What is 1971 Bangladesh atrocities?
The '''1971 Bangladesh atrocities''' refer to the [[murder]] of many people in East Pakistan (now [[Bangladesh]]) by the [[Pakistan Army]] during the [[Bangladesh Liberation War]] that began on March 26, 1971 with [[Operation Searchlight]].{{sfn|Spencer|2012|p=63}} ==History== In 1947, the [[United Kingdom]] split [[British India]] into two countries: India and Pakistan. The idea was that [[Hinduism|Hindus]] would live in India and [[Islam|Muslims]] would live in Pakistan. But it was not so simple. Because Hindus and Muslims lived in so many different places, East Pakistan and West Pakistan were about 1000 miles apart, with all of India in between them. Also, not all Muslims are the same. The East Pakistanis and West Pakistanis did not speak the same language and did not always like each other.<ref name=Smith /> There were fewer West Pakistanis than East Pakistanis, but West Pakistanis controlled most of the government.<ref name=Smith /> After the [[Bhola Cyclone]] damaged East Pakistan, West Pakistan did not send enough help.<ref name=UAB /> Because of these things, East Pakistanis started to want to be a separate country from West Pakistan. East Pakistan would later become Bangladesh. The people who lived there called themselves [[Bengali people|Bengali]]s.<ref name=Smith /> Some of the Bengalis were not Muslims but Hindus.<ref name=UAB>{{cite web|accessdate=February 10, 2021|title=Bangladesh: The Forgotten Genocide|publisher=University of Alabama Institute for Human Rights Blog|url=https://sites.uab.edu/humanrights/2017/04/21/bangladesh-forgotten-genocide/|date=April 21, 2017}}</ref> In 1970, Pakistan held its first general election. Before this, the military had limited voters' rights. The West Pakistanis voted for many different political parties, but most of the East Pakistanis voted for the same political party, called the Awami League. This meant the East Pakistani candidates would have a majority in Pakistan's assembly. This East Pakistani political party was led by Sheikh [[Mujibur Rahma