assignment on an interview of a witness of 1971

1. [Document title]
Dept. of Finance & Banking
Bachelor of Business Administration
Everyday life in 1971
Submitted to:
Dr. Muhammad Muzahidul Islam
professor
Dept. of History
Jahangirnagar University
Savar, Dhaka
Submitted by:
Fahmida Jahan nur
ID No.:16221058
Section : B
Bangladesh and International Studies
GED: 1103

2. Everyday life in 1971 1
Abstract:
1971 is a historical day for Bangladeshi people. The twentieth has
experienced the highest number of mass killing and state sponsored murders
in human history. One of the worst crimes against humanity in human history
was committed by the Pakistan army in 1971 that left millions of people killed
and more than 10 million of people fled to India.

3. Everyday life in 1971 2
Introduction:
In the first week of March 1971, when the Awami League had fired the
first salvo of revolt in East Pakistan and it triggered off a forest fire of
lawlessness, arson, loot and wanton murder all over the province. Institutional
response to crime against humanity of 1971 has been limited to maximalist
and minimalist approach through tribunal and amnesty. Legalism and realism
has dominated the debate around institutional response. Seemingly the
government is unable to ensure retributive justice for all the crimes committed
in 1971 and this creates scope to rethink if restorative justice can be applied
for the major crimes remaining unaddressed under retributive mechanism.
Maximalist approach through trial had been problematic as the initial process
in post war period stalled due to political constraints whereas restorative
mechanism has inherent challenges in the context of Bangladesh. Minimalist
approach was not free from criticism as large number of perpetrators benefited
from the process. The history of Bangladesh as a part of Pakistan from 1947
to 1971 was marked by economic and political disparity which led to
independence war in 1971.When the East Pakistani (Bangladeshi) political
party received required majority in the Parliament to form a Government in
united Pakistan, west Pakistani army and civilian rulers denied them to
handover the power. Later, to repress the demand for autonomy of East
Pakistan, the army unleashed its war machine against the civilian population
which ultimately resulted in one of the worst crime against humanity in human
history. This interview is the experience of the life in liberation war. Which
show us the theoretical background of socio-political crimes against
Bangladesh.

4. Everyday life in 1971 3
About Rabeya Khatun:
Khatun is said to have been a sweeper at the Rajarbag police lines in
Dhaka in 1971. She is illiterate. She has a son. She lived in a slum near ramna
at present her address is unknown. She was the only bangali who entered the
Pakistani head quarter’s torturing cell as a worker. She was a witness of many
incident of the liberation war 1991.

5. Everyday life in 1971 4
Interview:
I was a swiper. I have a son. By swiping I earned 1 taka a day. At that
time 1 kg rice costs 75 paisa. By swiping I can afford my family. We know
less about politics then. But the political crisis frightened us sometimes. We
suddenly heard that there may something happen bad in 25th
march. So our
master told us to be careful.
In 25th march 1971 when Pak army attack in Rajarbag police line, my duty
was at S.F. canteen inside Rajarbag police line. For the terror of pre-coming
attack I clean the road whole day and at night I stayed in barrack. After 10 pm

6. Everyday life in 1971 5
the people of police force started to create a defense, they blocked the road
and guarded, some people took position from roof they used the trees for their
cover. I thought how do they going to guard the area for whole night. But after
2 hour the violence started. The heavy armed pak army started to fire
continuously. Sound of mortar, cannon and guns frightened me, I was lying
and acting to sleep. The defense of the officers of barrack could not last long.
In 26th
march Bangali police was unable to protest in front of their mortars,
cannon, they were firing bullet like rain. Pak army killed all the police who
were protesting. At morning the pak army fired in S.F. Barrack from every
side and burned everything. The bangali officers were caught and being
bayonet- baton charged continuously. They brought everyone out of the
barrack. They caught me too and throw us all at ground and started torturing.
They kicked us with boots, stabbed with bayonet and laughing so loudly. I
beg them my life, I started crying loudly and requesting them not to kill me,
I told them that I work here as a swiper , if they kill me there will be nobody
to keep the barrack clean,The barrack will turned into dump for the smell of
rotten flesh, deadbody and blood. Then a Panjabi scoundrel ride on me and
started to rape me. I started to cried. Then one of them said “Thik hay Thik
hay, tomko chor dia jayega jara bad, tom bahar nahi neklega, harwakot lai par
hajir rahega.” (Ok ok, you are free bt you are not allowed to go out, you have
to stay here.) They let me go on one condition that, I have to work there.
Pak army started to collect young bangali female, beautiful women and girl
from the area ofschool, college, university and bring them on jeep, truck and
gathered them with the help of Rajakar and broker. When I clean the drain
and witnessed everything they did. I experienced a lot of female taken to the
head quarter building through S.F.Barrack. Most of the girl were holding
books, note books many beautiful women were wearing ornaments eye drops
were falling from their face. Pak army took them upper floor of head quarter,
when the building was fully loaded with girls rest of them were kept outside.
They started to rape the beautiful bangali girl horribly they torcher the
innocent women until their face turned undetectable. They panjab select the
girls from line and behave like animal, tear their cloth, thorw them on floor
and Start raping openly. After raping they didn't freed the girl. They raped

