Bangladesh
1971[edit]
The systematic mass killings in Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) in 1971 can be classified as genocide. The conflict started with Operation Searchlight, a planned military pacification carried out by the West Pakistani Army on 25 March 1971 to curb the Bengali nationalist movement by taking control of the major cities and then eliminating all opposition, political or military. Major human right abuses and killings were a sad reality of the crisis; those killed included students and pregnant women.
The international media and English reference books have published casualty figures which estimate the number of Bangladeshi deaths at between 200,000-5,000,000, in addition to those who fled the country totaling some 8,000,000 - 10,000,000. This act of genocide is officially termed “human rights abuses” by the Bangladesh authorities.
