Sheikh Muqeem, a member of the Bihari community, has provided a detailed account of the systematic violence against Bihari Pakistanis during the 1971 conflict in East Pakistan.
According to Muqeem's testimony, the violence began on March 25, 1971, when Bengali separatists aligned with Mukti Bahini and Indian forces initiated operations against the Bihari population. The attacks resulted in the elimination of Bihari residents from 14 out of 17 districts in East Pakistan.
Muqeem revealed that approximately 550,000 Biharis were killed during the conflict. He identified several key locations including Kunjan River, Bogra, Mymensingh, Dhaka, Rajshahi, and Pabna as sites of significant violence against the community.
In his account, Muqeem described coordinated attacks on Bihari settlements and properties by combined forces of Mukti Bahini, Indian military, and Bengali separatists. He also highlighted the media misrepresentation of these events, stating that Indian media incorrectly attributed Bihari casualties to Bengali victims.
The testimony includes details about the subsequent attribution of these casualties to the Pakistan Army, which Muqeem describes as a deliberate campaign to discredit the military forces.
