ehind the myth of 3 million’, Dr M Abdul Mu’min Chowdhury, is a native of Sylhet and now lives in England. He is one of the writers who has done nothing less than tear through the fabric of fables to solve some mysterious myths that have been formed around the creation of Bangladesh. Among them is the fiction that the Pakistan Army savagely killed 3 million people and raped 300 thousand women during the 9 months’ unsuccessful fight to preserve the integrity of a united Pakistan.
Dr Chowdhury inscribes in this book “I am one of those whose family were reported among the casualties of Pakistan Army’s action in Dhaka on the night of 26 March 1971. Some of my personal friends within the ‘liberationist’ camp even had a condolence meeting for me in their Indian safe heaven! I am not alone in having been counted as dead. Countless other people could tell a similar story of their own.” Some have even found their names engraved in the commemorative plaques solemnly dedicated in memory of the fallen heroes of the Bangladesh war. Being one of many such ‘reincarnated’ beings, Dr Chowdhury felt duty bound to help remove the myth which is of no service either to his fellow countrymen or to history.
This must-read ‘Behind the Myth of 3 million’ is a short book as it has only 75 pages. There are just 8 chapters but each chapter is to the point with many references. He articulates the charges and allegations against Pakistan were entirely fictitious, untrue and cooked up. Here are some salient points, chapter to chapter:
In chapter one he describes how in May 1973, Abdul Gaffar Choudhury, a newspaper columnist and close companion of Mujib, challenged the figure of 3 million; and after raising doubts he left Bangladesh. He explains how Mujib became part of myth making when he repeated the same charge before the world in interview given to David Frost. Then he gave account of Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci’s interview with Mujib and how he was very rude and shouting at her. He then gave example of Indian generals. Manekshaw expressed incredulity at the figure of 3 million. In an interview Lt Gen Aurora pointed out that Mujib’s figure was ‘absolutely impossible’, because Pakistan Army had “simultaneously fought within the country and at the borders”.
Dr Chowdury writes, “One may ask, if the figure of 3m was ‘absolutely impossible’, could the figure of one million be deemed within the realm of probability?” He writes in his conclusion about Purbadesh, Pravda, ENA fabricated figure or Indian figure “Both are inflated out of proportion to suit their much loved propaganda.” He mentions that much of the publicized encounters between Pakistan Army and the Mukti Bahini were in fact clashes between Pakistan Army and Indian forces. He says Indian PM Desai disclosed that about 5,000 regular Indian soldiers were killed while fighting in the disguise of Mukti Bahini. He writes “In order to kill 3 million, the Pakistan Army would have had to kill 11,494 persons a day non-stop from 26 March onwards. If on the other hand, they were to kill one million people, their daily killing would come to 3,831. Seen in another way, for the 60,000 Pakistan Army to kill three million and rape 3 hundred thousand women, each and every one of them had to kill 50 persons and rape 5 women.” Writing this article, I wish we had 60,000 troops if not 93,000.
In early June 1972, a western journalist reported in a newspaper that since the third week of March, when IG’s office in Home Ministry began its field investigations, there have been about 2,000 complaints from citizens about deaths at the hands of Pakistan Army have been received. According to Dr Chowdhury, other sources reported that the draft report showed an overall casualty figure of 56,743. He writes when a copy of this draft report was shown to the PM, “he lost his temper and threw it on the floor, saying in angry voice ‘I have declared three million dead, and your report could not come up with three score thousand! What report you have prepared? Keep your report to yourself. What I have said once, shall prevail.”
The time and situation then was right and suited them. While Indians acknowledged to having trained 130,000 ‘freedom fighters’, 3,300,000 actually claimed that distinction and obtained certificates by all manner of means to prove that they were genuine fighters. Those people who could not make such a claim because of their age, domicile, or any other reasons, became soothsayers, or, if nothing, sufferers for the liberation of Bangladesh. Dr Chowdhury writes “All of them sang and swore. Indeed, what better target for swearing could there be, other than the ‘abnormal Pakistan’ and the ‘abominable Pakistan Army’?”
Dr Chowdhury was himself supervisor of Iqbal Hall. In this chapter he then listed the false claims by different myth makers such as Jyoti Sen Gupta. He explains in detail how the killing at Jagannath Hall was deliberately exaggerated. He writes how a poorly recorded video film of the Pakistan army movement within the hall premises was later produced. He explains how it was falsely claimed with the help in the video that Army was using bull-dozers for digging a mass grave. While special viewing had been arranged to show the video film in and outside Bangladesh. To his surprise up until now no one has bothered to look for the alleged mass grave. He suggests that this person called Gupta, who had shown a special interest in Jagannath Hall, would have been more believable if he had enquired about the mass grave and had ascertained from the hall authorities the total number of casualties, not only on that night but throughout the whole war. Doctor Chowdhury who was himself present at the University on that night articulates that the plain and simple truth is that no such grave existed and that was the reason why Mr Gupta stayed away from the supposed Pakistan Army ‘killing field’.
Sifting facts from fictions Doctor Chowdury then refutes the claims of alleged killing at the Dhaka University and other parts of Dacca. Rebutting the claims of 50,000 buddhist killing by Pakistan he explains that Chakma Chief, Raja Tridiv Roy, stood against the disintegration. It was not Raja alone, other tribal chiefs and dignitaries of Buddhist faith, also stood up. Because of their unflinching faith some chiefs were put behind the bars. He then refutes the alleged destruction and killing in Kushtia, Jessore, Khulna and Chittagong. He also debunks the myth of four hundred thousand women raped as manufactured.
He explicates how the history bears testimony that Mujib and AL had always indulged in the cheap politics of blaming their opponents – right or wrong. It is equally true that they have never shown any moral qualm when it came to blaming Pakistan. Before 1971 they blamed West Pakistan for every conceivable ills taking place in East Pakistan and, to a large extent, they succeeded in making a section of East Pakistanis believe in their lies. After the creation of Bangladesh, they tried the same tactic. In an effort to explain away the piteous state they themselves have brought their countrymen into, Mujib and his cronies resorted to all kinds of spacious arguments for making Pakistan their scapegoat. But this became worn out in no time. Faced with damning criticism and open ridicule, they soon gave it up. He then talks about the stalking hands of India in Six-Points to secession. At the end he explains how India wanted bloodshed from behind the scene and instigated Mujib who had been in receipt of Indian patronage since mid-50s to create the political disagreement and then pushed him to transform it into a bloody armed conflict.
(The writer is freelance columnist)