SexViolHist Bib: Types: Wartime Sexual Violence: Bangladesh Liberation War

»The Bangladesh Liberation War (Bengali: মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, pronounced [mukt̪iɟud̪d̪ʱo]), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh, was a revolution and armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which resulted in the independence of Bangladesh. The war began when the Pakistani military junta based in West Pakistan—under the orders of Yahya Khan—launched Operation Searchlight against the people of East Pakistan on the night of 25 March 1971, initiating the Bangladesh genocide.« -- More information: Wikipedia

Rape during the Bangladesh Liberation War

I n f o r m a t i o n

»During the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, members of the Pakistani military and Razakar paramilitary force raped between 200,000 and 400,000 Bengali women and girls in a systematic campaign of genocidal rape. Most of the rape victims of the Pakistani Army and its allies were Hindu women. Some of these women died in captivity or committed suicide, while others moved from Bangladesh to India. Imams and Muslim religious leaders declared the women "war booty". The activists and leaders of Islamic parties are also accused to be involved in the rapes and abduction of women.« -- More information: Wikipedia

K e y w o r d s

I. Chronological Index: Modern History: 20^th Century | II. Geographical Index: Asian History: Bangladeshi History, Pakistani History | III. Topical Index: Types: General: Rape

B i b l i o g r a p h y

Prosecution: Trials: International Crimes Tribunal (Bangladesh) | Representations: Films: Etihaas Konya, Guerrilla, Megher Onek Rong, Ora Egaro Jon

I. Author Index

[Info] Akhter, Fahmida. Fragmented memory, incomplete history: Women and nation in war films of Bangladesh. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Essex, 2017.

[Info] Chowdhury, Elora H. »When Love and Violence Meet: Women's Agency and Transformative Politics in Rubaiyat Hossain's Meherjaan.« Hypatia 30 (2015): 760-777.

[Info] Fatima, Noureen. Birangona: Their lives After the Bangladesh War of Liberation in 1971. Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan 61 (2024): 21-31.

[Info] Fitzsimons-Quail, Alice. »Who is speaking? co-option, authority, and envisioning the nation: Women and narratives of sexual violence in conflict.« South Asianist 3 (2015): 24-52.

[Info] Habiba, Shumi U. »Mass Rape and Violence in the 1971 Armed Conflict of Bangladesh: Justice and Other Issues.« Common Grounds: Violence Against Women in War and Armed Conflict Situations. Edited by Indai L. Sajor. Quezon City 1998: 257-267.

[Info] Hasanat. Fayeza. The Voices of War Heroines: Sexual Violence, Testimony, and the Bangladesh Liberation War. Leiden 2022.

[Info] Ishtiyaque, Farah. »Silencing the Women: Violence through Rape in the 1971 War of Liberation.« Women and Genocide: Gendered Experience of Violence, Survival, and Resistance. Edited by JoAnn DiGeorgia-Lutz et al. Toronto 2016: 103-134.

[Info] Kabir, Shahriar, ed. Tormenting Seventy One: An account of Pakistan army's atrocities during Bangladesh liberation war of 1971. Dhaka 1999.

[Info] Kamal, Sultana. »The 1971 genocide in Bangladesh and crimes committed against women.« Common grounds. Violence against women in war and armed conflict situations. Edited by Indai L. Sajor. Quezon City 1998: 268-281.

[Info] Mookherjee, Nayanika. ‘A lot of history’. Sexual violence, public memories and the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971. Dissertation, University of London, 2002.

[Info] Mookherjee, Nayanika. »Gendered embodiments. Mapping the body-politic of the raped woman and the nation in Bangladesh.« Critical reflections on gender and the South Asian diaspora. Edited by Nirmal Puwar et al. Oxford 2003: 157-177.

[Info] Mookherjee, Nayanika. »My man (honour) is lost but I still gave my iman (principle). Sexual violence and articulations of masculinity.« South Asian masculinities. Edited by R. Chopra et al. New Dehli 2004: 131-159.

[Info] Mookherjee, Nayanika. »Muktir Gaan (Songs of Freedom), the raped woman and the migrant identities of the Bangladesh War.« Gender, conflict and migration. Edited by N.C. Behera. New Dehli 2006: 72-96.

[Info] Mookherjee, Nayanika. »‘Remembering to forget’. Public secrecy and memory of sexual violence in the Bangladesh war of 1971.« Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 12 (2006): 433-450.

[Info] Mookherjee, Nayanika. »Skewing the history of rape in 1971. A prescription for reconciliation?« Forum 1 (2006).

[Info] Mookherjee, Nayanika. »Gendered embodiments. Mapping the body-politic of the raped woman and the nation in Bangladesh.« Feminist review 88 (2008): 36-53.

[Info] Mookherjee, Nayanika. »« Héroïnes de guerre » et hommes oubliés de la guerre de libération du Bangladesh.« Viols en temps de guerre. Edited by Raphaëlle Branche et al. Paris 2011: 71-81.

