The Bangladesh Liberation War (1971) resulted in one of the largest genocides of the 20th century. While estimates of the number of casualties was 3,000,000, it is reasonably certain that Hindus bore a disproportionate brunt of the Pakistan Army's onslaught against the Bengali population of what was East Pakistan. An article in Time magazine dated 2 August 1971, stated "the Hindus, who account for three-fourths of the refugees and a majority of the dead, have borne the brunt of the Muslim military hatred." Senator Edward Kennedy wrote in a report that was part of United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations testimony dated 1 November 1971, "Hardest hit have been members of the Hindu community who have been robbed of their lands and shops, systematically slaughtered, and in some places, painted with yellow patches marked "H". All of this has been officially sanctioned, ordered and implemented under martial law from Islamabad". In the same report, Senator Kennedy reported that 80% of the refugees in India were Hindus and according to numerous international relief agencies such as UNESCO and World Health Organization the number of East Pakistani refugees at their peak in India was close to 10 million. Given that the Hindu population in East Pakistan was around 11 million in 1971, this suggests that up to 8 million, or more than 70% of the Hindu population had fled the country. The Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Sydney Schanberg covered the start of the war and wrote extensively on the suffering of the East Bengalis, including the Hindus both during and after the conflict. In a syndicated column "The Pakistani Slaughter That Nixon Ignored", he wrote about his return to liberated Bangladesh in 1972. "Other reminders were the yellow "H"s the Pakistanis had painted on the homes of Hindus, particular targets of the Muslim army" (by "Muslim army", meaning the Pakistan Army, which had targeted Bengali Muslims as well), (Newsday, 29 April 1994).
The Bangladesh Liberation War (1971) resulted in one of the largest genocides of the 20th century While estimates of the number of casualties was 3000000 it is reasonably certain that Hindus bore a disproportionate brunt of the Pakistan Army's onslaught against the Bengali population of what was East Pakistan An article in Time magazine dated 2 August 1971 stated "the Hindus who account for three-fourths of the refugees and a majority of the dead have borne the brunt of the Muslim military hatred" Senator Edward Kennedy wrote in a report that was part of United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations testimony dated 1 November 1971 "Hardest hit have been members of the Hindu community who have been robbed of their lands and shops systematically slaughtered and in some places painted with yellow patches marked "H" All of this has been officially sanctioned ordered and implemented under martial law from Islamabad" In the same report Senator Kennedy reported that 80% of the refugees in India were Hindus and according to numerous international relief agencies such as UNESCO and World Health Organization the number of East Pakistani refugees at their peak in India was close to 10 million Given that the Hindu population in East Pakistan was around 11 million in 1971 this suggests that up to 8 million or more than 70% of the Hindu population had fled the country The Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Sydney Schanberg covered the start of the war and wrote extensively on the suffering of the East Bengalis including the Hindus both during and after the conflict In a syndicated column "The Pakistani Slaughter That Nixon Ignored" he wrote about his return to liberated Bangladesh in 1972 "Other reminders were the yellow "H"s the Pakistanis had painted on the homes of Hindus particular targets of the Muslim army" (by "Muslim army" meaning the Pakistan Army which had targeted Bengali Muslims as well) (Newsday 29 April 1994)