WHERE: East Pakistan (present day Bangladesh)
WHEN: 1971
WHO: Hindus and Bengalis (victims); East Pakistan (perpetrator)
WHAT: 1-3 million killed
WHY: The East Pakistan Genocide erupted out of growing political and religious tensions between West and East Pakistan. Muslim military officials in West Pakistan felt that East Pakistan was influenced heavily by Hindu Indian culture and the local Bengali Hindus that lived in the country. In December 1970, the political group called the Awami League, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman won the first Pakistani democratic election. The Awami League supported the separation and independence of East Pakistan from West Pakistan. Fearing the break-up of the country, West Pakistan military elite decided to put in place martial law. The genocide began shortly after on March 25th 1971. The West Pakistan army began their operation to target the Hindu minority population, as well as Bengals and East Pakistani intellectuals, urban workers and students.