[Info] Mookherjee, Nayanika. »The absent piece of skin: Gendered, racialized and territorial inscriptions of sexual violence during the Bangladesh war.« Modern Asian Studies 46 (2012): 1572-1601.

[Info] Mookherjee, Nayanika. »Mass Rape and the Inscription of Gendered and Racial Domination during the Bangladesh War of 1971.« Rape in Wartime. Edited by Raphaëlle Branche et al. Basingstoke 2012: 67-78.

[Info] Mookherjee, Nayanika. »Reproductive Heteronormativity and Sexual Violence in the Bangladesh War of 1971: A Discussion with Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak.« Social Text 30 (2012): 123-131.

[Info] Mookherjee, Nayanika. »The raped woman as a horrific sublime and the Bangladesh war of 1971.« Journal of Material Culture (September 16, 2015).

[Info] Mookherjee, Nayanika. The Spectral Wound: Sexual Violence, Public Memories and the Bangladesh War of 1971. Durham 2015.

[Info] Mookherjee, Nayanika. »Memory.« Visual Global Politics. Edited by Roland Bleiker. Abingdon 2018.

[Info] Ouassini, Anwar, et al. »“Kill 3 Million and the Rest Will Eat of Our Hands”: Genocide, Rape, and the Bangladeshi War of Liberation.« Genocide and Mass Violence in Asia: An Introductory Reader. Edited by Frank Jacob. Berlin 2019: 40-58.

[Info] Ranjan, Amit. »Women in War Zones: Rape at the time of Bangladesh Liberation War.« The Aftermath of the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971: Enduring Impact. Edited by Amit Ranjan et al. London 2025: 73-94.

[Info] Rashid, Azra. Naristhan/Ladyland: Gender, Nationalism and Genocide in Bangladesh. A Research-Creation Project. Ph.D. Thesis, Concordia University, 2016.

[Info] Rehman, Jessica L. Rape as Religious Terrorism and Genocide: The 1971 War Between East and West Pakistan. M.A. Thesis, California State University at Long Beach, 2012.

[Info] Saikia, Yasmin. »War as History, Humanity in Violence: Men, Women, and Memories of 1971, East Pakistan/Bangladesh.« Sexual Violence in Conflict Zones: From the Ancient World to the Era of Human Rights. Edited by Elizabeth D. Heineman. Philadelphia 2011: 152-169.

[Info] Saikia, Yasmin. Women, War, and the Making of Bangladesh: Remembering 1971. Durham 2011.

[Info] Sharlach, Lisa. »Rape as genocide. Bangladesh, the former Yugoslavia, and Rwanda.« New political science 22 (2000): 89-102.

II. Speaker Index

[Info] Chowdhury, Elora H. »When Sex and Violence Meet: Women's Agency and Transformative Politics in Rubaiyat Hossain's Meherjaan.« Annual Meeting of the Law and Society Association. Boston 2013.

[Info] Chowdhury, Elora H. »Ethical Reckoning: Gender, Vulnerability and Agency in Bangladeshi Liberation War Film.« Annual Meeting of the National Women's Studies Association. San Francisco 2019.

[Info] Hatfield, Clare. »Drawing Boundaries on Bodies: The Use of Sexual Violence as a Tactic of War in the Sub-continent.« Annual Convention of the International Studies Association. New Orleans 2010.

[Info] Heineman, Elizabeth. »Women, War, and the Making of Bangladesh: Remembering 1971.« New Books in Gender Studies. New Books Network 2011.

[Info] Mookherjee, Nayanika. »The womb and the absent skin: Sexual violence in the Bangladesh war and its gendered and racialised inscriptions.« Les viols en temps de guerre: une histoire à écrire - Rape in Wartime: A History to be Written. Paris 2009.

[Info] Mookherjee, Nayanika. »Sensing Violent, Haunted Pasts: 'Feeling' the Raped Woman of the Bangladesh War of 1971.« 30^th Annual Spring Symposium of the Center for South Asian Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Honolulu 2013.

[Info] Mookherjee, Nayanika. »'Forced Pregnancy', Access to Reproductive Rights and its Bio-Political Modalities.« Lecture / University of York. Heslington 2014.

[Info] Mookherjee, Nayanika. »The Spectral Wound: Sexual violence, public memories and the Bangladesh war of 1971.« Lecture / London School of Economics and Political Science. London 2016.

[Info] Mookherjee, Nayanika. »The Spectral Wound: Sexual Violence, Public Memories and the Bangladesh War of 1971.« Book Launch / South Asia at the New York University. New York 2016.

[Info] Saikia, Yasmin. »"They Were Human": Men, Women and Violence in 1971, East Pakistan.« The History of Sexual Violence in Conflict Zones. Iowa City 2006.

[Info] Taylor, Laurie, et al. »Sexual violence in the Bangladeshi War of Independence.« Thinking Allowed. British Broadcasting Corporation 2017.