On June 13th 1971, a daring and haunting article, Genocide, appeared in the London Sunday Times. It was not the report of a foreign correspondent or an embedded reporter. It was authored by a Pakistani reporter, Neville Anthony Mascarenhas. In a damning expose, Mascarenhas reported the atrocities perpetrated by the Pakistan Army against its own people in East Pakistan — now Bangladesh.

His report, coming at a time when Pakistan's military government had securely wrapped the media in secrecy, shattered the veil of propaganda and silence. It raised awareness globally and significantly shaped world opinion and policies throughout the war. Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi later said that the article had such a profound impact that it inspired her to run a campaign of diplomacy on Bangladesh's behalf for independence — leading to India's military action.

From Belgaum to Karachi: The Making of a Journalist

Neville Anthony Mascarenhas was born on 10th July 1928 in Belgaum (now Belagavi) in the state of Karnataka in India to a Goan Catholic family. After Partition of India in 1947, Mascarenhas's family decided to stay in Pakistan where he finished his education in Karachi before entering journalism. Mascarenhas grew up the ranks and joined as Assistant Editor of The Morning News, one of Karachi's leading papers.

Mascarenhas was also known to possess high moral fibre, intelligence, and integrity among his peers. He was a happily married man to Yvonne Mascarenhas, and had five kids. He was a good husband and father, and a well-respected member of the news community to the world. But in 1971, he would undergo a dramatic transformation into a whistle-blower and ultimately a hero, of Bangladesh's quest for freedom.

Operation Searchlight: A Journey into Horror

In March 1971, the Awami League achieved a massive electoral victory in East Pakistan, which broke the stalemate of accommodation between the two wings of Pakistan. The central government in West Pakistan did not recognize the voice of East Pakistan and steadfastly avoided discussing the resulting crisis. On March 25, the Pakistan Army initiated Operation Searchlight - an undertaking to destroy East Pakistan's calls for local autonomy and independence.

In brutal, well-coordinated attacks on civilians, students, intellectuals, and unarmed protestors throughout East Pakistan, the operational effect included mass killings, key systematic rapes of women, and targeting of Hindu minorities. Entire neighborhoods in Dhaka were razed. While international media was barred or fed sanitized versions of events, the truth remained hidden.

That is until Mascarenhas was selected to be part of a group of eight senior Pakistani journalists flown to East Pakistan in April 1971 for a state-sponsored tour designed to show “normalcy” and success of the military’s operations.

You Must Have Heard About Pakistani Journalist Anthony Mascarenhas Article In 1971 On Atrocities In East Pakistan Which Shook The World

In 1975 This Is What Anthony Wrote About Pakistani Atrocities In Balochistan and The Revolt In Balochistan pic.twitter.com/WYp7a1n3eo
— indianhistorypics (@IndiaHistorypic) May 18, 2025

Bearing Witness: The Breaking Point

What Mascarenhas witnessed during his ten-day tour of Dhaka, Comilla, and other areas shattered him. He saw the silent streets of Dhaka littered with destruction, and bodies in student dormitories like Iqbal Hall. In Comilla, the streets were deserted — but at night, he heard the chilling sounds of beatings, screams, and gunshots.

Most horrifying were the conversations he had with military officers, who boasted about their "kills" and proudly justified what they called a necessary purge of the "unfaithful bastards" — a reference to the Bengali population. Officers spoke of "recolonizing" East Pakistan by eliminating Bengali identity and repopulating it with loyalists from the Urdu-speaking West.

When the group returned to Karachi, all but one published glowing stories of the army's success. Mascarenhas, deeply traumatized, refused. "I did not know what to do. I was torn between my duty towards humanity and supporting the false narrative of a military dictator," he later said in a 1982 conversation.

Escape and Revelation: Publishing Genocide

Knowing that speaking the truth in Pakistan could cost him his life — and endanger his wife and five children — Mascarenhas devised a bold plan. He told his editors that his sister in London was critically ill and obtained permission to travel.

