Hindu genocide at Jathibhanga, Bangladesh testifies Pakistan’s Hindu-ethnic cleansing creed in 1971

Contrary to the belief of many sane individuals across the globe, it is getting evident increasingly that the military operation of Pakistani Army in (then) East Pakistan in 1971 was not to contain the rebellious eastern part within its fold only but more to cleanse it from the influence of Hindus – a comprehensive ethnic cleansing of Hindus. 3 million people were killed and based on facts, the majority of it were Hindus, if not more. And Thakurgaon district, situated in the north-western side of Bangladesh, happens to be the best and most truthful testimony to it.   

On April 23, 1971, at Jathibhanga, Sub-district: Sukhanpukuri Union, District: Thakurgaon, Pakistani army along with its local accomplices including Jamaat-e-Islami, Muslim, PDP cadres, slew more than 3, 000 innocent people and all of them, without any exception, were Hindus. Strikingly all of them were not original inhabitants of the area. Hearing narratives of insensate tortures of Pakistani Army, Hindus, comprising men, women and children, of villages like Jagannathpur, Chawkhaldi, Singia, Chandipur, Alanpur, Basudevpur, Gauripur, Milanpur, Thanarbhopla, Sukhanpukuri started to move towards India for security, on April 23.

Meanwhile, to take rest, they took shelter in Jathibhanga and hearing such a large gathering of Hindus through local informers Pakistani Army didn’t waste a single moment. Two trucks of the Army came in the village; male members were commanded to form lines and they were killed by indiscriminate firing of machineguns. The operation continued till the evening. Women were looted; while large numbers of them were gang raped and murdered, others were taken away for pleasure. No Hindu child was found alive in the evening.

The said account is not a concocted story at all; a memorial has been created by the Awami League government and on each April 23, people in the area observe Jathibhanga Genocide Day.

To know more, anyone can look into the report of Senator Edward Kennedy, played a great role to inform of the Pakistani army’s genocide in Bangladesh throughout the globe. Kennedy traveled throughout West Bengal along with other parts of eastern India and recorded in detail the plight of Bangladeshi refugees. And through the report he virtually mocked at the policy of United States to support Pakistan.

In the report titled Crisis in South Asia, submitted to the Judicial Committee on Refugees, he stated candidly of his experiences through witnessing “one of the most appalling tides of human misery in modern times”.

Here a few more excerpts from the report.

“Nothing is more clear, or more easily documented, than the systematic campaign of terror - and its genocidal consequences - launched by the Pakistani army on the night of march 25th.” “Hardest hit have been members of the Hindu community who have been robbed of their lands and shops, systematically slaughtered and, in some places, painted with yellow patches marked ‘H’. “All of this has been officially sanctioned, ordered and implemented under martial law from Islamabad.

“America’s heavy support of Islamabad is nothing short of complicity in the human and political tragedy of East Bengal,” he concluded.