On this day in 1971, US Consul General Archer Kent Blood sent his second telegram to the State Department describing the atrocities under “Operation Searchlight” in Dhaka.
He wrote that the Pakistani army was seeking to terrorize the population of East Pakistan in general and thereby crush any resistance.
The military also wanted to “eliminate all elements of society that pose a potential threat to the consolidation and maintenance of martial law authority,” he added.
The previous day, he sent the first telegram on the atrocities, terming it “selective genocide.” He stated that the Pakistani authorities were killing the Awami League supporters, student leaders, Dhaka University teachers, MNAs elect and MPAs, as per a list. With the support of the Pak military, non-Bengali Muslims were systematically attacking poor people's quarters and murdering Bengalis and Hindus. The streets of Dhaka were aflood with Hindus and others seeking to get out of the city.
Random violence
Quoting the American priests in Old Dhaka in the second telegram, the envoy said the army had acted with no provocation on part of the Bengalis, except for barricade erection.
“Army [is] exclusively responsible for all fires…technique was to set houses afire and then gun down people as they left their homes.”
The priests believed that the Hindus were the particular focus of the campaign, although areas that included non-Hindus were also burned out. They stated that the army was looking for Awami Leaguers but “really more indiscriminate than selective in approach.”
On the killings of Dhaka University professors, Blood said although the circumstances were vague, many said an attempt was underway to wipe out all sources of potential intellectual ferment. The student halls were also attacked, but it was unclear whether all were shot at the time when the army occupied the campus or whether some were killed subsequently.
A Bengali source said the violence was random in nature. As evidence, the source claimed that he was an eyewitness to one family with no government or Awami League connections being wiped out by the army. He claimed the army had entered the houses of three or four senior civil servants and killed the inhabitants.
Atrocities by non-Bengalis
Blood said there were reliable reports of troops engaged in looting homes, beating those who object, including middle-level government officials and shaking down the refuges.
On the other hand, the military was standing by while non-Bengalis looted Bengali dwellings, thereby abetting criminal tensions.
The tension between Bengalis and non-Bengali was very high as the Consul General officers on the morning of March 29 witnessed the butchering of one civilian by another non-Bengali. Blood said the Bengalis were reportedly biding time to retaliate.
Several Bengali intellectuals in a scared but surprisingly sober mood told the US Consul General officer of witnessing an unprovoked army firing on a neighbouring town, suspecting that these people were the type who build barricades. Six Muslims were killed as “they contended army going after Hindus with vengeance.”
Murder of police
Meanwhile, police personnel were executed in Mohammadpur and elsewhere simply because the army considered them a potential threat.
Survivors of the army attack on the East Pakistan Rifles camp at Peelkhana stated that at least 1,800 police personnel were killed in surprise attacks. They also reported house-to-house searches, with "Fouji men" (ex-Bengali servicemen) being the special targets and being shot on-site whenever found, read the telegram.
The USAID public safety chief reported that the police were no longer effective as a force, with communication facilities gone and the Razarbagh Police Lines razed. The Special Branch building was demolished and abandoned.
Senior police officials on duty at the office at Eden Building were awaiting orders from MLA, non-committal about the situation, but one implored "pray for us," Blood said in the telegram on March 29.
Moreover, the USAID provincial director eyewitnessed unprovoked firing by the military on children and fishermen in the afternoon on March 28 though there was no curfew in effect and no explanation for the firing.