Dear Dr. Hathaway
Thank you for your response. I am sorry that I could not write to you sooner because of mid-terms, grading, Spring Break, and a conference. Because it is of one of the issues of utmost importance to me and because Woodrow Wilson Center is involved, I thought I would send you this note. You are welcome to share this with Dr. Bose and others. I have also taken liberty to share your earlier response with my colleagues and friends. Here’re a few issues Dr. Bose raised:
(A) The Casualty: As I mentioned to you in my letter I have been working at the grassroots level in Bangladesh and India for over 30 years, (and to work with 26 schools our foundation supports.) I have traveled to almost every district and sub district in Bangladesh, sometimes traveling by boat or on the back of motorbike. What got me interested in my last book project is that every Hindu and every Hindu-majority village told me stories of ethnic cleansing in 1971. Almost everyone was a first hand witness to Hindu killing by the Army of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and by its Bihari and Bengali Islamist Razakar killers. (Even Pakistan Government’s Hamoodur Commission asked if there was an order for ‘extermination of Hindus’ to which officers said, ‘No,’ of course.“He (Lt. Gen. A. A. K. Niazi) Denied the Allegation that he ever ordered his Subordinates toExterminate the Hindu Minority” and “…915 men were just slain by a flick of one Officer’s fingers should suffice as an example….There were verbal instructions to eliminate Hindus.”See, March 27/28 1971 Massacre report at Comilla Cantonment.) All pro-secular Muslims and Awami activists were target, no doubt, but every Hindu, from peasant to professor, was targeted. As I did a reverse estimation of Hindu loss between 1961 Census and that of 1974, the loss was at least 6.3 million, which is higher when adjusted for Muslim loss. We Hindus do not just “vanish in thin air.” (From 1961-1974 rate of growth of Bangladeshi population was 38.35%, with Hindus constituting 18.5% of the population. In 1974 Hindu population came down to 13.5%; thus 6.3 million loss. Source, Bangladesh Census, as quoted in myEmpire’s Last Casualty… book, p 43 and 51.) Many of the survivors have suggested to me that they won’t be surprised if the numbers of Hindus killed surpass three million. People have cited two difficulties in counting the dead, especially for Hindus. One is that they cremate their dead, and second, bodies dumped into the world’s largest delta were washed away. I heard of such dumping in Bhairab Bridge, in Barisal, Dhaka and from other places. Even after field work for 30 years, I am amazed to find new victims, not recorded in Bangladeshi documents, on a regular basis. (My Empire’s Last Casualty: Indian Subcontinent’s Vanishing Hindu and Other Minorities [Firma KLM Publishers, Calcutta, 2008] book is an attempt to document that loss, but from 1946 through 2001.) In 2008 when we opened a new building at Shahid Smriti (Martyr’s Memorial) Girl’s High School at SwarupKathi the local residents gave me a list of 136 Hindus, 42 from the school’s village, who were corralled and murdered by Pakistan Army and local killers: thus the name. The year before when I opened a girl’s dorm in Kochua in Khulna region I was invited by a young man whose father and two siblings were murdered. In Gandhi Ashram school of Noakhali that we support seven aged Gandhi associates were shot dead for being Hindu. In Prabartak Sangha Ashram of Chittagong 14 teachers, including one Muslim, were shot dead. The Comilla Boy’s Orphanage we support contains several memorials to Hindus murdered in 1971, including Parliamentarian Dhirendra Nath Datta and his son, who were dragged from home, tortured and killed by the Islamic Republic’s army, their bodies never found. (I have interviewed a granddaughter who was abused.) Madaripur Ashram School we support was destroyed along with the temple, student dorm and residences. Our Partition Documentation Center in New York is now recording narratives of refugees and survivors – from 1947 through the present. We are yet to find a Hindu whose family and home was neither attacked nor was there any loss in the family in 1971. It was essentially a Hindu genocide within a Bengali genocide (similar to WWII Europe and Rwanda.) The genocide began with attack on Dhaka University’s Hindu Jagannath Hall dorm by killing 64 Hindu students and teachers (see the on-site memorial tablet and NBC’s John Chancellor’s clip on YouTube); and by destroying the 9th Century Ramna Kali Temple, then mutilating and torching 100 Hindu devotees and priests (check the on-site memorial tablet). Recently we interviewed two Muslim brothers whose father Serajuddin Husain, Editor of Ittefaq, was dragged from home at 3 AM by Urdu-speaking gang but never to return. We are also recording narratives of Muslims who were victimized, or displaced from West Bengal. These are just a few examples. I can go on and on. (Unrelated to this I visited two dozen districts in Bangladesh during anti-Hindu pogroms in 1990 and 1992. Ambassador Milam was our ambassador then.)
