Raja Nadir Pervez

Major Raja Nadir Pervez Khan (born November 11, 1942) is a Pakistani politician, ex-MP of the Parliament, and former Pakistan Army officer. A former member of the Pakistan Army's 6 Punjab Regiment, Parvez was a minister in the Nawaz Sharif government during the 1990s. He committed genocide in 1971 killing at least 72 unarmed people in Barguna Jail during the liberation war of Bangladesh. [1]His intentional killing of72 people in 28 and 29 May 1971 [2] left the people of Barguna Mahkuma (an administrative district of Bangladesh) fearful of life.He is the brother-in-law of the former Corps Commander of Quetta Lieutenant-General Tariq Pervez. In a 1999 conversation (with Taimur Khan), he was described by General Tikka Khan, the Pakistani commander in the Rann of Kutch battles in the spring of 1965, as a "brave and courageous soldier." General Tikka Khan recalled how Nadir Pervez captured an Indian patrol while on a reconnaissance mission during the clashes.

He graduated from the Pakistan Military Academy, Kakul in 1963 and served in Army until 1974. He had served in the army and fought against India in both Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 and the 1971 Indo-Pak Winter War. Major Parvez had posted to East Pakistan and was the Company Commander of the 6 Punjab Regiment troops which had boarded PNS Rajshah, a Pakistan Navy vessel. However, his team had gotten off the vessel and took the position in a designated areas. Major Pervez was inducted in Pakistan Marines Battalion as a weapon specialist. During the conflict, the Maj Raja Nadir Pervez was informed of the attack on PNS Rajshahi, immediately directed an MI-8 helicopter in the vicinity to evacuate the wounded Commanding Officer of Rajshahi and the same was done soon thereafter.

Nadir was awarded the Sitara-e-Jurat for his service in the 1965 war. His efforts in the 1971 war, which included leading an escape from the Indian prison in Fateh Garh (Camp Number 45) along with four other officers, gained him a second Sitara-e-Jurat and promotion to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. In 1974, he was court martialed by the Judge Advocate General Branch of the Pakistan Army "on false charges" and was sentenced to death, but was later acquitted "Honourably".

Role in 1971 war of Bangladesh Independence

On 26 May, a contingent of five soldiers led by Captain Shafayet secretly arrived from Patuakhali in a speedboat.[3] From the morning of 27 May, the Pakistani soldiers and their local collaborators raided the Barguna town. It was raining incessantly from the morning and most of the residents stayed indoors. Being unaware of the raid they did not get a chance to flee the town. The raiders targeted the Hindu localities of Amtala, Karmakarpatti and Nathpatti. By the evening they arrested around 500 – 600 residents, tied them with ropes and took them to the Barguna sub-divisional jail.

The captive men and women were segregated in separate male and female wards. According to eyewitness accounts there were around 150 female captives.[4] The Pakistani soldiers used to pick up women according to their choice. If anybody refused, she was kicked or beaten up with the rifle butts or sometimes shot dead. The women were then taken to an adjacent empty ward, where they were gang-raped by the soldiers throughout the night. Some women were sent to the C & B bungalow where the Pakistan Armed Forces and the Peace Committee members set up their temporary camp. In the morning, the women were returned to the female ward of the prison. Some of the women were draped with red sarees to hide the blood stains resulting from rapes.

On 28 May, Major Nadir Pervez arrived in Barguna. On 29 May, Major Pervez constituted a tribunal within the Barguna sub-divisional jail for the trial of the inmates and left for Patuakhali. The tribunal sentenced the Bengali Hindus and the Muslims who supported the idea of sovereign Bangladesh to death after a brief trial. When the first bell rang in the Barguna Zilla School adjacent to the jail, the Pakistani soldiers fired at their targets. Lakshman Das and his son Arun Das were killed in the massacre. Dr. Krishna Das, a popular doctor of Barguna did not die immediately after being shot. He tried to escape by crawling across the WAPDA road, when his head was smashed by a spade.

After the killings, Peace Committee members buried the dead in the south western region of the jail compound. According to eyewitness accounts many women were denied the right to cremate their husbands.

According to Dr. M. A. Hasan, the Convener of War Crimes Facts Finding Committee, 55 persons were killed on the first day and 36 people were killed on the next day. In other accounts the death toll is mentioned in hundreds.

He joined the Pakistan Muslim League. He has since been elected Member of National Assembly (MNA) for the terms of 1985–1988, 1990–1993, 1993–1997 and 1997–1999. He has also served as Federal Minister for Interior during 1987–1988; Minister of State for Water and Power during 1991–1993 and Federal Minister for the Communications during 1997–1999. He left PML-N on April 2, 2013 on the grounds of grievances over the allotment of party tickets in Faisalabad. Almost a month later, on May 5, he joined Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in a public gathering [jalsa] in Faisalabad.