Bangladesh Liberation War

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A map of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The Bangladesh Liberation War[a] (Bengali: মুক্তিযুদ্ধ Muktijuddho) was a revolutionary war for the independence of Bangladesh in 1971.[4] The war was between East Pakistan (later with the help of India) and West Pakistan and lasted nine months. West Pakistan is called Pakistan today.

Ten million refugees left the country,and 30 million people left their homes.[5] Between 300.000 and 3 million people were killed.[6] Many Bengali women were raped, and there are documented cases of forced prostitution. Between 200.000 and 400.000 women were raped.[7] Pakistan's religious leaders openly supported the crime by labelling Bengali freedom fighters as "Hindus" and Bengali women as "the booty of war".[8] But in reality, more than 80 percent of the Bengali people were Muslims at that time.[9] The Pakistani Army committed genocide on larger parts of the Bengali population. This is known as the 1971 Bangladesh atrocities today.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's party won the Pakistan elections of 1970 and the military junta that ruled the country decided he must not be Prime Minister. The resulting war started on 26 March 1971 and finished on 16 December. A category 3 cyclone also happened during the war.

Ghulam Azam and Motiur Rahman Nizami were convicted for war crimes. Azam died before a final hearing. Nizami was executed for his crimes in May 2016.

Sources[change | change source]

  1. Encyclopaedia of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh calls it the Bangladesh Liberation War.[1] The war is known in Bangla as Muktijuddho or Shawdhinota Juddho.[2] The war is also called the Civil War in Pakistan[3]

  1. Gupta, Om (2006). Encyclopaedia of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Gyan Publishing House. p. 25. ISBN 978-81-8205-389-2.
  2. Rahman, Syedur (2010). Historical Dictionary of Bangladesh. Scarecrow Press. p. 289. ISBN 978-0-8108-7453-4.
  3. Moss, Peter (2005). Secondary Social Studies For Pakistan. Karachi: Oxford University Press. p. 93. ISBN 978-0-19-597704-2. OCLC 651126824. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  4. Library of Congress
  5. Totten, Samuel; Bartrop, Paul Robert (2007). Dictionary of Genocide. Greenwood. p. 34. ISBN 978-0-313-32967-8.
  6. Debasish Roy Chowdhury: Archived [Date missing] at atimes.com [Error: unknown archive URL] Asia Times Online, 23. Juni 2005, abgerufen am 3. Dezember 2016 (englisch).
  7. Liz Trotta (20 February 1972). "Bangladesh Genocide 1971 – Rape Victims Interview". National Broadcasting Company. Video auf YouTube, 3:51 Minuten
  8. Siddiqi, Dina M. (1998). "Taslima Nasreen and Others: The Contest over Gender in Bangladesh". In Bodman, Herbert L.; Tohidi, Nayereh Esfahlani (eds.). Women in Muslim Societies: Diversity Within Unity. Lynne Rienner. pp. 208–209. ISBN 978-1-55587-578-7. Sometime during the war, a fatwa originating in West Pakistan labeled Bengali freedom fighters 'Hindus' and declared that 'the wealth and women' to be secured by warfare with them could be treated as the booty of war. [Footnote, on p. 225:] S. A. Hossain, "Fatwa in Islam: Bangladesh Perspective," Daily Star (Dhaka), 28 December 1994, 7.
  9. "Population". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 1 April 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2021.