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2005-05-03 Afghanistan/South Asia

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Posted by john 2005-05-03 4:59:15 PM|| || Front Page|| [7 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Not many military leaders can claim credit for stopping a genocide

Case Study:Genocide in Bangladesh, 1971

In the dead region surrounding Dacca, the military authorities conducted experiments in mass extermination in places unlikely to be seen by journalists. At Hariharpara, a once thriving village on the banks of the Buriganga River near Dacca, they found the three elements necessary for killing people in large numbers: a prison in which to hold the victims, a place for executing the prisoners, and a method for disposing of the bodies. The prison was a large riverside warehouse, or godown, belonging to the Pakistan National Oil Company, the place of execution was the river edge, or the shallows near the shore, and the bodies were disposed of by the simple means of permitting them to float downstream. The killing took place night after night. Usually the prisoners were roped together and made to wade out into the river. They were in batches of six or eight, and in the light of a powerful electric arc lamp, they were easy targets, black against the silvery water. The executioners stood on the pier, shooting down at the compact bunches of prisoners wading in the water. There were screams in the hot night air, and then silence. The prisoners fell on their sides and their bodies lapped against the shore. Then a new bunch of prisoners was brought out, and the process was repeated. In the morning the village boatmen hauled the bodies into midstream and the ropes binding the bodies were cut so that each body drifted separately downstream. (Payne, Massacre [Macmillan, 1973], p. 55.)

Posted by john 2005-05-03 19:31|| 2005-05-03 19:31|| Front Page Top

#2 There were many other stories. The one that stuck in my mind becuase I was living in similar accomodation at the time, was the Pakistani army entered the Dacca universities high rise residence buildings killed everyone on the first floor then worked their way up floor by floor killing everyone.

Posted by phil_b 2005-05-03 19:49|| 2005-05-03 19:49|| Front Page Top

#3 Instrument of Surrender

Signed on December 16, 1971

The PAKISTAN Eastern Command agree to surrender all PAKISTAN Armed Forces in BANGLA DESH to Lieutenant-General Jagjit Singh Aurora, General Officer Commanding of the Indian and BANGLA DESHI forces in the Eastern Theatre. This surrender includes all PAKISTAN land, air and naval forces as also all para-military forces and civil armed forces. These forces will lay down their arms and surrender at the places where they are currently located to the nearest regular troops under the command of Lieutenant-General JAGJIT SINGH AURORA.

The PAKISTAN Eastern Command shall come under the orders of Lieutenant-General JAGJIT SINGH AURORA as soon as this instrument has been signed. Disobedience of orders will be regarded as a breach of the surrender terms and will be dealt with in accordance with the accepted laws and usage of war. The decision of Lieutenant-General JAGJIT SINGH AURORA will be final, should any doubt arise as to the meaning or interpretation of the surrender terms.

Lieutenant-General JAGJIT SINGH AURORA gives a solemn assurance that personnel who surrender shall be treated with dignity and respect that soldiers are entitled to in accordance with the provisions of the GENEVA Convention and guarantees the safety and well-being of all PAKISTAN military and para-military forces who surrender. Protection will be provided to foreign nationals, ethnic minorities and personnel of WEST PAKISTAN origin by the forces under the command of Lieutenant-General JAGJIT SINGH AURORA.

[Signature]
(JAGJIT SINGH AURORA)
Lieutenant-General
General Officer Commanding in Chief
Indian and BANGLA DESH Forces in the
Eastern Theatre

[Signature]
(AMIR ABDULLAH KHAN NIAZI)
Lieutenant-General
Martial Law Administrator Zone
Commander Eastern Command (PAKISTAN)

Posted by john 2005-05-03 21:57|| 2005-05-03 21:57|| Front Page Top

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