On May 18, 1971, he landed in London and met with Harold Evans, the then-editor of the Sunday Times. Evans later described Mascarenhas as "a profoundly melancholy man whose conscience could no longer bear the weight of what he had seen." Evans trusted him, partly because Mascarenhas’s own brother, John, working in the British High Commission in Islamabad, had independently confirmed the horrific details.

Evans agreed to publish the story — but only after Mascarenhas could secure his family’s safe exit from Pakistan. Using coded telegrams, Mascarenhas arranged for his wife and children to leave. A message reading "Ann’s Operation successful" confirmed their arrival. Another message, "Export formalities completed. Shipment begins Monday," confirmed the family had safely departed. Unable to fly with them, Mascarenhas traveled to Peshawar and crossed into Afghanistan on foot before flying to London.

On June 13, 1971, his 9,000-word article was published under the headline Genocide, accompanied by Evans's editorial titled Stop the Killings.

The World Reacts: A Game-Changing Report

Mascarenhas’s article was explosive. It was the first eyewitness account by a Pakistani journalist detailing the military's atrocities in East Pakistan. His words were not second-hand; they were raw, direct, and filled with sorrow and urgency.

He described soldiers gleefully recounting the number of people they had killed. He depicted mass graves, charred buildings, and the dead silence of towns where the Bengali soul had been extinguished. His narrative exposed the genocidal nature of Operation Searchlight in ways no other report had done.

The impact was immediate and global. Western governments, who had till then cautiously supported or remained neutral about the internal affairs of Pakistan, began reconsidering their stance. Public protests erupted in cities across Europe and America. News outlets followed up with investigative stories. And perhaps most critically, Indira Gandhi was moved into action.

Harold Evans recalled that Gandhi told him the article had shocked her into launching a campaign of personal diplomacy across Europe and the Soviet Union, preparing the ground for India’s eventual military intervention in December 1971.

From Hero to Traitor — and a New Beginning

Back in Pakistan, Mascarenhas was branded a traitor. He received death threats, was blacklisted by the military regime, and could never return home. But in exile, he found recognition.

He was awarded the Gerald Barry Award by Granada TV and received the International Publishing Company’s Special Award for his courageous journalism. The BBC credited his reporting as having played a part in ending the war. Bangladesh, upon gaining independence, recognized him as one of the key figures who had helped in their liberation.

In 1976, Mascarenhas was granted Indian citizenship and settled with his family in Belgaum, where he had extended relatives and where the Indian Army’s Infantry School Young Officers Wing was based.

A Journalist’s Legacy

Mascarenhas kept writing, working for 14 years with The Sunday Times and subsequently freelancing. He wrote two earnest books — The Rape of Bangladesh (1972), which detailed the atrocities in more depth, and Bangladesh: A Legacy of Blood (1986), a gripping account of the turmoil-torn political history of the nation since independence.

Despite the awards and the accolades, the horror of what he experienced never faded. Friends and acquaintances recalled that whatever conversation he had with them, even years later, would always lead its way back to the genocide. He still wrestled with the fact that justice had not been served — that the architects of the genocide had not been brought to book.

He passed away on December 3, 1986, at the age of 58, but had left behind a legacy not only as a journalist but as a humanist and as a brave champion of the voiceless.

Remembering a Brave Pen

In journalism's history, there is Mascarenhas. When truth was buried under fear and propaganda, he chose to speak it out — not for politics, not for fame, but because his conscience would not let him keep quiet. He watched, he wrote, and the world listened.

In 2021, on the 50th anniversary of his pioneering article, tributes flowed in from Bangladesh, as well as from around the world. His name was included in official lists honoring international contributors to Bangladesh’s liberation. Memorials and write-ups revisited the article that had altered history.

As the world continues to grapple with conflicts, war crimes, and the question of media integrity, the story of Neville Anthony Mascarenhas serves as a reminder: that one brave voice, guided by truth and humanity, can change the course of history.

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