While a plethora of literature is available on the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, one hardly finds a book-length study examining its repercussions for the identity-less, stranded and stateless individuals resulting from its fallout. Those who found themselves on the wrong side of the border during the Partition of India in 1947 had ample time and opportunity to migrate across the newly drawn international boundaries. However, millions who ended up on the wrong side as a consequence of the 1971 war did not have the same luxury of time or the freedom to choose their country of residence. As a result, a vast number of people lost their identity as host countries refused to grant them citizenship. Once stranded, these teeming millions remained stateless non-citizens, without recognition despite having lived for generations in Pakistan, Bangladesh and India.

Historiographically, the history presented in this volume fills a crucial academic gap by giving a voice to many voiceless people across the three aforementioned nation-states. Structurally, the book ensures proportional and equal representation in that an editor each hails from one of the three countries.

While a few high-quality academic works have recently emerged – such as Sarmila Bose’s Dead Reckoning: Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh War, Tariq Rahman’s Pakistan’s Wars: An Alternative History, and KK Aziz’s Pakistan at the Crossroads: A Study of the East Pakistan Crisis 1971 (an unpublished manuscript in the archives of LUMS) – none focus specifically on the fate of those left behind and still suffering from the war’s aftermath; this volume does.

Comprising nine chapters contributed by leading academicians with specialised expertise, the book is divided into three parts. The first part examines India, addressing issues of refugees and citizenship, particularly the experiences of East Bengali migrants who crossed into Indian states such as Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura. Nearly ten million people fled from East Pakistan to India to escape violence blamed on the Pakistani army and its collaborators. While efforts were made to repatriate these displaced individuals after the formation of Bangladesh, not all were able to return. For decades, they have faced marginalisation and statelessness as defining aspects of their identity. The most recent addition to their plight came with the enactment of the Indian Citizenship Amendment Act on January 10, 2020, further complicating their legal and social standing.

The rules of this discriminatory law were notified just days before the Indian parliamentary elections of 2024. These rules somewhat softened the initially stringent provisions and stipulated that, if eligibility criteria were met, the CAA would grant citizenship to any person belonging to the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian community – but not Muslims – from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan, provided they had entered India on or before December 31, 2014. The CAA was widely perceived as a protective measure for Hindus. The Bangladeshi government has repeatedly asserted that all its citizens who crossed the India-Bangladesh border in 1970-71 to seek refuge in India returned after the war ended. However, the governments of Indian states bordering Bangladesh, as well as the Union government, maintain that many Bangladeshis remained in India after the war, existing as identity-less non-citizens.

1971 not only reshaped history and geography but also profoundly affected nationality and identity across three states – Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.

Part Two of the book contains four chapters on Bangladesh, covering a range of themes, including the history of the 1971 war; the plight of the unassimilated Bihari Muslims; and the controversies surrounding the unplanned and limited implementation of quasi-colonial education policies in Bangladesh. The secession of East Pakistan and the creation of Bangladesh remains an enigma, given that Bengalis had a leading role in the emergence of Pakistan. This region was the birthplace of the All-India Muslim League, the party that conceived and created a separate country for Indian Muslims. Most East Pakistanis had been campaigning for provincial autonomy, a demand that Jinnah had repeatedly made to the British. As divergent narratives exist regarding the events of the 1971 Liberation War, a juxtaposition of Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and global perspectives is essential to constructing an objective account.

The third part of the book focuses on Pakistan. It examines how the interconnectedness of identities led to the creation of Pakistan, followed by unprecedented migration and displacement of people from their lands and cultures. It explores the diverse and contentious narratives in Pakistan regarding the status of Bihari Muslims and how they negotiate their identity, citizenship and rights within national and local contexts. Additionally, it analyses Pakistani media narratives about the 1971 India-Pakistan war, particularly as reflected in two leading newspapers – Dawn and Nawa-i-Waqt.

The eventful year of 1971 not only reshaped history and geography but also profoundly affected nationality and identity across three states – Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. For instance, the stranded Biharis in Bangladesh and the marooned Bengalis in Pakistan have been victims of the politicisation of nationality and identity, leaving them stateless.

This book is groundbreaking in its coordinated effort, bringing together scholars from all three states and focusing on a select group of people who not only suffered during the 1971 war but have since remained perpetual victims of the nation-states in which they reside – denied nationality, identity, education, employment and access to basic services. Given its scope and scholarly depth, this book is highly relevant to academia, the media and policymaking institutions in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

The Aftermath of the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971

Enduring Impact

Editors: Amit Ranjan,

Taj Hashmi and Mazhar Abbas

Publisher: Routledge (New York), 2025

Pages: 183

The reviewer heads the History Department at University of Sargodha. He has worked as a research fellow at Royal Holloway College, University of London. He may be reached at abrar.zahoor @hotmail.com His X handle: @AbrarZahoor1