Bangladesh genocide

The Bangladesh genocide, also known as the Gonohotta (Bengali: গণহত্যা, romanized: Gaṇahatyā), was the genocide of Bengalis of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) during the Bangladesh Liberation War. It began on 25 March 1971 with the launch of Operation Searchlight, as the government of Pakistan under Yahya Khan, dominated by West Pakistan, began a military crackdown on East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) to suppress Bengali calls for self-determination. During the nine-month-long war, members of the Pakistan Armed Forces and supporting pro-Pakistani Islamist militias from Jamaat-e-Islami killed between 300,000 and 3,000,000 people and raped between 200,000 and 400,000 Bengali women, in a systematic campaign of genocidal rape. The genocide mainly targeted the Hindu population in East Pakistan, leading to the killing and displacement of a large number of Bengali Hindus from the region. The International Commission of Jurists concluded that the genocide involved the attempt to exterminate or forcibly remove a significant portion of Hindus from the country.

Quick facts: Bangladesh genocide, Location, Date, Target, ... ▼

Bangladesh genocide
Part of the Bangladesh Liberation War
Rayerbazar killing field photographed immediately after the war started, showing bodies of Bengali nationalist intellectuals (Image courtesy: Rashid Talukdar, 1971)
Location	East Pakistan
Date	26 March – 16 December 1971 (8 months, 2 weeks and 6 days)
Target	Bengalis, mainly the Bengali Hindus[1]
Attack type	Deportation, ethnic cleansing, mass murder, genocidal rape
Deaths	300,000–3,000,000
Perpetrators	Pakistan Army President. Yahya Khan Lt Gen. Tikka Khan Lt Gen. A.A.K Niazi Maj Gen. Rao Farman Razakars Al-Badr Al-Shams Nagorik Shanti Committee Jamaat-e-Islami
Motive	Hinduphobia Racism

Part of a series on
Genocide
Issues
List of genocides Genocides in history Effects on youth Denial Massacre Rape Incitement In relation to Colonialism / War Perpetrators, victims, and bystanders Prevention Psychology Recognition politics Risk factors Stages Types Anti-Indigenous Cultural Utilitarian Studies Outline Bibliography
18th /19th/early 20th century genocides
Dzungar Circassian Black War Moriori California Selk'nam Herero and Namaqua
Late Ottoman genocides (1910s–1920s)
Greek Sayfo Armenian
World War II (1939–1945)
The Holocaust Romani Serbs Croats and Muslims Nazi crimes against the Polish nation
Cold War (1940s–1991)
Bangladesh Ikiza East Timor Cambodian Guatemalan Gukurahundi Isaaq
Contemporary ethno-religious genocides
Bosnian Rwandan Effacer le tableau Darfur Yazidi Iraqi Turkmen Uyghur Rohingya
Related topics
Anfal campaign Anti-communist mass killings Indonesia 1965–66 Atrocities in the Congo Free State Compulsory sterilization Democide Ethnic cleansing Ethnocide Forced assimilation Mass killings under communist regimes Holodomor / genocide question Massacres of Hutus during the First Congo War Predictions of a genocide in Ethiopia Vendée debate Raphael Lemkin
Category
v t e

Part of a series on
Persecution of Bengali Hindus
Part of Bengali Hindu history
Discrimination
Anti-Bengali sentiment in India Malaun Vested Property Act Bongal Dkhar D voter
Persecution
1930 Dhaka riots Direct Action Day 1946 Noakhali massacres 1950 East Bengal massacres 1962 Rajshahi massacres 1964 East Pakistan massacres 1971 Bangladesh genocide Rape Marichjhapi incident Persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh 1989 Hojai riots 1990 1992 2010 Deganga riots 2012 Hathazari 2012 Fatehpur 2012 Chirirbandar 2013 2013 Canning riots 2016 Kaliachak riots 2017 Kha Maung Seik massacre
Opposition
Bengali Hindu Homeland Movement United Bengal Bangabhumi Banga Sena
v t e

