1st Edition
The Aftermath of the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 Enduring Impact
This book analyses the human dimension and aftermath of the emergence of Bangladesh following the war of 1971.
The chapters investigate questions of belonging and being an “alien”, civil rights and ethnic demands, and broader issues of citizenship and statelessness. The analysis centres around the situation of those who crossed into the Indian side of the border during the Liberation War, the Bengali speaking population who chose Pakistan as their country after the birth of Bangladesh, and “stranded Pakistani” or “Bihari Muslims” living in Bangladesh. The book addresses three key questions: how do the modern nation-states of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh categorize citizens based on the narratives of 1971; how the acceptance of certain groups as part of the Indian citizenry affected its concept of belonging; and after 1971, how do Pakistan and Bangladesh define who is part of their citizenry, and how do so-called “aliens” negotiate their identity in national debates.
A timely contribution to the subject of forced migration, citizenship and identities in South Asia, edited by three academics with Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi heritage, this book will be of interest to a variety of academics studying the history, politics and sociology of South Asia.
List of tables vii
List of contributors viii
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction x
PART I
The Liberation War, Refugees and Citizenship in India 1
1 ‘Illegal’ Migrants in Assam and West Bengal: The Socio-Politics of NRC and CAA 3
DHIMOYEE BANERJEE AND AMIT RANJAN
2 Immigrants, Evacuees or Citizens—1971 Migrants in Search of Identity 24
SUBHASRI GHOSH
PART II
The Significance of 1971 in Bangladesh: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives 49
3 Biharis in Bangladesh: Organized Elimination and Marginalization of a Community 51
TAJ HASHMI
4 Women in War Zones: Rape at the time of Bangladesh Liberation War 73
AMIT RANJAN
5 Nation-Building Policies and Ethnic Conflict in Bangladesh 95
ANURUG CHAKMA AND KISHA CHAKMA
6 Neoliberal or Quasi-Colonial: A Critique on Higher Education in Contemporary Bangladesh 114
M. MUSTAHID HUSAIN
PART III
Nationality and Identity of the Stranded Communities (Bengalis and Bihari) in Pakistan 129
7 What Does It Mean to Be a Bengali in Pakistan? 131
MAZHAR ABBAS, BILAL HASSAN AND SAMEE LASHARI
8 The Opposing Narratives on Repatriation, Resettlement, and Citizenship of Bihari Muslims in Pakistan after the 1971 War 145
SAEED AHMED RID AND MUHAMMAD QASIM SODHAR
9 The Liberation War of Bangladesh (1971) and Pakistani Media Narratives 160
FIRASAT JABEEN AND SALEEM ABBAS
Index
Biography
Amit Ranjan is Research Fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore. His edited book Migration, Memories and the “Unfinished” Partition (2024) is published by Routledge.
Taj Hashmi is a retired Professor of History and Security Studies. He is the author of a number of books, including Pakistan as a Peasant Utopia (Routledge, 2019).
Mazhar Abbas is Lecturer in History at Government College University Faisalabad, Pakistan.
