While dispelling biased narratives against Pakistan for causing starvation, deprivation and killings in erstwhile East Pakistan during 1971, renowned scholar Dr Junaid Ahmad termed it merely the product of greater myths devoid of reality and facts.
Declaring creation of Bangladesh as a tragic episode of Pakistan history on Wednesday, Dr Junaid Ahmad, the author of a book ‘Creation of Bangladesh : Myths Exploded,’ said Pakistan requires to take stand against injustice and illegality of the War Crime Tribunals and the War Crimes Denial Act.
He expressed these views while delivering lecture to a large number of students, academia, journalists and various segments of society at Quaid-e-Azam University, saying it is time to make friendship with Bangladesh.
Dr Ahmad gave presentation over his book, saying the book revealed real facts behind the loss of East Pakistan and what led to East Pakistan becoming Bangladesh in 1971. He added misunderstandings and cover-ups that mislead historians to unjustifiably labelling Pakistan as the perpetrator of the horrifying atrocities committed against the Bengalis during events that led to the creation of Bangladesh forced him to become a historian and also the reasons to write the book in hand.
The book sheds light on the conspiracies, misadventures, and failings, also those whose actions culminated into the calamity of the demise of East Pakistan. The author disclosed that economic structure of rest of West Pakistan other than Punjab was not much different than East Pakistan, saying nature in the forms of annual cyclones, floods, and particularly the cyclone of 1970 also had not been friendly in the case of East Pakistan.
The author told the audience it is misperception and propaganda that Operation Searchlight (25th March 1971) was launched against innocent civilians, saying after Yahya Khan’s announcement to postpone the National Assembly session, Awami Leaguers took to the roads. They were armed, and started vandalism, arson, loot, and killings. He added from the National Assembly session’s postponement till the start of Operation Searchlight, thousands of innocent people lost their lives, national flag was desecrated every day, and jailbreaks occurred regularly.
He further said the perpetrators of violence were Bengali mobs, who targeted non-Bengalis and exhibited such savagery that army was ordered to remain in their barracks. Before Operation Searchlight, Bangladeshi flag was raised, firing practices ensued within Dhaka University, barricades were erected throughout Dhaka, and checkpoints of Awami Leaguers were erected near the airport to search people.
Due to this lawlessness, operation Searchlight was launched against Awami League leadership and its militant supporters. With the start of the operation, Bengal regiments and East Pakistan Regiments revolted. As a bloody display of their extreme abhorrence, defecting Bengali soldiers before leaving their barracks killed their counterpart West Pakistani soldiers and their families.
Citing Indian and Bangladeshi authors and books as reference, Dr Ahmad informed that Agartala conspiracy plot had been hatched by India with Mujib in late 1950 which, he said, was delayed due to the Indo-China war in 1962. He further said that Mujibur Rehman was released from the Agartala Conspiracy case because of political pressure from prominent politicians, most notably Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Mujib assumed power in Bangladesh as the president, then prime minister and then again president until his assassination on August 15,1975. Mujib era witnessed rise in prices, smuggling, hoarding, corruption and political killings, said Ahmad in the book.
He apprised that renowned author Sarmila Bose in her book, Dead Reckoning – A Long-Overdue Dispassionate Study of 1971 War, after carrying out case-by-case arithmetic – concludes that between 50,000 and 100,000 people died in 1971 – vastly away from the figure of three million that is sacrosanct in Bangladesh.
Describing three million figure as a “gigantic rumour,” she says it is “not based on any accounting or survey on the ground.” Bose also elaborates that “in the ethnic violence unleashed in the name of Bengali nationalism, non-Bengali men, women and children were slaughtered.” She argues that the indiscriminate massacre of Biharis certainly constitutes genocide. Sarmila also logically nullifies the bogus claims of sexual abuse by Pakistan Army. She exclaimed: “How can it be possible that 34,000 Pakistan Army soldiers facing Indian Army and Mukti Bahini could rape 200,000 Bengali women”.
The writer informed about number of Pakistani soldiers who surrendered in 1971, saying the number of soldiers is exaggerated and false as the actual number was 34,000 troops, 11,000 police, rangers, scouts and militia, this made the total number of combatants to 45,000. He said accordingly, the number of 93,000 as conjured by Indians including children, women, civilian administration officials and staff; non-combatant army personnel – nurses, doctors, barbers, cooks and shoemakers is ill-founded.
Dr Ahmad elaborated that creation of Bangladesh did not happen on religious lines, saying it happened on the basis of divergent culture / political differences – exploited by a visible foreign hand. He further said negation of Two Nation Theory would mean that after seceding from Pakistan, Bangladesh had to merge with India as was in pre- partition era, which it did not.
