by NAYANIKA MOOKHERJEE
A new study views the men of Pakistan’s army as gentle and kind. Can this be fair?
Ian Jack, writing on the book Dead Reckoning by the Indian author Sarmila Bose, claimed that “a truth about the Bangladesh war is that remarkably few scholars and historians have given it thorough, independent scrutiny” (It’s not the arithmetic of genocide that’s important. It’s that we pay attention, 21 May). But to take Bose’s word for it would be an unfortunate misreading.
The Bangladesh liberation war – the nine-month struggle in 1971 whereby East Pakistan broke away and became an independent nation – remains relatively unknown in the west. I am a social anthropologist who has undertaken a decade-long research on the memories of wartime rape from the Bangladesh war. I came into contact with contemporary post-nationalist readings which address the role of Bengali Muslims in the killing of Bihari/non-Bengali collaborators and communities. Yet none of these Bangladeshi works are referenced in Bose’s book, which she claims to be the “first critical, neutral” study.
Bose’s book is methodologically inconsistent and appears to be informed by a disdain for Bangladeshis and their movement for political freedom. Her portrayal of East Pakistanis/Bangladeshis as either capable of showing “bestial” violence or being cowards calls into question her neutrality.
According to her book, Bangladeshis are prone to melodrama and self-pity, with a blind hate and vindictiveness towards the West Pakistani army – not so surprising, given that the violence was perpetrated by the army. To her, Pakistani army personnel are gentle, quiet, kind, honest, “fine men” with a good humour and “with no ethnic bias against the Bengalis”. Accepting her account, Jack contends that “it would be more accurate to accuse the Pakistani army of political killing”, while the killing of non-Bengali collaborators and communities by Bengali Muslim civilians counts as genocide.
Guardian for more
(Thanks to Robin Khundkar)