Thank you for your response. I am sorry that I could not write to you sooner because of mid-terms, grading, Spring Break, and a conference. Because it is of one of the issues of utmost importance to me and because Woodrow Wilson Center is involved, I thought I would send you this note. You are welcome to share this with Dr. Bose and others. I have also taken liberty to share your earlier response with my colleagues and friends. Here’re a few issues Dr. Bose raised:
(A) The Casualty: As I mentioned to you in my letter I have been working at the grassroots level in Bangladesh and India for over 30 years, (and to work with 26 schools our foundation supports.) I have traveled to almost every district and sub district in Bangladesh, sometimes traveling by boat or on the back of motorbike. What got me interested in my last book project is that every Hindu and every Hindu-majority village told me stories of ethnic cleansing in 1971. Almost everyone was a first hand witness to Hindu killing by the Army of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and by its Bihari and Bengali Islamist Razakar killers. (Even Pakistan Government’s Hamoodur Commission asked if there was an order for ‘extermination of Hindus’ to which officers said, ‘No,’ of course.“He (Lt. Gen. A. A. K. Niazi) Denied the Allegation that he ever ordered his Subordinates toExterminate the Hindu Minority” and “…915 men were just slain by a flick of one Officer’s fingers should suffice as an example….There were verbal instructions to eliminate Hindus.”See, March 27/28 1971 Massacre report at Comilla Cantonment.) All pro-secular Muslims and Awami activists were target, no doubt, but every Hindu, from peasant to professor, was targeted. As I did a reverse estimation of Hindu loss between 1961 Census and that of 1974, the loss was at least 6.3 million, which is higher when adjusted for Muslim loss. We Hindus do not just “vanish in thin air.” (From 1961-1974 rate of growth of Bangladeshi population was 38.35%, with Hindus constituting 18.5% of the population. In 1974 Hindu population came down to 13.5%; thus 6.3 million loss. Source, Bangladesh Census, as quoted in myEmpire’s Last Casualty… book, p 43 and 51.) Many of the survivors have suggested to me that they won’t be surprised if the numbers of Hindus killed surpass three million. People have cited two difficulties in counting the dead, especially for Hindus. One is that they cremate their dead, and second, bodies dumped into the world’s largest delta were washed away. I heard of such dumping in Bhairab Bridge, in Barisal, Dhaka and from other places. Even after field work for 30 years, I am amazed to find new victims, not recorded in Bangladeshi documents, on a regular basis. (My Empire’s Last Casualty: Indian Subcontinent’s Vanishing Hindu and Other Minorities [Firma KLM Publishers, Calcutta, 2008] book is an attempt to document that loss, but from 1946 through 2001.) In 2008 when we opened a new building at Shahid Smriti (Martyr’s Memorial) Girl’s High School at SwarupKathi the local residents gave me a list of 136 Hindus, 42 from the school’s village, who were corralled and murdered by Pakistan Army and local killers: thus the name. The year before when I opened a girl’s dorm in Kochua in Khulna region I was invited by a young man whose father and two siblings were murdered. In Gandhi Ashram school of Noakhali that we support seven aged Gandhi associates were shot dead for being Hindu. In Prabartak Sangha Ashram of Chittagong 14 teachers, including one Muslim, were shot dead. The Comilla Boy’s Orphanage we support contains several memorials to Hindus murdered in 1971, including Parliamentarian Dhirendra Nath Datta and his son, who were dragged from home, tortured and killed by the Islamic Republic’s army, their bodies never found. (I have interviewed a granddaughter who was abused.) Madaripur Ashram School we support was destroyed along with the temple, student dorm and residences. Our Partition Documentation Center in New York is now recording narratives of refugees and survivors – from 1947 through the present. We are yet to find a Hindu whose family and home was neither attacked nor was there any loss in the family in 1971. It was essentially a Hindu genocide within a Bengali genocide (similar to WWII Europe and Rwanda.) The genocide began with attack on Dhaka University’s Hindu Jagannath Hall dorm by killing 64 Hindu students and teachers (see the on-site memorial tablet and NBC’s John Chancellor’s clip on YouTube); and by destroying the 9th Century Ramna Kali Temple, then mutilating and torching 100 Hindu devotees and priests (check the on-site memorial tablet). Recently we interviewed two Muslim brothers whose father Serajuddin Husain, Editor of Ittefaq, was dragged from home at 3 AM by Urdu-speaking gang but never to return. We are also recording narratives of Muslims who were victimized, or displaced from West Bengal. These are just a few examples. I can go on and on. (Unrelated to this I visited two dozen districts in Bangladesh during anti-Hindu pogroms in 1990 and 1992. Ambassador Milam was our ambassador then.)
My family and I have traveled to Pakistan, with our own funds, the last one being in 2007 to participate in the 150th Anniversary of War of Independence organized by Peshawar University. There were scholars from all of Pakistan’s universities and think tanks. Learning that both my parents and my in-laws were Hindu refugee, I found no hesitation on the part of scholars to condemn the atrocities perpetrated by their army in 1971. A few years ago a Pakistani immigrant pumping gas in my New York City neighborhood told me as a matter of fact that “as army men we were ordered to kill Hindus and Awamis.” I am not sure how can one miss such day-to-day experience and not seek justice.