7. Everyday life in 1971 6
them madly, blooded their breast and face with teeth. They detached their
flesh from body by biting. Many womens hair and breast were torned. They
pushed bayonet rifles and bleed their holy body. Some of those animals took
small girls hold their legs from opposite side and torn them to death. I was
acting as cleaning the drain and witnessed their evil work. The officer drink
wine whole time and rape the girl as much as they wish. Many young girl's
blooded body stopped breathing at the time of being raped. The next day those
deadbody were cutted into small piece and throw them outside.They cut them
in front of other girl. By watching this some girl become frightened, they
surrendered their body to those animals. they acted as those animals wanted
and tried to satisfied to decrease their sex appeal as best as they can, but pak
army didn’t let them go, They gang raped them and suddenly one day the
officers together killed them after raping. I witnessed their dead body, their
breast and flesh of hip were cut off with knife stabbed them at vagina, I heard
their laugh that night. This are the system of entertainment of those pak army
officer.

8. Everyday life in 1971 7
They took those girl in the headquarter keep them standing and locked them
in room. Many of those girls' hair were tied with the rod of celing, sometimes
they came in and beat them.stabbed them, cut their flesh from body pushed
wide stick through vagina. Bite them as much as they wish they found
entertainment in pushing rod or wide stick throuhj victims vagina. Beat them
inhumanly. If anyone of them cried out loud those animals pushed rod metal
anything hard through vagina hardly. They tied them and hung them upside
down, beat them to blood, many of their lips are torned away from opposite
side. None of them have any teeth in front, their fingers and hand are broken
and crushed. Blood bleed from everywhere of their body. Those girl are not
untied for toilet, they have to do toilet by hanging. Sometimes I have to enter
those room for cleaning their waste. I saw many girls died hanging for
continuous rape. I saw many horrible dead body ar brought down from the
head quarter by the panjab army. They remove many girl’s dead body hanging
upside down and bring more new girls. The pak army always guard those
undressed girls. No bangali was allowed to enter the room except me.
Though I was willing to but I was unable to help those girls, I refused
thousands of their request. In April it was morning I was cleaning the waste
in head quarter. At that time on the third floor balcony a college girl name
ranu from siddhessori 139 no at that time, requested me I bring her out, I can’t
refuge her, I took her out of police line safely. After this war I've never seen
her. Before freedom fighter’s attacking the pak army continued this torcher.
When mukti force attacked police line panjab army surrendered to them. The
girls were rescued at that time I first went out of the barrack. There were
happiness everywhere. The people started celebrating their freedom. But we
saw corps everywhere specially in gulisthan. ramna,etc. I looked for my
family my husband died. I found my son later.

9. Everyday life in 1971 8
Discription of Interview:
According to Khatun’s statement she was a sweeper in Rajarbag police
lines during the entire period of conflict. She states that she was raped on
March 26 after the Bengali police were overcome by West Pakistan forces.
However, she appears to have been left alone to carry on her cleaning duties
the rest of the year.
Khatun claims to be an eyewitness to truckloads of Bengali women brought
to Rajarbag police lines, held captive and raped throughout the year. No
numbers or dates are mentioned. It is hard to summarise the graphic Bengali
descriptions, but according to Khatun “Punjabi soldiers” brought women from
“schools, colleges, university areas and posh localities” of the capital, most
carrying books and wearing jewellery. She states that the “Punjabis”, “licking
their lips”, stripped the women and raped them en masse in public. The
scenario described includes virtually all forms of bestiality, using
melodramatic language – complete with the perpetrators breaking into
villainous loud laughter from time to time.
According to Khatun the Punjabi soldiers then lined three floors of the main
building with naked women, and rows of women were kept hanging naked,
tied by their hair on wires and iron rods along the verandahs. The Punjabis
allegedly sexually assaulted these hanging women as they came and went on
their duties. Women who died were taken down and replaced with new

