Controversial Remarks by Online Activist and Blogger Pinaki Bhattacharya on 1971 Liberation War Death Toll
Online activist and blogger Pinaki Bhattacharya has sparked controversy by making a highly disputed claim about the number of people killed by Pakistani forces during the 1971 Liberation War. On Sunday, August 17, he stated on his verified Facebook account that the maximum number of deaths was only two thousand.
In his post, Pinaki mentioned, "The number of people killed by Pakistani forces in 1971 was at most two thousand." Additionally, he attached some ‘evidences’ in the comment box along with a video content to support his claim.
This statement has already caused widespread discussion and backlash on social media. Various sources have over time presented different figures regarding the number of martyrs during the war. Pinaki Bhattacharya’s new claim has been met with strong criticism, with many accusing it of an attempt to distort the history of the Liberation War.
For instance, a user named Riaz Uddin commented, “Isn’t this an exaggeration, brother?” Meanwhile, another user, Rabiul Islam, wrote, “Your statement is a grave insult to the martyrs of 1971. It is internationally and nationally proven through multiple research studies, eyewitness accounts, and historical evidence that around three million people were martyred and over two hundred thousand women were subjected to brutal atrocities by the Pakistani army during the Liberation War. Such misleading and fabricated information aimed at distorting the nation's history is absolutely unacceptable.”
According to government records and reports published in newspapers both domestically and internationally at the time, nearly three million people were martyred during the 1971 Liberation War at the hands of Pakistani troops and their collaborators, including Rajakars, Al-Badr, and Al-Shams militias. Additionally, more than two hundred thousand women were victims of wartime sexual violence.
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