Operation Searchlight was a planned military operation carried out by the
Pakistan Army to curb the
Bengali nationalist movement in the erstwhile
East Pakistan in March 1971. Ordered by the central government in
West Pakistan, this was seen as the sequel to "Operation Blitz" which had been launched in November 1970. The original plan envisioned taking control of the major cities on March 26, and then eliminating all opposition, political or military, within one month. President
Yahya Khan at a conference in February 1971 said "Kill three million of them (Bangladeshis) and the rest will eat out of our hands." Prolonged Bengali resistance was not anticipated by the Pakistani military leaders. The main phase of Operation Searchlight ended with the fall of the last major town in Bengali hands in mid-May. The operation also precipitated the
1971 Bangladesh genocide and caused roughly 10 million refugees to flee to
India as well as the death of 58,000 to 3,000,000 civilians. Bengali intelligentsia, academics and Hindus were targeted for the harshest treatment, with significant indiscriminate killing taking place. These systematic killings enraged the Bengalis, who declared independence from Pakistan, to establish the new state of Bangladesh.