• (2) Rape: Unless someone is completely oblivious to the Bengali and Indian culture one would know that estimating rape victim is very complex, and 250,000 victims could be an undercount as well as overestimate. Dr. Nilima Ibrahim in her books, Aami Birangana Bolchhi (I am the brave woman speaking, Jagriti Prakashani, Dhaka; 1998), tried to narrate rape victim’s story, but gave up after second volume when she was denigrated for bringing shame to the families. Even a liberated Hindu girl’s father in one of her stories asked the victim not to return home before he can protect other siblings. This is not new. After 1946 anti-Hindu pogrom in Noakhali when British Bengal’s Muslim League Premier was Mr. Suhrawardy thousands of girls and wives were abducted and converted. Yet when groups of women like Ashoka Gupta, Sucheta Kripalani, Sneharani Kanjilal and others went to recover the women, the British Administrator MacInerny said those were ‘love marriages.’ Mrs. Sucheta Kripalani – the future Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh – asked “please give me one concrete case of love affairs between the communities from 10th October to this day, after the riot….” The recovered girls Mr. MacInemy investigated were indeed abducted. (See P 62-63, Ashoka Gupta, Noakhalir Durjoger Diney [An Account of the Aftermath of Riot in Noakhali in 1946], Naya Udyog, Calcutta; 1999. Also see Taj Ul-Islam Hashmi,Pakistan as a Peasant Utopia: the Communalization of Class Politics in East Bengal, 1920-1947, Westview, Boulder; 1992). I interviewed Mrs. Gupta and Dr. Hashmi for my project. More recently in my own neighborhood in New York City three teenage girls were victimized. Once the criminal was apprehended and produced at the court two girls came to testify, whereas the third girl, a Hindu, left the area with her family leaving no forwarding address. During the 2001 pre-election violence and anti-Hindu pogrom in Bangladesh large-scale attack took place on minority Hindus, (and Awami supporters) including mass rape of Hindus in Bhola Island. We were asked to provide shelter to 21 recovered girls as our foundation helps many orphanages. Yet the suffering parents took their daughters back as words of their children’s new shelter leaked out. (I also informed our embassy in Dhaka as one of our schools came under attack in Barisal.) And just days ago on March 27, 2011,The New York Times highlighted the plight of educated rape victims in Inida as victim’s families choose not to bring charges against rapists for fear of family disgrace. The Dhaka (Hindu) Girls’ Orphanage (school) we support in Old Dhaka was completely gutted by Pakistan Army, and by their Bihari and Bengali Islamist supporters with whereabouts of the girls unknown. Why should lives of our daughters not matter?
• (C) Bihari: In my field work among Hindu refugees (1947-1964 period) in India stretching from Jabar Dakhal (forcibly occupied) colonies of West Bengal to settlements in Dandakaranya Forest almost every family ‘blamed’ attack on them in East Bengal/Pakistan first on the non-native Urdu-speaking Biharis. (See, Dakshina Ranjan Basu, Chhere Asa Gram [The villages we left behind]; First published in 1954, Jigansa, Calcutta; Bandyopadhyay, Hiranmoy,Udbastu [Refugee], Sahitya Sangsad, Calcutta; 1970; Prof. Prafulla Chakrabarti,The Marginal Men: The Refugees and the Left Political Syndrome in West Bengal, Lumiere Books, Calcutta; 1990; and more.) Ironically after Bangladesh was liberated many of them were sheltered by Marxists to prove their ‘secular’ credentials, although most of the Marxists were Bangladeshi-Hindu refugees who after partition chose not to live with their Muslim-majority and oppressed-caste Hindu neighbors. Yet after 1992 Hindu-Muslim rioting in Calcutta many of the Left politicians blamed Calcutta riots on Bangladeshi Biharis who were settled “without proper secular education,” as quoted inThe Statesman, Calcutta (December 12, 1992). In 1995 when Laloo Prasad Yadav came to power in Bihar State of India by promoting Yadav-Muslim solidarity he too was blamed for giving voting papers to Bangladeshi-Biharis when many of their leaders were accused of atrocities against Hindus and secular Muslims. So some Bihari loss can be attributed to migration to India as well as to Pakistan, but no violence can be condoned.
Just based on these facts, I would urge Woodrow Wilson Center to push for prosecution of war criminals, otherwise, I am afraid, both Bangladesh and Pakistan, and even India, may become destabilized by these mass murderers.
Sorry for the length. If you need additional information, please let me know.
Sincerely,
Sachi G. Dastidar
March 28, 2011
Just based on these facts, I would urge Woodrow Wilson Center to push for prosecution of war criminals, otherwise, I am afraid, both Bangladesh and Pakistan, and even India, may become destabilized by these mass murderers.
Sorry for the length. If you need additional information, please let me know.
Sincerely,
Sachi G. Dastidar
March 28, 2011
