The mounting Bengali nationalist movement led to the Pakistan army to carry out Operation Searchlight . This military operation targeted Bengali intellectuals , academics including university students , and Hindus . They were captured , tortured , and/or killed . This led to the 1971 Bangladesh genocide that caused millions of refugees to flee to India and the deaths of 58,000 to 3,000,000 civilians . The exact number of deaths is still unknown
1971 Bangladesh genocide
1971 Bangladesh genocide
A Golden Age