Pakistan's Descent into Genocide
This is the eighth installment in Kapil Komireddi’s series, Pakistan: Anatomy of a Failed State. Click here for the rest of the series.
No individual bears greater responsibility for the genocide of 1971 than Zulfi Bhutto. A feudal landlord from Sindh, Zulfi was a convivial bigot. As the results were declared, Zulfi used his hold on west Pakistan to bring the government to a grinding halt – while tantalizing the former military ruler Yahya Khan with the hope of power-sharing in a Zulfi-led government.
The regime’s refusal to convene the National Assembly after the Awami League’s electoral victory led to mass agitation in East Pakistan. Thousands of protesters poured into the streets of Dhaka, the eastern capital. Army boots had begun landing in the port-city of Chittagong by early 1971. General Tikka Khan, known as the “butcher of Baluchistan” for his brutal suppression of insurgency in Pakistan’s Baluch regions, was sent to command them.
Yahya himself flew to East Pakistan in March to hold talks with the Awami League. Zulfi followed him on 21 March. The East Pakistanis were willing to make concessions, but demanded the prime ministership that they had legitimately won. Zulfi dismissed it as a “Bengali ultimatum.” The following day, Awami League leader Mujibur Rahman met Zulfi at Yahya’s official residence and pleaded with him, the loser in the election, to be sensitive to the demands of the majority. Mujib even told Zulfi that he could look after the western wing of the country. As Mujib left, Zulfi returned inside. Mujib’s demands would result in two Pakistans, he told Yahya. During the election, Zulfi had stirred up crowds with slogans of Muslim solidarity. “We shall wage a jihad for the cause of Islam,” he told them. “If Muslim blood is being mercilessly shed in India, you cannot just wring your hands. If atrocities are being committed on the Muslims in the Middle East, you will have to do something about it.” Now, having firmly placed the fate of his own country’s Muslims in the hands of a genocidal military, Zulfi retired to his suite.
On 23 March, 1971,, the 31st anniversary of M.A. Jinnah’s proclamation of the idea of Pakistan was marked by the government. The following day, Mujib was arrested and flown to West Pakistan. Jinnah’s legacy was about to unfold.
More to come...