atrocities
ISLAMABAD: A retired senior officer of the Bangladesh Army has publiclychallenged the long-standing narrative surrounding alleged atrocitiesduring the 1971 Liberation War, asserting that Indian forces and theirsupported Mukti Bahini were responsible for the mass killings and sexualviolence attributed to the Pakistan Army. Lieutenant Colonel (retd) Shariful Haq Dalim, widely known as Major Dalim, made the explosive claims in arecent interview that has reignited debate over the historical record ofthe conflict.
Speaking on a private television channel, the former commando who played akey role in the 1975 military coup stated that the widely circulated figureof three million Bengali deaths and the rape of 200,000 women was adeliberate fabrication orchestrated by India. He emphasised that neither henor his colleagues stationed across East Pakistan in 1971 ever witnessed orheard credible reports of systematic sexual violence by Pakistani troops.Instead, Dalim alleged that Indian Army units and irregular Mukti Bahinifighters committed widespread atrocities, including the targeted massacreof non-Bengali Biharis, pro-Pakistan Bengalis, and intellectuals on 14December 1971.
The retired officer claimed that the killings of intellectuals in the finaldays of the war were carried out under direct Indian supervision to createa narrative of Pakistani brutality and justify secession. He furtherasserted that many of the photographs and testimonies used to supportgenocide allegations were staged or misrepresented by Indian intelligenceagencies in the immediate aftermath of the war.
Dalim, who served with the 2nd East Bengal Regiment and later became aprominent figure in post-independence Bangladesh politics, insisted thatthe Hamoodur Rehman Commission Report, despite its criticisms of Pakistanimilitary conduct, found no evidence supporting the scale of atrocitiesclaimed by Dhaka and New Delhi. He urged the current Bangladeshi generationto re-examine primary sources rather than accept what he described asIndian propaganda that has dominated the official history of 1971.
The interview has sparked intense reactions in both Bangladesh andPakistan, with some Bangladeshi nationalists dismissing the claims asrevisionism while others have called for an independent internationalinquiry. Historians note that while the exact numbers remain contested, theUnited Nations and several Western governments at the time did not endorsethe three million deaths figure circulated by the Awami League government.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdZ4oY1o1kA
Source:https://thediplomat.com/2024/11/revisiting-1971-bangladesh-liberation-war-narrative/
Tags: Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, 1971 War, Mukti Bahini, Dalim
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