Dead Reckoning: Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh War

Dead Reckoning: Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh War is a controversial book on the Bangladesh Liberation War written by Sarmila Bose.

Bose claims that allegations of genocide and rape by the Pakistan Army were exaggerated by Bangladesh and India. She presents interviews of some selected witnesses in favor of her opinion. She also accuses Bangladeshi liberation accounts of ignoring atrocities against Urdu-speaking people in East Pakistan. Bose's book implies a claim to being the 'first' to dissect the death toll of 3 million in 1971, but it has been termed as 'hollow' and 'self-promotional' as researchers like Zunaid Kazi had already documented 12 different media estimates of death tolls. Some of the books on Pakistan Army's atrocity during 1971, written by Pakistanis were termed as 'limited' by Bose.

Criticism
Bose's study has been criticized by various historians and academics for numerous inaccuracies and excessive reliance on Pakistani military and government sources. Researchers have accused her of flawed and biased methodology, historical revisionism and downplaying war crimes. In several cases, she misquoted her interviewees and other academics that she cites as reference. Bose has been criticized for her bias towards Pakistani Army in the language she deploys — Bangladeshi accounts are labelled “claims”, Pakistani officers’ accounts are straightforward accounts. Bose's impartiality has also been questioned due to her role as an advocate of US arms sales to Pakistan.

Criticized before publishing the book
Bose has been criticized long before publishing the book for her research methodologies. She accepts the statement of Pakistani Brigadier Taj that no women were tortured in Rajarbag to be true even though Taj was not present during the operation. But she invalidates the testimony of an eye witness of the incidents of rape done by Pakistani Army as the witness is illiterate. In another case, she asserted that since one rape victim feared for her life, she must have consented to having sex with Pakistani soldiers.

Admiration for Pakistani Generals
Bose is enthusiastic in her admiration for the commanding general of the Pakistan forces during 1971 war in East Pakistan, Lt. Gen. Niazi, whom she describes as having a "distinguished past and a tragic fate." However, this conflicts even with Pakistani General's view about Niazi. According to Pakistani Brigadier F.B. Ali, "'Tiger' Niazi was a disgrace to the uniform. He was a fraud, a lecher and a coward. When he was General Officer Commanding (GOC) 10 Division, it was well known in the garrison (I was there) that his staff car would often be found standing in Heera Mandi (Lahore's red light district). As GOC EP he used to go around visiting troops and asking JCOs: how many Bengali women have you raped? When discussing his surrender with the Indian general, he tried to ingratiate himself by telling dirty jokes." Late Pakistani Major-General (retd) Khadim Hussain Raja expressed same view as above about Niazi, in his book A Stranger in My Own Country: East Pakistan, 1969-1971, saying Niazi is supposed to have pronounced the words that even Genghis Khan would have hesitated to use: that he would let loose his soldiers on the women of East Pakistan till the lineage/ethnicity of the Bengali race was changed. Historians raised question about whether Bose is fudging figures deliberately, pointing out that the records indicating 93,000 Pakistani soldiers surrendered to the Indian Army in December 1971, which is thrice the number Bose suggests based on Niazi's claim.