Ever since the Partition, there has always been the problem of refugees coming from Pakistan, both West and East. However, it was in 1971 that the refugee problem from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) became visibly huge.

The reporting of the refugee problem in the Indian English press then shows some very interesting fault-lines which have today become further deepened. Here we take one instance: how now defunct Illustrated Weekly of India published articles and covered various aspects of the refugee crisis. This is by no means a complete or thorough study, but it shows some very disturbing trends in the Indian media.

Prelude To A Genocide

Whenever there have been riots, the Hindus of then East Pakistan had to face terrible consequences and they always made an exodus to India. In 1948, Nehru had signed the notorious pact with Pakistan Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan that condemned the Hindus of East Pakistan to the mercy of their persecutors.

Nehru was categorical and clear in his stand. He did not want Hindu refugees from East Pakistan to come to India. Was it because he thought the refugees would mean economic disaster for newly free India?

It seems not, because he was ready to even wage war to stop the migration, which would have meant a heavier price for India.

In his letter to the then West Bengal Chief Minister, Nehru thundered that 'everything should be done to prevent Hindus in East Bengal from migrating to West Bengal.’ He added ominously, ‘To the last I would try to check migration even if there is war.'

In short, despite the religion-based divide of India, Nehru deemed that Hindus in East Pakistan should not turn to India for their survival. Thus, Nehru created the preparatory ground that would facilitate a genocide within a decade of his demise.

Nehruvian Reporting of Refugee Problem

Nehru had actually set the theme for the official stand of the Indian government first and the intelligentsia subsequently. The first Prime Minister had deluded himself that the Hindus in East Bengal actually faced no real threats and that they were migrating because of 'largely imaginary fears and baseless rumours, not the consequence of palpable threats to Hindu life, limb and property.'

By early 1971, many Hindus had entered India as refugees. The Illustrated Weekly of India ran a series of articles titled ‘Refugees from East Pakistan’ by Maitraye Devi, the daughter of famous philosopher Surendranath Dasgupta.

She was then the founder and head of ‘Council for Promotion of Communal Harmony’.

In typical Nehruvian fashion, Maitraye Devi squarely blamed the psychological inability of Hindus to accept the equal status of Hindus for their exodus: