1971 Killing of the ‘Bengali’ Intellectuals: An Analysis from the Perspective of the 1948 Genocide Convention

Authors

  • Nusrat Jahan Nishat Research Volunteer, ANTAR - a national level organization of Bangladesh
  • Mohammad Pizuar Hossain Student, MSc Criminology and Criminal Justice, The University of Edinburgh & Senior Lecturer in Law, East-West University, Dhaka, Bangladesh. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3077-9038

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.2218/ccj.v3.7075

Keywords:

Bangladesh genocide, intellectual killings, 1971, Genocide Convention, Pakistan

Abstract

The lessons of the history of past genocidal incidents expose that the educated and the leaders, collectively called ‘intellectuals’, have often been a distinct target by the perpetrators. Bengali intellectuals were also targeted and killed by the Pakistani military and its local collaborators during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. As the Bangladesh genocide, committed by the Pakistani military and its local collaborators, is still internationally overlooked, the issue of killing the Bengali intellectuals during such genocide has not obtained much attention. This study identifies the killing of the intellectuals as one of the genocidal policies employed by the Pakistani military and its local collaborators during the war. The massacre of the Bengali intellectuals in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War is examined in this article from the perspective of the 1948 Genocide Convention. The authors have critically analyzed the killing of the Bengali intellectuals in light of the definition of ‘genocide’ and the travaux preparatoires of the Convention to explore whether it forms a genocidal policy.  

Author Biographies

  • Nusrat Jahan Nishat, Research Volunteer, ANTAR - a national level organization of Bangladesh

    Nusrat Jahan Nishat is currently working as an Apprentice Lawyer at Dhaka Judge Court and a Research Volunteer for monitoring, reporting, and researching human rights-focused programs in ANTAR, a national level Non-Governmental Organization, Dhaka, Bangladesh. In addition, she is an Editorial Assistant on the National Board of The Network for International Law Students (NILS), Bangladesh. She has achieved the "Magna Cum Laude" award for her outstanding performance in her Bachelor of Laws, LLB (Hons.) degree from East-West University, Dhaka, Bangladesh. In addition, she was awarded the "Rebellious Lawyer Award" in 1st Professor Shah Alam Constitutional Law Virtual Moot Court Competition, 2020. She was also awarded the "Best Performer Award" in the ELCOP-HWPL Handbook Project on Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW), 2020-21, organized by Empowerment through Law of the Common People (ELCOP), Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Heavenly Culture, World Peace and Restoration of Light (HWPL), a South Korean Non-profit Organization. Her research interests cover International law, Human Rights Law, International Humanitarian Law, Criminology, and International Criminal Law.

  • Mohammad Pizuar Hossain, Student, MSc Criminology and Criminal Justice, The University of Edinburgh & Senior Lecturer in Law, East-West University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

    Mohammad Pizuar Hossain is Senior Lecturer in Law at East West University, Dhaka, Bangladesh. He has worked for the International Crimes Tribunal - Bangladesh and Liberation War Museum - Bangladesh as a researcher. He has been awarded the ‘Chevening Scholarship’ to pursue a Master of Science in Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, the United Kingdom His research interests concentrate on international law, human rights, genocide studies, criminology and criminal justice, and constitutional law and public policy. He has published articles in refereed journals on trial by media and human rights violations, plea-bargaining and the criminal justice system of Bangladesh, rape as a weapon in Bangladesh’s War of Liberation, amnesty for war crimes and genocide, justice for Bangladesh genocide, Rohingya genocide, and Rohingya repatriation.

Downloads

Published

28-Sep-2022

Issue

Vol. 3 (2022): Contemporary Challenges: The Global Crime, Justice and Security Journal

Section

Articles