[3] In their investigation of the genocide, the Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists concluded that Pakistan's campaign involved the attempt to exterminate or forcibly remove a significant portion of the country's Hindu populace.

[26] This was a matter of concern to the Bengalis who saw their nation undefended in case of Indian attack during the conflict of 1965,[27][28] and that Ayub Khan, the President of Pakistan, was willing to lose the East if it meant gaining Kashmir.

[57] Targets of the operation included Jagannath Hall which was a dormitory for non-Muslim students of Dhaka University, Rajarbagh Police Lines, and Pilkhana, which is the headquarters of East Pakistan Rifles.

[78][79] However, her book was the subject of strong criticism by journalists; writer and visual artist Naeem Mohaiemen; Nayanika Mookherjee, an anthropologist at Durham University; and others.

"[101] Members of the Muslim League, Nizam-e-Islam, Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamiat Ulema Pakistan, who had lost the election, collaborated with the military and acted as an intelligence organisation for them.

[111][112] During the nine-month duration of the war the Pakistani Army, with the assistance of local collaborators, systematically executed an estimated 991 teachers, 13 journalists, 49 physicians, 42 lawyers, and 16 writers, artists and engineers.

All five were put in a military brothel in Mohammedpur and held captive for six months until the end of the war.In a New York Times report named 'Horrors of East Pakistan Turning Hope into Despair', Malcolm W. Browne[129] wrote: One tale that is widely believed and seems to come from many different sources is that 563 women picked up by the army in March and April and held in military brothels are not being released because they are pregnant beyond the point at which abortions are possible.The licentious attitude of the soldiers, although generally supported by their superiors, alarmed the regional high command of the Pakistani Army.

On 15 April 1971, in a secret memorandum to the divisional commanders, Niazi complained, Since my arrival, I have heard numerous reports of troops indulging in loot and arson, killing people at random and without reasons in areas cleared of the anti state elements; of late there have been reports of rape and even the West Pakistanis are not being spared; on 12 April two West Pakistani women were raped, and an attempt was made on two others.

[133] Australian Doctor Geoffrey Davis was brought to Bangladesh by the United Nation and International Planned Parenthood Federation to carry out late term abortions on rape victims.

"[134][better source needed] In October 2005, Sarmila Bose published a paper suggesting that the casualties and rape allegations in the war have been greatly exaggerated for political purposes.

[44][135] Whilst she received praise from many quarters,[136] a number of researchers have shown inaccuracies in Bose's work, including flawed methodology of statistical analysis, misrepresentation of referenced sources, and disproportionate weight to Pakistani Army testimonies.

"[138] An article in Time magazine, dated 2 August 1971, stated "The Hindus, who account for three-fourths of the refugees and a majority of the dead, have borne the brunt of the Muslim military hatred.

[151]The Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Sydney Schanberg covered the start of the war and wrote extensively on the suffering of the East Bengalis, including the Hindus both during and after the conflict.

[163] In an incident on 18 December 1971, captured on camera and attended by members of the foreign press, Abdul Kader Siddiqui, together with Kaderia Bahini guerrillas under his command and named after him,[164] bayoneted and shot to death a group of prisoners of war who were accused of belonging to the Razakar paramilitary forces.

[171] As regards the massacres of non-Bengalis by Bengalis during and after the Liberation War, the ICJ report argued that it is improbable that "spontaneous and frenzied mob violence against a particular section of the community from whom the mob senses danger and hostility is to be regarded as possessing the necessary element of conscious intent to constitute the crime of genocide," but that, if the dolus specialis were to be proved in particular cases, these would have constituted acts of genocide against non-Bengalis.

In a joint statement after a meeting between Sheikh Mujib and Indira Gandhi, the Indian government assured that it would give all necessary assistance for bringing war criminals into justice.

Initial steps were taken by the Metropolitan Police to investigate individuals resident in the United Kingdom who were alleged to have committed war crimes according to a Channel 4 documentary film aired in 1995.

[196] On 29 December 1991, Ghulam Azam, who was accused of being a collaborator with Pakistan in the war of 1971, became the chairman or Ameer of the political party Jamaat-e-Islami of Bangladesh, which caused controversy.

A mock people's court was formed, which on 26 March 1992 found Ghulam Azam guilty in a widely criticised trial, which sentenced him to death; he ultimately died in prison in 2014.

[200] This decision has drawn criticism from international jurists, because it effectively gives immunity to the commanders of the Pakistani Army who are generally considered to be ultimately responsible for the majority of the crimes that were committed in 1971.

[209] While human rights groups[210] and various political entities[211][212] initially supported the establishment of the tribunal, they have since criticised it on issues of fairness and transparency, as well as reported harassment of lawyers and witnesses representing the accused.

[216][217][218] One of the most high profile verdicts was of Abdul Quader Mollah, assistant secretary general of Jamaat, who was convicted in February 2013 and sentenced to life imprisonment, which culminated in the massive Shahbag protests.

Abdul Quader Mollah was subsequently executed on Thursday 12 December 2013, amidst controversies on the legitimacy of the war tribunal hearings, drawing wide criticisms from countries such as the US, UK and Turkey, as well as from the UN.

[219] Delwar Hossain Sayeedi was convicted of war crimes due to his involvement in mass killings, rape, arson, looting and forced conversion of Hindus to Islam.

[222] Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid, both of whom had been convicted of genocide and rape, were hanged in Dhaka Central Jail shortly after midnight on 22 November 2015.

[223][224] On 3 December 2016, business tycoon Mir Quasem Ali, convicted of crimes against humanity for torturing and killing suspected Bangladeshi liberationists, was hanged at Kashimpur Prison.

[238] The International Crimes Tribunal set up by Bangladesh in 2009 to prosecute surviving collaborators of the pro-Pakistani militias in 1971 has been the subject of strong criticism in Pakistani political and military circles.

[239] A statement of the Pakistani Foreign Ministry, after summoning the Acting Bangladeshi High Commissioner, said that "Pakistan also rejected insinuation of complicity in committing crimes or war atrocities.

[239][240] The statement marked a growing trend of genocide denial in Pakistan, which picked up pace after controversial Indian academic Sarmila Bose accused the Mukti Bahini of war crimes.

[78] Many in Pakistan's civil society have called for an unconditional apology to Bangladesh and an acknowledgement of the genocide, including former Pakistan Air Force chief Asghar Khan,[241] former Prime Minister Imran Khan,[242] noted journalist Hamid Mir,[243] former Pakistani ambassador to the United States Husain Haqqani,[244] human rights activist Asma Jahangir,[245] cultural activist Salima Hashmi,[246] and defence analyst Muhammad Ali Ehsan.