You are absolutely right, SuBain: Yahya Khan's drunken military bragging that he would kill 3 million people in East Pakistan does not mean that it happened in reality. In fact, I never took any notice of this statement by Yahya Khan. Now Farida Majid has branded it as if it was a reality, a factual outcome of liberation war! I thought this claim is so ludicrous and imbecile that it does not even warrant any response. I may point out that despite Farida Majid's 'repeated annunciation' of this number and urging me to acknowledge it as a fact, I ignored it completely.
I am going to write an article on this issue, particularly dealing with the fatality figure. In perspective, let me point out that in the Syrian war over a period of four and half years involving all sorts of most vicious human beings and all modern weaponry etc, the number of deaths until the middle of 2015 is about 400,000. And in Bangladesh in less than nine months of war involving no major military engagements, no aerial bombing, no tank fights etc, the number of death is claimed to be 8 times higher than the Syrian war! How ludicrous!
- AR
On Thursday, 26 November 2015, 0:10, "Sukhamaya Bain subain1@yahoo.com [mukto-mona]" <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
The fact that Yahiya had declared that he would kill 3 million is the most absurd basis to ascertain that his military and their collaborators actually killed 3 million in the next months.
This would be my last message on this thread, irrespective of any criticism of my statement above.
SuBain
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On Tuesday, November 24, 2015 7:52 PM, "Subimal Chakrabarty subimal@yahoo.com [mukto-mona]" <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
I will not call it a matter of total concoction. Nor do I believe that it has any thing to do with Mujib's ignorance or dishonesty. The figure was arrived at by various organizations or agencies based on the sources they could rely on. As has been revealed by Prof. Farida Majid, Yahiya khan mentioned it. Pravda mentioned it. It was mentioned in some editorials of Bangladesh. One editorial even used the figure 3.5 million. In the very first press conference, Mujib used the figure 1 million. I am trying to get a chronological account from one of friends who has particular passion about all the statistics. Once I get it, I will share with the members of the forum.
Having said this, I must also say that we must be able to produce an objective and complete history of the great liberation movement for our future generations. It is not too late yet. The history cannot be complete without this figure as it is a very important element of the history. The burden should be shouldered by a national committee drawing members from all political parties.
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Sent from my iPhone
On Nov 24, 2015, at 3:55 AM, ANISUR RAHMAN anisur.rahman1@btinternet.com [mukto-mona] <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
Absolutely, SuBain, I fully agree with your four points. You said very nicely what I had been trying to say so long. There is no glory in inflating the number. It only shows a sense of inferiority - our sacrifices (despite our final success) had to be inflated to make it look good. My question is, why?Yes, it was a simple mistake and it could have been corrected very simply as Sheikh Mujibur Rahman came from detention in Pakistan and he was given a rough estimate of death toll and he misread it or mistranslated it, as simple as that. But what did our corrupt politicians and bureaucrats do? They seized on the number, as if, it is an unexpected bonus, an appreciation by the absent leader.We know the number was wrong and based on egregious announcement. Because of this, Bangladesh's heroic fight, rise of Bangladesh's nationalism, rejection of two-nation theory etc cannot be discussed earnestly without feeling the sore point that total fatality figure should be avoided, because the official figure is purposely inflated. Even if the number was 200,000 or 300,000 we would be in solid ground in our discussions. But a fictitious and totally unsubstantiated number of 3,000,000 (three million) puts us in a quicksand, where the whole discussion descends into justifying this number leaving aside the real issue of Bangladesh's freedom fight. Moreover, I don't want our future generation to be taught a history lesson which is a pure concoction.- AROn Tuesday, 24 November 2015, 3:02, "Sukhamaya Bain subain1@yahoo.com [mukto-mona]" <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
I think honest intellectuals of Bangladesh need to take a "don't ask don't tell" stand on the number of deaths in the hands of the Pakistani military and their collaborators during the country's liberation struggle in 1971. The reason is that the number really is not critical. Three million is widely accepted to be wrong even by most of the people who utter it. Whether made up on purpose, or uttered in error, by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1972, there is no hope for any reputable authority attempting to find the real number, nor is there an honest point in uttering three million. However the indignity of Bangladesh involving 1971 needs to be discussed. Following are some of the points that come to my mind: 1) The Pakistani military and their collaborators committed the most heinous crimes on unarmed civilians. 2) The governments of Bangladesh, including that of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, were not serious about prosecuting the heinous criminals. 3) Corrupt politicians and irresponsible intellectuals of the so-called pro-liberation kind have continued to utter the inflated number in a foolish attempt to gain world sympathy, while the country itself did not care about its own victims. 4) False glory for the victims - when your sister is raped she is a victim, not a heroine; calling her a heroine to hide your weakness for the criminals is not honorable.SuBain=====================================On Monday, November 23, 2015 7:09 PM, "Jiten Roy jnrsr53@yahoo.com [mukto-mona]" <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
Who knows the correct number? No one; therefore, no need to change it.
