Bangladesh war of 1971 Myth-busting Piece by Sarmila Bose in Al Jazeera :
Farida Majid
Here we have Sarmila Bose whining on and on against the 'dominant narrative' and pushing her insubstantial book, Dead Reckoning: Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh War, as a scholarly work that is meant to bust the myth of Bangladesh war of independence in 1971. Her book's spin is strung around a few instances of atrocities committed by Mukti fighters upon non-Bengali collaborators of Pakistan at the time. No one denies those cruel acts of retaliation. All wars are cruel and ugly. But by themselves those acts, or her other fieldwork denying widespread rape and murder (questioning the occurrence of any rape by Pakistani soldiers since she could not get figures of exact date, time and place of each sexual assault), have not been able to disprove any of the well-known incidences of crimes against humanity committed by an uniformed, fully equipped with modern arms and ammunition, professionally trained Pakistani army and its Bengali collaborators in 1971. I doubt whether any of the 'uncomfortable truth' she has unearthed could be presented at a War Crimes Tribunal as legal defense against the charges brought by the Prosecution at such a Tribunal.
The harder Sarmila Bose whines about the 'dominant narrative' the fuzzier gets her rationale for wanting to debunk it. Her citing of the example of Lara Logan, the CBS correspondent haplessly caught in the melee of Tahrir Square in Cairo in the spring uprising of 2011, shows to what pathetic extent Bose lacks sympathy and imagination in assessing the overall reality of people's struggle for freedom from oppression. Such struggles in the annals of history are messy, never picture-book perfect. Sarmila though is unforgiving, and is too mean-spirited to tolerate "freedom and democracy-loving people rising up against oppressive dictators." She has to take up the arms of a 'scholarly study' to bust the myth!
What is the 'myth' that she is so anxious to bust?
Is genocide in Bangladesh, 1971, a myth?
If it is a myth then are we to understand, after Ms Bose's so-called 'research' and report, that genocide did not take place at all in 1971 in the then East Pakistan? The "dominant narrative" is all about partisan exaggeration and no one in the international community but her could detect the "uncomfortable truth" in all these 40 years.
Does she mean the people of Bangladesh, the world's eighth most populous nation? Does 'profit' mean gaining the sovereignty and independence as a nation?
If so, then all nations who have had to fight for independence from a colonized condition ought to be labeled as having "profited from mythologizing history." And that would include United States of America.
Go tell an American that the chronicles of wars and battles fought in the American War of Independence during 1775-1783 are all mythologised history, and hence a 'dominant narrative', a myth that is in dire need of busting!
Let us remind ourselves of the announcement of Gen. Yahya Khan at a radio interview at the launching of the Operation Searchlight in March, 1971 in East Pakistan: "We will kill three million of them, and the rest will eat out of our hands!" The number –3 million – is immaterial, though admittedly there is an irresolvable argument that swirls around it. I refuse to take an absolute position for or against the number. What is legally relevant here, however, is the clear expression of goal and intent to commit genocide by Pak military apparatus in East Pakistan.
New evidences are emerging, not just from the victims of the war crimes of 1971, but from the perpetrators themselves. Eye witnesses and personal encounters from among the Pakistani military personnel are coming up with accounts of General Niazi, General Rao Farman Ali, et al, exhibiting fierce anti-Bengali racism that underscored activities against unarmed, unthreatening civilians. Such activities were regarded as reprehensive by even the soldiers who carried out the orders because they violated the rules and norms of engagement in warfare. Several books have come out over the years by various Pakistani army personnel including one by the infamous General Niazi. They are all replete with quotations and records of utter racial contempt for the Bengalis of East Pakistan on the part of top brass military officers in the Pakistani army who wanted at least a partial destruction of the whole race as a punitive measure for their rebellion.
We can then proceed to take a peek at the following:
Excerpt from the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide (For full text click here)
"Article II: In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
Article III: The following acts shall be punishable:
(a) Genocide;
(b) Conspiracy to commit genocide;
(c) Direct and public incitement to commit genocide;
(d) Attempt to commit genocide;
(e) Complicity in genocide. "
Let us all work for peace as best as each of us can.
Salutes!
Farida Majid
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