More than seven decades after Partition, Pakistan has still not offered a formal apology for the systematic violence inflicted on Bengalis—from 1947 through the 1971 Liberation War. Despite overwhelming evidence of mass killings, rape and economic exploitation, official Pakistan has chosen denial and silence over responsibility.
From the moment East Bengal became East Pakistan, it was treated less like an equal province and more like a colony. Linguistic repression, economic discrimination, political exclusion and finally, genocide marked this relationship.
Even today, as Bangladesh under interim leader Muhammad Yunus explores warmer ties with Islamabad after Sheikh Hasina’s ouster in 2024, one thing remains unchanged: Pakistan has offered no apology, no reparations, and no acknowledgment of guilt for the horrors of 1971.
Partition’s Broken Promise (1947–1952)
When Pakistan was created in 1947, East Bengal made up 54 percent of the country’s population. Yet power rested firmly in West Pakistan, dominated by Punjabi elites. The first betrayal came quickly. Urdu was declared the sole national language, sidelining Bengali, spoken by the majority.
This sparked the 1952 Language Movement. On February 21, Pakistani police opened fire on unarmed students in Dhaka demanding linguistic rights. Several students were killed and hundreds were injured. It was an early warning of how dissent in East Pakistan would be handled—with bullets, not dialogue.
Economic discrimination followed the same pattern. East Pakistan earned most of the country’s foreign exchange through jute exports—around 70 percent—but received barely a quarter of national development funds. By the late 1950s, per capita income in the East was about 40 percent lower than in the West. Bengal’s resources were used to build infrastructure in Karachi while millions in the east remained poor and hungry. Pakistan has never apologized for these early crimes.
Democracy Denied (1966–1971)
By the mid-1960s, frustration boiled over. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s Six-Point demand for autonomy in 1966 was branded treason. The military regime responded with arrests instead of reform.
The breaking point came after Pakistan’s first general election in 1970. Mujib’s Awami League won an overwhelming mandate—167 of 169 seats in East Pakistan—enough to form the national government. By any democratic standard, Mujib should have become prime minister.
Instead, the military ruler Yahya Khan and West Pakistani politician Zulfikar Ali Bhutto blocked the transfer of power. Talks dragged on while troops poured into East Pakistan. By March 1971, around 93,000 Pakistani soldiers were stationed there. The Bengali vote was ignored. The door to peaceful resolution was slammed shut.
Operation Searchlight: March 25, 1971
On the night of March 25, 1971, Pakistan launched Operation Searchlight—a planned military assault to crush Bengali resistance. Dhaka was the first target.
Pakistani troops stormed Dhaka University, police barracks, and Hindu neighborhoods. Students were shot in their dorms. Professors were dragged from their homes and executed. Jagannath Hall saw Hindu students massacred in their sleep. By morning, large parts of Old Dhaka were burning. Thousands were killed in a single night.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was arrested shortly after declaring independence and flown to West Pakistan. The genocide had begun.
A Nine-Month Campaign of Terror
What followed was one of the worst mass atrocities of the 20th century. Over the next nine months, Pakistani forces—assisted by local collaborators like the Razakars, Al-Badr, and Al-Shams—carried out systematic killings across Bengal.
Villages were surrounded. Men were lined up and shot. Hindus and intellectuals were targeted. Estimates of deaths range from 300,000 to 3 million; Bangladesh officially recognizes 3 million martyrs. More than 10 million people fled to India as refugees.
Rape was used as a weapon of war. Between 200,000 and 400,000 women were sexually assaulted, and many were held in rape camps. Thousands of children were born from these assaults. The survivors, later honored as Birangonas, were often shunned by society.
International reports—including the suppressed Hamoodur Rahman Commission and the famous “Blood Telegram” sent by U.S. diplomat Archer Blood—confirmed the scale of the crimes. Yet Pakistan denied genocide then and continues to do so today.
After Independence: Regret Without Responsibility
Bangladesh won independence on December 16, 1971, with India’s decisive support. But Pakistan quickly moved to limit the damage to its reputation. The 1972 Simla Agreement focused only on POWs and territory. There was no apology.
In 1974, Sheikh Mujib again demanded recognition of genocide and $4.5 billion in Bangladesh’s rightful share of assets. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto offered only a vague statement of “regret.” It was not an apology.
Later governments in Bangladesh softened their stance for diplomatic reasons, but the wound never healed.
Hasina’s Push—and Yunus’s Pivot
Under Sheikh Hasina, demands for justice returned strongly. Bangladesh officially recognized March 25 as Genocide Day, pursued war crimes trials against collaborators, and repeatedly pressed Pakistan for an apology and reparations. Relations remained tense.
After Hasina’s ouster in August 2024, interim leader Muhammad Yunus sought a reset. Trade talks resumed. Direct flights restarted. Pakistani officials visited Dhaka. But once again, when Bangladesh raised the issue of a formal apology, Pakistan refused.
As of February 2026, nothing has changed.
An Unfinished Moral Debt
Bangladesh has extended goodwill, trade access, flights, and diplomatic engagement. Pakistan has accepted the benefits but continues to avoid accountability.
Three million dead. Hundreds of thousands raped. Billions in stolen assets. And still, no apology.
Until Pakistan confronts the truth of 1971 and formally acknowledges its crimes, reconciliation will remain hollow. March 25 will continue to stand as a reminder—not just of genocide, but of a refusal to repent.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: ZEE News
