Revising 1971

As a Bangladeshi, we're not new to people trying to rewrite history when it comes to 1971. But sometimes, every once in a while, someone manages to come up with some idea that makes you really sit up and take note. Sarmila Bose recently managed to do that. An academic at George Washington University, she recently gave a presentation in which she said there was no evidence of rape by the Pakistan Army in 1971 in the case studies she conducted.

This was immediately taken up my the Pakistani media and extrapolated to mean that there were no rapes committed by the Army in 1971 - period. Its not unexpected - many still fume at the ignominy of their defeat and still desperately try to return some dignity to their forces, and as a result often resort to half-truths and lies.

Dr. Bose has not published her completed research yet, but Drishtipat has been following the issue closely with whatever information is available:

Pakistani Army not responsible for 71 rapes?!
Pakistan Army unappreciated for “gallantry” in 1971: Sarmila Bose’s revisionism continues
A Rebuttal from Zafar Sobhan
Sarmila Bose’s paper

There is much to say given what we already have, but I think the one thing that stands out is her overtly sympathetic treatment of the Pak Army - as though they were Blue Helmets, and not the enforcers of a systematically oppressive regime. And the evidence against the implications of her findings is so volumnous that listing them all would probably take more paper than what it would take to present her entire research.

I'll save comments on her paper itself till after she publishes her findings.


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Update (July 8th) : Sarmila Bose sent a clarification to Uttorshuri.