Introduction
The 1971 Bangladesh genocide is one of the most horrific instances of state-sanctioned mass violence in the past 75 years. This violence was seen through an orchestration of campaigns of mass annihilation across the country, extending beyond the conventional definition of mass killings. This campaign did not merely seek the immediate annihilation of the Bengali population but had a calculated strategy of demographic and cultural erasure through targeted violence against reproductive capacity (Saha, 2023, p. 213). Foeticide and infanticide were systematically employed with genocidal intent, reinforcing the objective of pre-emptive population debilitation and the suppression of generational continuance (D’Costa, 2011, p. 54).
The Pakistani military, whilst collaborating with paramilitary forces, engaged in mass killings and sexual violence, implementing measures intended to dismantle the self-recovery capacity of the Bengali community. Forced abortions, the systematic execution of pregnant women, and the deliberate extermination of infants born of wartime rape functioned as mechanisms of what Raphael Lemkin (Polish lawyer known for coining the term genocide) conceptualised as biological genocide, ensuring the erasure of ethnic and religious continuity. Therefore, a deep understanding of the 1971 genocide requires an in-depth examination of reproductive atrocities where these actions go beyond being byproducts of war, viewed as a key operational strategy of cultural and demographic decimation.
This article examines the strategies of foeticide and infanticide as primary mechanisms within the broader atrocities of 1971. Moreover, it will explore both the historical and ideological contexts that facilitate and conceptualise the execution of state-targeted reproductive violence. The acts that were committed were not incidental, accidental, or minimal; they were a systematic element of a genocidal strategy, which demonstrates the intent present in eliminating the biological reproduction of the Bengali population. (D’Costa, 2011, p. 55; Mookherjee, 2015, p. 42). In eradicating future generations through reproductive violence, there is an effort to stop the foundations of Bengali identity, employing differing forms of gendered genocide (Biswas & Tripathi, 2022, 2020).
Definitions and Legal Framework
Article 6 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) includes as acts of genocide the annihilation, in whole or in part, of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group, together with methods which render procreation impossible within such a group (ICC, 1998). Within the United Nations (UN), the intentional destruction of reproductive capabilities and capacities (including forced hysterectomies and abortions) coupled with infanticide are viewed as key components of genocide (United Nations, 2002).
These components are relevant to the 1971 Bangladesh genocide, where Pakistani soldiers systematically employed foeticide and infanticide to annihilate the future generation of Bengalis through the killing of children and foetuses born out of wartime rape (Mookherjee, 2015, p. 43). The perpetrators attempted to annihilate the Bengali people’s ethnic and cultural identity by making sure the children, including unborn children, were not brought to term or murdered at birth, thereby killing any probable demographic rebound (D’Costa, 2011, p. 56).
The Genocide Convention (1948), within its legal frameworks, stipulates that the prevention of births amongst a specific ethnic or religious group applies to the actions taken by the Pakistani military during their extensive practice of forced abortions and the murdering of pregnant women in 1971. Survivor testimonies, along with evidence produced by humanitarian workers, provide instances in which Bengali women, specifically those imprisoned in rape centres under military control, endured forced abortions or were abandoned to die from childbirth complications as a result of neglect by medical workers (Mookherjee, 2015, p. 41; Biswas & Tripathi, (2022). These acts were not independent but rather an important part of a concerted military plan, which highlights the calculated nature of reproductive violence within genocides.
This indiscriminate slaughter of Bengali infants, particularly those considered to be of unwanted parentage, is in keeping with other patterns of genocidal reproductive violence in war but remains an under-studied feature of the 1971 Bangladeshi genocide (Debnath, 2019). Given the scale and intention behind these acts, there is an urgent need for international legal recognition of foeticide and infanticide as constituent parts of the extermination strategy adopted by the Pakistani army, which became more apparent during the 1971 genocide. The pervasive occurrence of such atrocities emphasises that we need to view reproductive violence not merely as a collateral war crime but as a constitutive element of genocidal intent, which demands ongoing legal and historical attention (Mookherjee, 2015, p. 42).
Historical and Political Context of Reproductive Violence
Partitioning from India in 1947 established Pakistan as a fractured state. Considering the structural inequalities between East and West Pakistan, the 1971 Bangladesh genocide should be viewed through a broad spectrum of historical and political contexts related to reproductive violence. Though East Pakistan held the majority of the population, it was politically disenfranchised, economically exploited, and culturally suppressed by the ruling West Pakistani elite, who wanted to keep resources and governance centralised (Saha, 2023, p. 214). This calculated marginalisation escalated Bengali calls for self-rule, leading to the Awami League’s landslide victory in December 1970 (Ali, 1971, p. 32). The military government of West Pakistan would not accept this outcome and instead implemented a militarised policy aimed at quashing the movement for self-determination.
The launch of “Operation Searchlight” on March 25th, 1971, marked the beginning of a well-planned campaign of generalised terror. The methods used by the Pakistani army, however, went beyond conventional warfare, incorporating gender-based and reproductive violence as key modalities of destruction. As biological and cultural reproducers of the Bengali nation, women became central targets to obliterate Bengali ethnic continuity (Joshi, 2023, p. 87). Forced impregnation, mass rapes, and systematic infanticide were not incidental war crimes but rather deliberate instruments of genocidal intent designed to prevent the birth of future generations and undermine Bengali resistance. The rape camps run by the military, wherein women were forcibly impregnated and then subjected to foeticide through medical neglect or forced abortion, highlight the premeditated level of this biological warfare (Mookherjee, 2015, p. 43).
This policy of reproductive destruction was supplemented by deep-seated misogynistic ideologies of the Pakistani army that viewed Bengali women as representing nationalist resistance and, thus, as legitimate targets of gender-based violence (Debnath, 2019, p. 152). The systematic killing of infants, particularly those born from rape, highlights the goal of demographic elimination, as the Pakistani military aimed to destroy Bengali heritage through the prevention of the survival of the “enemy’s” offspring (D’Costa, 2011, p. 98). By including reproductive violence within its broad framework of devastation, the Pakistani military ensured that the genocide was not simply an assault upon the current Bengali population but an immediate assault upon its future as well.
The political incentives underlying reproductive violence in 1971 align with widespread patterns of gender-based genocide, which are apparent in numerous other conflicts in which sexual and reproductive atrocities are employed as tactical warfare tools. The genocide in Bangladesh, however, is distinct because of the scale and institutionalisation of such tactics, which call for a re-evaluation of genocide studies through the lens of reproductive violence as a means of ethnic and cultural extermination. Denial of Bengali reproductive capacity was not just incidental destruction but a fundamental aspect of West Pakistan’s deliberate strategy to delegitimise a nationalist uprising by erasing its future population. It is essential to acknowledge these violations within both international law and historical contexts to engender responsibility and preclude the ongoing exclusion of gendered factors in discussions of genocide.
Foeticide as a Preemptive Measure Against Future Generations
Foeticide, or the intentional interruption of pregnancy, was utilised as a systematic genocidal tactic aimed at preventing the arrival of a new generation of Bengalis. The Pakistani armed forces, along with their paramilitary allies, committed extensive sexual violence, which led to the mass pregnancy of Bengali women; this contingency was not random but an intentional component of the overall extermination scheme (Deb, 2021, p. 165).
Acknowledging that forced impregnation could result in the ultimate existence of enemy offspring, the Pakistani military formulated foeticide as a means of pre-emptive demographic annihilation. The primary intention was to guarantee the destruction of the Bengali line of descent at its inception, precluding the advent of future generations (Mookherjee, 2015, p. 58). Medical centres, initially a place of healing, were sites of systematic reproductive violence, where forced abortions were performed under direct supervision by the military. Descriptions of patients who went through these procedures present inhumane acts, which were often done without anaesthesia, representing a total disregard for human life and dignity (Debnath, 2019, p. 178).
Rape camps, where women were imprisoned for long durations, became sites of reproductive annihilation, ensuring that even survivors of their imprisonment would not be able to contribute to the continuation of their communities (D’Costa, 2011, p. 112). These acts were not just violations of women’s reproductive rights but also calculated acts of biological genocide (the destruction of a group’s reproductive capacity). Other than its immediate physical effect, foeticide was also a tool of psychological warfare, meant to inflict lifelong trauma on survivors and instill terror in the hearts of Bengalis.
Women who were forced into abortions, sometimes in full public view, were not just dehumanised as individuals but also turned into symbols of the annihilation of their nation. The shame surrounding rape pregnancies creates a seclusionary bubble of social fragmentation, rendering it significantly more challenging for the Bengali population to grieve and heal from genocide (Hossain, 2023).
The institutionalisation of these crimes refers to the intentional contribution to the overall genocide. The Pakistani army did not seek to subdue or dominate the Bengali people—it sought to annihilate them by attacking their most vulnerable: women and unborn children (Lemkin, 1944, p. 82). It was not only an act against individual women but an attempt to destroy an entire nation by annihilating its future. Their meticulous planning and execution, usually by medical personnel acting under military orders, justify their consideration as a constituent element of the genocidal process (Saha, 2023, p. 238). This element of the 1971 Bangladesh genocide demonstrates that gendered violence can be a key method of ethnic and cultural extermination rather than an adjunct to mass murder.
Infanticide is the Ultimate Act of Eradication
The systematic killing of infants, referenced within scholarship and literature as infanticide, was used as a deliberate and strategic tool by the Pakistani military during the 1971 Bangladesh genocide. Infanticide, like foeticide, was utilised to ensure the annihilation of the next generation of Bengalis. While other forms of mass violence sought to eliminate active political resistance, infanticide was used to directly target the future of the Bengali population as a preventative tool to ensure that regeneration in the form of ethnic and cultural identity was impossible (D’Costa, 2011, p. 132).
The mass murder of Bengali newborns, especially those born as a result of rape, was not viewed as a collateral consequence but rather a calculated mechanism of ethnic cleansing. Pakistani forces recognised that the survival of children symbolised the continued existence of a nation (Mookherjee, 2015, p. 68). As a result of this newfound hope and symbolisation, the Pakistani army implemented a systematic policy of mass extermination as a means of destruction for the lineage of Bengalis ((Mookherjee, 2015, p. 68).
The Systematic Targeting of Infants
Infanticide during the Bangladesh genocide took multiple forms, each demonstrating a high degree of premeditation and cruelty. Newborns were either murdered at birth, forcibly removed from their mothers and killed, or abandoned in conditions where survival was impossible (Debnath, 2019, p. 189). Eyewitness testimonies from survivors recount Pakistani soldiers forcibly taking infants from their mothers and crushing them, slitting their throats, throwing them into fires, or drowning them (Rashid, 2018, p. 102). The Pakistani army and its allied paramilitary forces often executed pregnant women as a two-pronged strategy: eliminating both the mother and the unborn child in a direct effort to dismantle Bengali reproductive continuity (Hossain, 2023).
Furthermore, military-run rape camps, where thousands of Bengali women were subjected to prolonged sexual violence, became centres of genocidal infanticide. Survivors of rape who became pregnant were forced to give birth under inhumane conditions that posed several life risks, only for their newborns to be executed upon delivery (Mookherjee, 2015, p. 72). Testimonies from medical staff, most of whom were acting under coercion of some form and were participants in these atrocities either by refusing to provide medical care to both mothers and infants or actively terminating the baby’s life (Deb, 2021, p. 172). These actions not only highlight the institutionalised nature and attention surrounding reproductive violence but also underscore how infanticide functioned as an extension of the broader genocidal strategy in erasing Bengali identity through targeted biological destruction (Lemkin, 1944, p. 87).
The Role of the Pakistani Military in Coordinating Infanticide
One of the most egregious aspects of the 1971 Bangladesh genocide was that infanticide was not incidental but systematic in its implementation of military coordination. Unlike historical instances of mass killings such as the Holocaust or the Rwandan Genocide, where infants may have been secondary casualties, the Pakistani military actively sought and executed infants as part of their extermination policy within the genocidal plan (Debnath, 2019, p. 192). The military’s recognition of infants as key to the Bengali cultural and ethnic survival drove the calculated decision of elimination, which aligns with Raphael Lemkin’s original conception of genocide and its understanding as a multi-dimensional process of biological and cultural destruction (Lemkin, 1944, p. 90).
Reports confirm that military directives encouraged mass extermination of Bengali children, with specific orders given to soldiers to ensure that “no future rebels” were left alive (Saha, 2023, p. 245). The orders to execute “future rebels” reveal that the large loss of infant life was not merely a by-product of wartime but rather a systematic and ideologically driven component of the broader genocidal plan by the Pakistani army. The fact that these murders were often performed in front of Bengali men and elders further emphasises their symbolic role in crushing Bengali resistance by demonstrating the absolute power of the occupying force (Joshi, 2023, p. 91).
Infanticide as a Key Component of the Genocidal Process
The eradication of Bengali infants in 1971 must be understood as an essential and deliberate phase of the genocide. The Pakistani army ensured through the murders of innocent Bengali children that future generations would be discontinued as individuals of resistance and peace, as its demographic would be irrevocably lost. Infanticide was a deliberate campaign of annihilation and cannot be viewed as a collateral or arbitrary by-product of wartime atrocities (Deb, 2021, p. 178). These actions are wholly consistent with the genocidal aim of destroying an ethnic and national identity (Deb, 2021, p. 178).
Contrasting other features of genocide (mass murder and sexual violence), infanticide is among the most gruesome and calculated ways that can be applied when annihilating and ending an entire populace. The massacres of infants, who bore no political affiliation, did not wield arms and presented no tactical or military danger, suggesting that the objective of the Pakistani army was not suppression but rather extinction (Saha, 2023, p. 249). The institutionalisation of infanticide across military operations, medical facilities, and rape camps is hard evidence that these actions were not only condoned but highly encouraged during the 1971 Bangladesh genocide.
Importance of Recognising Infanticide as Genocide
The intentional killing of Bengali infants fits well within the definition of genocide in the 1948 Genocide Convention, in particular with Article 2, which cites “measures intended to prevent births within the group” (United Nations, 1948). Through its systematic application, infanticide during the 1971 Bangladesh genocide must be confirmed as a distinct crime rather than an incidental action through a broader genocidal plan.
This particular aspect of genocide has been long overlooked within international discourse, which necessitates a rethinking of how gendered and reproductive violence can and does function within genocidal frameworks. In acknowledging infanticide as a deliberate genocidal action and elimination method, the full extent of Pakistan’s genocidal intent can be understood, ensuring that the historical record accurately reflects the pervasive nature of the violence committed in 1971 against the Bengali people.
Conclusion
Infanticide, foeticide, and femicide were key instruments of genocidal intent in Bangladesh during 1971. These were not accidental consequences of warfare but conscious tools deliberately employed to shatter the biological and cultural continuity of the people of Bengal. By preventing births and the survival of future generations, the Pakistani army tried to eliminate the very existence of Bengalis as a distinct national and ethnic group, which corresponds with the legal definition of genocide in the 1948 Genocide Convention (United Nations, 1948).
The mass killing of Bengali foetuses and infants, either through forced abortions, medical abandonment, or outright execution, illustrates how reproductive violence was utilised to destroy the long-term survival of a people. Survivors recount horrific experiences where intergenerational trauma has been passed down through victimised families, and the destruction of lineage along with cultural heritage highlights the extreme long-term effects of these atrocities (Mookherjee, 2015, p. 73). The organised destruction of Bengali reproductive capacities was not merely an assault on individual bodies but a frontal attack on the very basis of national identity and belonging (D’Costa, 2011, p. 144).
Despite the sheer magnitude and systematicity of reproductive violence in 1971, international acknowledgement of these atrocities is still insufficient. The lack of incorporation of infanticide and foeticide into genocide studies has not only impacted the historical record of the Bangladesh genocide but simultaneously reinforced the continuation of the marginalisation of gender as a contribution to mass atrocities (Debnath, 2019, p. 201). Correcting this imbalance is critical to achieving justice for survivors and respecting the memories of those victims whose lives were cut short (Rashid, 2018, p. 119).
A complete and comprehensive acknowledgement of the whole range of violence—the gendered and reproductive—is central to achieving historical justice and legal accountability to prevent such violence in the future. The recognition of infanticide, foeticide, and femicide as targeted actions in the extermination of populations is vital not only to the accurate historical record but also to the furthering of legal tools aimed at ensuring such exterminatory behaviour is not repeated. The 1971 genocide has to be fully understood, not merely as a matter of political repression, but as an exterminatory operation aimed at eliminating a whole community by destroying their very sustenance.
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