Part of a series on the
History of Bangladesh
Etymology Timeline Traditional Urheimat
Ancient Neolithic, c. 7600 – c. 3300 BCE Bronze Age, c. 3300 – c. 1200 BCE Iron Age, c. 1200 – c. 200 BCE Janapada, c. 1200 – c. 600 BCE Northern Black Polished Ware, c. 700 – c. 200 BCE Pundra Kingdom, c. 700 – c. 200 BCE Bengal in Mahabharata, c. 400 – c. 325 BCE Gangaridai Kingdom, c. 350 – c. 325 BCE Mauryan Empire, c. 325 – c. 185 BCE Samatata Kingdom, c. 232 BCE – c. 800 AD Shunga-Kushan Period, c. 185 BCE – c. 75 AD Southwestern Silk Road, c. 114 BCE – c. 1450 AD Indo-Roman trade relations, c. 30 BCE – c. 600 AD
Classical Gupta Empire, c. 240 – c. 550 AD Harikela Kingdom, c. 600 - c. 650 Gauda Kingdom, c. 590 – c. 626 Gour (Sylhet), c. 600 – c. 1303 Khadga dynasty, c. 650 – c. 750 Pala Empire, c. 750 – c. 1100 Arrival of Islam, c. 800 – c. 1050 Candra dynasty, c. 900 – c. 1050 Sena dynasty, c. 1070 – c. 1320 Deva dynasty, c. 1100 – c. 1250
Medieval Bhulua (Noakhali), c. 1203 – c. 1600s Delhi Sultanate, c. 1204 – c. 1338 Mamluk Dynasty Khalji Dynasty Tugluq Dynasty Sonargaon Sultanate, c. 1338 – c. 1352 Bengal Sultanate, c. 1352 – c. 1576 Ilyas Shahi dynasty Hussain Shahi dynasty Karrani dynasty Suri Dynasty, c. 1540 – c. 1556 Twelve Bhuyans, c. 1550 – c. 1620 Porto Grande de Bengala, c. 1528 – c. 1666 Chittagong-Arakan Kingdom, c. 1530 – c. 1666 Mughal Empire, c. 1576 – c. 1717 Bengal Subah
Modern Nawabs of Bengal, c. 1717 – c. 1757 Company Raj, c. 1757 – c. 1858 Bengal famine of 1770 Faraizi Movement, c. 1818 – c. 1884 The Great Rebellion, c. 1857 – c. 1858 British Raj, c. 1858 – c. 1947 Bengal Renaissance Partition of Bengal (1905) Eastern Bengal and Assam Bengal famine of 1943 Prime Minister of Bengal Noakhali riots East Bengal, c. 1947 – c. 1955 Partition of Bengal (1947) East Bengali refugees Bengali Language Movement East Pakistan, c. 1955 – c. 1971 1964 East Pakistan riots Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 Six Point Movement 1969 uprising in East Pakistan Pakistani general election, 1970 Non-cooperation movement, 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, c. 1971 Declaration of Independence Provisional Government of Bangladesh 1971 Bangladesh Genocide (Rape) Bangladesh Forces Surrender of Pakistan
Contemporary Post-independence years, 1972 – 1975 Bangladesh famine of 1974 Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League Assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Jail Killing Day Military rule, 1975 – 1990 Military coups in Bangladesh Chittagong Hill Tracts conflict 1990 Mass Uprising Transition to democracy, 1991 – 2008 Caretaker government of Bangladesh Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord 2006–08 Bangladeshi political crisis Present parliamentary era, 2009– present Vision 2021 and Digital Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal Quota reform movement 2021 Bangladesh Communal Violence Smart Bangladesh
Related articles Timeline of Bangladeshi history Bangladeshi art Bengali literature
Bangladesh portal
v t e

The Government of Bangladesh states 3,000,000 people were killed during the genocide, making it the largest genocide since the Holocaust during the Second World War.

The Pakistani elite believed that Hindus were behind the revolt and that as soon as there was a solution to the "Hindu problem" the conflict would resolve. For Pakistanis, the violence against Hindus was a strategic policy.[2] Muslim Pakistani men believed the sacrifice of Hindu women was needed to fix the national malaise.[3] Imams and Muslim religious leaders declared the women "war booty”.[4][5] A fatwa from West Pakistan during the war asserted that women taken from Bengali Hindus could be considered war booty.[5][6] Some of these women died in captivity or committed suicide while others moved to India.[7]

As a result of the conflict, a further eight to ten million refugees fled the country to seek refuge in neighbouring India. It is estimated that up to 30 million civilians were internally displaced out of 70 million. During the war, there was also ethnic violence between Bengalis and Urdu-speaking Biharis. Biharis faced reprisals from Bengali mobs and militias, and from 1,000 to 150,000 were killed.

There is an academic consensus that the events which took place during the Bangladesh Liberation War constituted a genocide; however, many Pakistanis disagree that the killing was a genocide.