10. Everyday life in 1971 9
batches of naked women hanging by their hair. Armed guards were present at
all times, according to Khatun, and in case anyone was considering obtaining
a second opinion, Khatun asserted that no other Bengali and no other sweeper
was ever allowed there. In December, as Indian forces started bombing the
capital, Khatun states the “Punjabi soldiers” bayoneted all the remaining
women to death. I asked an eminent Bangladeshi and a strong supporter of the
liberation movement to read this account and tell me what he made of it. He
opined that it was a “fabrication”, commenting that the parts about women
hanging by their hair from iron rods for days on end “defied the laws of
science”. That there are serious problems with this “testimony” would be
obvious to any rational observer. The woman in whose name it is written was
illiterate. Rajarbag was not in an isolated area but in the capital city. The
descriptions of bejewelled girl students clutching books arriving by the
truckloads to be stripped and raped in public, naked women lining the
corridors and hanging by their hair along the verandahs, subjected to all
manner of bestiality, smacks more of the perverted fantasies of a male mind
than the testimony of a female eyewitness. The claim that this woman was the
only Bengali and only one sweeper in Rajarbag police lines for a nine-month
period is an absurdity.
Two men allegedly at Rajarbag also have their testimonies published in the
same official volume. Abdul Kuddus Mian, described as “reserve inspector of
police” also states that Bengali women were raped while kept hanging naked
in the third and fourth floors of the headquarters building – but he states that
he was not permitted to enter that area. Unlike Rabeya Khatun, he asserts that
the mistreatment of Bengalis at Rajarbag started after the arrival of “Punjabi
police” (as opposed to the army) in mid-May. A West Pakistani police officer
called Bostan Khan is named as starting a particularly oppressive regime.
The second man, Subedar Khalilur Rahman, states that he and other Bengali
police were brought to Rajarbag police lines on April 5. He also names West
Pakistani police officer Bostan Khan as starting a reign of terror against
Bengali police, who were thrown out of their barracks after the arrival of West
Pakistani police in May. He briefly repeats the same allegation as Khatun –
that “Punjabi soldiers” brought women in trucks daily from schools, colleges,
universities of Dhaka, that most had books in their hands, that they were
dragged out of the trucks and stripped and raped on the spot by non-Bengali

11. Everyday life in 1971 10
police “licking their lips”, and that these women were kept hanging naked tied
by their hair to iron rods in the headquarters building. Indeed, the language in
this part of the statement is strikingly similar to the statement of Rabeya
Khatun’s, raising the possibility that the same person wrote the two
testimonies. The language is not what would be used either by illiterate
sweepers or by educated Bengalis in everyday conversation.
During the Pakistan army’s military action in Dhaka on March 25-56, 1971,
units of 32 Punjab regiment went to subdue Rajarbag police lines. Due to the
resistance put up by rebel Bengali police, the operation took a while and the
commanding officer of 32 Punjab, Lt colonel Muhammad Taj, had to go
personally to oversee its capture.
A company of 32 Punjab stayed on in Rajarbag, while Lt colonel Taj went to
Rajshahi
with the rest of the regiment journalist Sarmila Bose once asked brigadier (Lt
colonel) Taj about the sexual violence alleged to have happened in Rajarbag.
He categorically denied that any molestation of women had taken place at
Rajarbag by his men. He would, wouldn’t he, sceptics might say. Also, Lt
colonel Taj was not personally present at Rajar-bag after the first night’s
military action. Still, the account given by Rabeya Khatun is highly dubious.
Being a busy police headquarters in the capital city, whatever happened at
Rajarbag would have had many witnesses. It is quite possible that sexual
violence occurred at Rajarbag – police stations across south Asia are notorious
for such offences, but until and unless other, credible witnesses come forward,
the hellish account attributed to one illiterate woman simply will not suffice.

12. Everyday life in 1971 11
Conclusion: