ABSTRACT
Bangladesh witnessed an unprecedented genocide during the war of liberation in 1971. It is believed that around 3 million people had been killed, 200,000 women were raped and 10 million people were uprooted by the Pakistani army and its local collaborators. Pakistani army and its collaborators are mostly believed to be involved in such carnage, aiming to suppress the dreams of millions of Bengalis for securing independence from Pakistan, which was long blamed for its stepmotherly treatments towards the Bengali-speaking people, who had demanded rights to self-determination. This chapter basically tries to investigate the facts and figures of this committed genocide by the Pakistani army and its collaborators in the Sylhet region comprising four districts, namely Sylhet, Habiganj, Moulvibazar and Sunamganj. It tries to find out the reasons behind this killing and those responsible for it. The chapter further investigates as to how the relatives of the killed ones intend to be compensated so that policy recommendations could be made. This study is based on both primary and secondary sources of data. Primary data are collected from four genocide spots purposively selected from Sylhet region. In-depth interview is conducted with 20 close relatives of the martyrs, and informal discussion is also held with the eyewitnesses of the massacre. Secondary data are collected from relevant literatures, archives, newspapers etc. The findings show that Pakistani army and its collaborators were involved in indiscriminate killings as they firmly believed that the killed ones were the supporters of independence of Bangladesh.
