Citizens To Traitors: Bengali Internment In Pakistan 1971-1974

At the heart of this persuasive and highly original account of 1971 are those who were caught in the shadow of a brutal war. It moves back and forth in time, uncovering silences and capturing contradictions and crimes. In his meticulous reconstruction, Ilyas Chattha offers a most comprehensive and insightful treatment of Bengali internment in Pakistan. By doing so, this book contributes to the scholarship of internments and encampments in conflict situations. This book has earned an essential place in the account of South Asian history and politics.”

Bina D’Costa, Australian National University

“A remarkable account of citizenship in the postcolonial state. Ilyas Chattha recovers the hitherto untold story of the way in which citizens were made and unmade after the Bangladesh War. A deeply researched and compelling history.”

Faisal Devji, University of Oxford

“Based on hitherto unused archival and literary sources as well as interviews with former Bengali government servants and members of their families, who were kept in squalid conditions in camps across Pakistan after the establishment of Bangladesh, the book is a sobering lesson on the vulnerability of internal others. Raising important conceptual questions about identity without belonging and denaturalisation on suspicions of treason, this is a must-read for students of South Asia’s post-colonial history.”

Ayesha Jalal, Tufts University

“The period that Bangladesh was East Pakistan and immediately afterwards remains shrouded in relative obscurity in the histories of both Bangladesh and Pakistan today. Citizens to Traitors: Bengali Internment in Pakistan, 1971–1974, a well-researched account of the Bengalis trapped and then interned in Pakistan even after the conclusion of the Bangladesh Liberation War, is a clarion call to reopen that period for study to better understand both countries and their interrelations. One learns a lot about the sovereign power to impose ‘non-judicial punishment’ through mass internment upon those deemed internal traitors.”

Naveeda Khan, Johns Hopkins University