From: "Farida Majid farida_majid@hotmail.com [mukto-mona]" <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com>
To: mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, November 23, 2015 11:28 AM
Subject: Re: [mukto-mona] Memory Lane: আলবদর ব��
Why is it so important to Anisur Rahman ro keep on blaming s'one for s'thing she did not do? Why is he failing to acknowledge the fact that the '3 million' figure was first mentioned by General Yahya Khan, the Martial Law Administrator of Pakistan in 1970? Is it so difficult to admit this bit of historical information? Is there a taboo?
For the 4th time -- let me repeat -- I AM NOT DOING ANY EXAGGERATION when I cite Yahya Khan's statement in Feb. 1971. Sheikh Mujib, in that Press Conference in 1972 in London, was probably referring to a freshly published number of people killed in Bangladesh by a well-known journal. It is silly to say or imply that his purpose was to "blow up the number then claim credits and privileges from the state for the sacrifices made during the liberation war."
[Personally, I do not use that number, nor do I think the no. is important. No one can be 100% sure of the number, but everyone is sure of the scale of GENOCIDE 1971.]
From: ANISUR RAHMAN <anisur.rahman1@btinternet.com>
Sent: Monday, November 23, 2015 9:24 AM
To: Farida Majid
Subject: Re: [mukto-mona] Memory Lane: আলবদর বাহিনী [3 Attachments]Farida Majid seems to be quite unable to take in simple statements. Let me be absolutely clear to her for her understanding - I was not questioning at all whether a genocide was committed in Bangladesh or not; or the exact definition of genocide or the legality of War Crimes Tribunal etc. She kept badgering on the definition of 'genocide', as if nobody else understands it except her!
Let me also be clear that I am one of those aggrieved persons who lost his students and colleagues on the night of 25th March 1971 at Jagannath Hall of the Dhaka University, lost colleagues and teachers at the Dhaka University staff quarters on 26th/27th March 1971 as well as on 16th Dec 1971. I don't need her exaggerated claims for my loses.
What I want to tell her quite clearly that please do not exaggerate the sacrifices of those people. I feel that there is a tendency that their sacrifices are deemed not sufficiently high enough and hence that needed to be blown up to make it look good. And the people who blow up the number then claim credits and privileges from the state for the sacrifices made during the liberation war. In other words, the liars play politics with the sacrifices of those people.To me this exaggeration is as heinous as that of killing them in the first place. Please respect the sacrifices of those people, even if it does not fulfill your (or of those people whose numbers you are parroting) ego or the financial benefits. Those people are not claiming any state benefit, nor are they or their families given any, and the exaggerated number is traded for the benefit of the corrupt politicians of all description.
- AR
আল বদরের সেকেন্ড-ইন-কমান্ড আলী আহসান মুহাম্মদ মুজাহিদ: -মৃত্যুদণ্ডপ্রাপ্ত যুদ্ধাপরাধী। মুক্তিযুদ্ধের সময় তিনি আধা-সামরিক বাহিনী আল বদরের সেকেন্ড-ইন-কমান্ড ছিলেন যারা যুদ্ধচলাকালে গণহত্যা, লুটপাট, ধর্ষণে পাকিস্তানী সেনাবাহিনীকে সহাযোগিতা দান করেছিল |এই বাহিনীটিই ১৯৭১সালের ১৪ ডিসেম্বর বাংলাদেশী বুদ্ধিজীবি হত্যাকাণ্ডের দায়ে অভিযুক্ত। তিনি একাধারে গণহত্যা, লুটপাট, ধর্ষণে পাকিস্তানী সেনাবাহিনীকেসহাযোগিতা দান এবং ১৯৭১ সালের ১৪ ডিসেম্বর বাংলাদেশী বুদ্ধিজীবি হত্যাকাণ্ডে নেতৃত্বদানের দায়ে অভিযুক্ত।২২শে নভেম্বর ২০১৫ সালে ঢাকা কেন্দ্রীয় কারাগারে রাত ১২টা ৪৫ মিনিটে তাকে ও আলী আহসান মুহাম্মদ মুজাহিদ একই সাথেফাঁসিতে ঝুলিয়ে মৃত্যুদন্ড কার্যকর করা হয়।
ছাত্র রাজনীতি: ছাত্র জীবন থেকেই জনাব মুজাহিদ রাজনীতির সাথে যুক্ত হয়ে পড়েন। শুরুতে রাজেন্দ্র কলেজে কিছুদিন এনএসএফ এ কাজ করার পর তিনি ইসলামী ছাত্রসংঘের সাথে যুক্ত হন। ১৯৭০ এর ডিসেম্বরে যখন তিনি ফরিদপুর ছাড়েন তখন তিনি ফরিদপুর জেলায় ছাত্রসংঘের সভাপতির দায়িত্ব পালন করছিলেন। ঢাকায় এসে তিনি ইসলামী ছাত্রসংঘের ঢাকা জেলার সেক্রেটারি নির্বাচিত হন। পরবর্তীতে তিনি ১৯৭১ সালের জুলাইতে ছাত্রসংঘের প্রাদেশিক সেক্রেটারি (তৎকালীন পূর্ব পাকিস্তান) মনোনীত হন এবং এর মাত্র দুই মাস পর অক্টোবরে তিনি ছাত্রসংঘের প্রাদেশিক সভাপতি নির্বাচিত হন।
আলী আহসান মোহাম্মদ মুজাহিদ এবং আমাদের ভুলে যাওয়া অতীত:
মুজাহিদ কোনো সাধারন যুদ্ধাপরাধী ছিলেন না। তিনি ছিলেন ইতিহাসের এই দ্বিতীয় বৃহত্তম গণহত্যা আর ধ্বংসযজ্ঞের কো-অর্ডিনেটরদের একজন। তিরিশ লক্ষ বাঙ্গালী হত্যার দায়ে অভিযুক্ত ৪ লক্ষ নির্যাতিতার উপর কৃত সকল মানবতা বিরোধী অপরাধের জন্যে দায়ী। ..............বাংলাদেশের মুক্তিযুদ্ধের ইতিহাসে সবচেয়ে ভয়াবহ যে সংগঠনটির নাম জড়িয়ে আছে তার নাম আল-বদর। মুজাহিদ ছিলেন সেই আল-বদর বাহিনীর প্রধান। ..... details at:
বুদ্ধিজীবী হত্যা; ২৫ মার্চ থেকে ১৪ ডিসেম্বর, ১৯৭১ - ঢাকা বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়
http://www.somewhereinblog.net/blog/onujibblog/28882040
আলবদর ১৯৭১ - ১
বৃহস্পতিবার, ৩০ আগষ্ট ২০১২, ১৫ ভাদ্র ১৪১৯
আলবদর ১৯৭১ - ৮রবিবার, ২ সেপ্টেম্বর ২০১২, ১৮ ভাদ্র ১৪১৯
আলবদর ১৯৭১ - ৯সোমবার, ৩ সেপ্টেম্বর ২০১২, ১৯ ভাদ্র ১৪১৯
আলবদর ১৯৭১ -১৩ : আলবদর ১৯৭১ ॥ বুদ্ধিজীবী হত্যা ... ..
শনিবার, ৮ সেপ্টেম্বর ২০১২, ২৪ ভাদ্র ১৪১৯
আলবদর ১৯৭১ -১৪রবিবার, ৯ সেপ্টেম্বর ২০১২, ২৫ ভাদ্র ১৪১৯
আলবদর ১৯৭১ - ১৬ (শেষাংশ)
মঙ্গলবার, ১১ সেপ্টেম্বর ২০১২, ২৭ ভাদ্র ১৪১৯
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Posted by: ANISUR RAHMAN <anisur.rahman1@btinternet.com>
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Mukto Mona plans for a Grand Darwin Day Celebration:
Call For Articles:
http://mukto-mona.com/wordpress/?p=68
http://mukto-mona.com/banga_blog/?p=585
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