30 lakh deaths, 2 lakh women raped and 1 crore displaced… The stories of the barbarity of 1971 are recorded in the documents of Dhaka War Museum

The war of 1971 was the war for the independence of Bangladesh. Bangladesh was born as a new country after breaking away from West Pakistan. But a lot of blood was shed to see the sun of independence. Mass murders took place, about two lakh women were raped. The situation was such that on one side the war of 1971 was being fought under the leadership of Sheikh Mujiburahman. On the other side women were fighting to save their dignity and honour.

According to the Liberation War Museum in Dhaka, during this war the Pakistani army raped two to four lakh Bengali women. Between 25 March and 16 December 1971, 3 million Bengalis died, two lakh women were raped while one lakh people had to be displaced during this period.

This sexual violence during the Bangladesh war is said to be the biggest case of mass rape in modern history. Anthropologist Nayanika Mukherjee, who has researched the politics of rape during war in 1971, says that rape becomes a political weapon during war. It is a political tactic of victory and an attack on the honor of the enemy community.

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Over the years, historians, researchers and writers have documented the realities of the 1971 war, which has exposed the horrific conditions of Bengali women. These historians and researchers have also mentioned the rape camps set up by the Pakistani army, where women were sent in trucks every day. Bengali women were kept hungry in these camps. They were raped repeatedly, due to which many women died in these camps.

During an interview, Australian doctor Jeffrey Davis told about the barbaric atrocities committed against women during the 1971 war that the Pakistani soldiers who were captured after the war had told him that Bengali women were raped on the orders of Pakistani Army Chief Tikka Khan. The intention behind this was that an entire generation of Bengali women would shed the blood of men of West Pakistan.

Dr. Jeffrey Davis was brought to Bangladesh after the war to work with the local medical team and mainly to help with abortions. He used to perform abortions on about 100 women a day in Bangladesh. Despite rapes happening on such a large scale, people did not talk about it openly. No one talked about it.