It is reported that on February 22nd 1971 The head of the Pakistani army, General Yahya Khan, said the following to a group of generals: “We must kill three million of them, and the rest will eat out of the palm of our hand. ”Yahya appointed a new military governor for East Pakistan (Bengal), General Tikka Khan, who declared immediately after taking office that he would carry out a “final solution.” He even threatened to kill four million people in 48 hours.The killings began on March 25th, 1971. The West Pakistan army, along with reinforcements, set out on a cleansing campaign targeting East Pakistani intellectuals and students, Bengals, Hindus, and urban workers. The military campaign against cities and towns not only led to large-scale civilian casualties, but also displaced 30 million people from cities into the countryside, while another 10 million East Pakistanis (Bengalis) fled to India.
The action provoked widespread resistance among the Bengali officers and soldiers and rendered the entire population hostile. Nevertheless the massacre continued. When asked the reason for the high number of murders, General Tikka Khan answered that “he is not concerned about the people; he is concerned about the land.” On May 14th Consul Archer Blood sent a telegram to Washington entitled “The Hindu Slaughter.” He wrote that “the army's standard pattern in its operations is to have soldiers enter villages, question the citizens as to where the Hindus live, and execute the males." Blood estimated the death toll to be in the thousands for the seven weeks after March 25th. On May 19th he informed Washington that “a young Western Pakistani officer (a fighter pilot by profession) admitted that the army is conducting a systematic killing of the Hindus." The officer justified the actions, saying, “the Hindus are enemies and we must cleanse East Pakistan,” and that, “the killing is conducted under the auspices of jihad, a holy war.” Blood added that “in some instances Pakistani soldiers boasted that they came to East Pakistan to kill Hindus.”
Brutal murders continued through most of 1971, as Pakistani forces tried to reassert control over the area. Soldiers raped Bengali women and girls, while "cities and towns became devoid of young men." Only towards the end of the year did the slaughter come to an end, due to an invasion by Indian forces to support the East Bengali underground.
Brutal murders continued through most of 1971, as Pakistani forces tried to reassert control over the area. Soldiers raped Bengali women and girls, while "cities and towns became devoid of young men." Only towards the end of the year did the slaughter come to an end, due to an invasion by Indian forces to support the East Bengali underground.