • Academics – 991
  • Journalists – 13
  • Physicians – 49
  • Lawyers – 42
  • Others (litterateurs, artists and engineers) – 16

The district wise break-up of the number of martyred academicians and lawyers published in 1972[46] was as follows –

District and division Academics Lawyers
Primary Secondary Higher secondary
Dhaka 37 8 10 6
Faridpur 27 12 4 3
Tangail 20 7 2
Mymensingh 46 28 1 2
Dhaka Division 130 55 17 10
Chittagong 39 16 7 1
Chittagong Hill Tracts 9 4 1 1
Sylhet 19 7 2
Comilla 45 33 1 4
Noakhali
 26 13 4 2
Chittagong Division 138 73 13 10
Khulna 48 15 2 2
Jessore
 55 31 5 4
Barisal 50 21 4
Patuakhali 3 1
Kushtia 28 13 4
Khulna Division 184 81 15 6
Rajshahi 39 8 3 5
Rangpur 41 22 9 4
Dinajpur 50 10 1 2
Bogra 14 12 2
Pabna 43 9 1 2
Rajshahi Division 187 61 14 15
Bangladesh 639 270 59 41
Martyred academicians (not affiliated to universities) = 968
Martyred university teachers = 21
Total martyred academicians = 989

Administrative districts and divisions mentioned here are as they were in 1972.

Denial of genocidal intent

In a 2018 article Christian Gerlach rejected the claims of coordinated attempt to exterminate the Bengali intelligentsia by using statistical measures: "if one accepts the data published by the Bangladesh propaganda ministry, 4.2 per cent of all university professors were killed, along with 1.4 per cent of all college teachers, 0.6 per cent of all secondary and primary school teachers, and 0.6 per cent of all teaching personnel. On the basis of the aforementioned Ministry of Education data, 1.2 per cent of all teaching personnel were killed. This is hardly proof of an extermination campaign."[47]

Commemoration

See also: Martyred Intellectuals Day and Martyred Intellectuals Memorial
Part of the east-south side of the Martyred Intellectuals Memorial

Mirpur to lay flowers at the Martyred Intellectuals Memorial. The president and the prime minister of Bangladesh and heads of all three wings of the Bangladesh armed forces pay homage at the memorial.[48]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Khan, Muazzam Hussain (2012). "Killing of Intellectuals". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 26 May 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  2. ISBN 978-0-231-12369-3
    .
  3. ^ Annual Report: Dhaka University 1971–72, Dr. Mafijullah Kabir
  4. ^ "Telegram 978 From the Consulate General in Dacca to the Department of State, March 29, 1971, 1130Z" (PDF). US Department of State. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 April 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  5. ^ Hensher, Philip (19 February 2013). "The war Bangladesh can never forget". The Independent. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022.
  6. ^ "DU set to observe Martyred Intellectuals Day, Victory Day". News Today. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
  7. ISBN 984-458-210-5
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  8. ^ "Rahman, Abul Fazal Ziaur". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 16 August 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  9. ^ "Alam, ABM Nurul". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 20 August 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  10. ^ "Khadim, Ataur Rahman Khan". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 16 July 2017. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  11. ^ "Rahman, Atiqur". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 14 August 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  12. ^ "Haque, Azharul". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 26 March 2017. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  13. ^ "Muniruzzaman, ANM". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 26 November 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  14. ^ "Choudhury, Ayesha Bedora". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
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  17. ^ "My great mentor, Dr Kalachand Roy". The Daily Star. 14 December 2017. Archived from the original on 13 December 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  18. ^ "Taleb, Khondakar Abu". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 21 November 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  19. ^ "Kashem, Khondakar Abul". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 21 November 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  20. ^ "Rahman, Muhammad Habibar". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  21. ^ "Ali, Mohammad Sadat". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 14 September 2017. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  22. ^ "Ali, Mohammad Shamshad". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 16 August 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  23. ^ "Shafi, Muhammad". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 16 August 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  24. ^ "Azim, M Anwarul". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 18 August 2017. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
  25. ^ "Qayyum, Mir Abdul". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 16 August 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  26. ^ "Mortaza, Mohammad". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 28 March 2017. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  27. ^ "Hossain, Mohammad Moazzem". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 19 August 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  28. ^ "Aminuddin, Muhammad". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 26 March 2017. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  29. OL 30677644M
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  30. ^ "Story of a Martyred Intellectual of 71's war". 13 December 2007. Archived from the original on 9 December 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  31. ^ "Sarkar, Nazmul Hoque". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 15 August 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  32. ^ "ICT issues arrest order against Mueen, Ashrafuzzaman". Daily Sun. Dhaka. 3 May 2013. Archived from the original on 8 December 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
  33. ^ Khan, Tamanna (4 November 2013). "It was matricide". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 6 November 2013. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  34. ^ "Das, Rakhal Chandra". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 20 August 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2017.
  35. ^ "Salam, Sheikh Abdus". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 14 August 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
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  37. ^ "Ahmed, Shamsuddin3". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 8 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
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  41. ^ "Mannan, Sheikh Abdul". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 7 February 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
  42. ^ "Ahmed, Shamsuddin3". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 8 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  43. ^ "UK Muslim leader Chowdhury Mueen Uddin sentenced to death in Bangladesh". The Independent. 3 November 2013. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022.
  44. ^ "Bangladesh Islamist party leader files appeal against death penalty". Shanghai Daily. Archived from the original on 14 December 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  45. ^ "War trial: Mir Quasem verdict Sunday". The Daily Star. 30 October 2014. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  46. People's Republic of Bangladesh
    , 16 December 1972; Editor – Syed Ali Ahsan
  47. ISBN 9781108643542
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  48. ^ "Nation observes new-dimension Martyred Intellectuals' Day". The Daily Star. 14 December 2013. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
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