This event is sponsored by the Center for South Asia.

About the event
The breakup of Pakistan in 1971 produced not only a new state, Bangladesh, but also a profound crisis of citizenship. While thousands of Pakistani soldiers became prisoners of war in Bangladesh and India, a parallel process unfolded within Pakistan: Bengalis in (West) Pakistan were recast from citizens into hostages and later internees. This talk explains the internment of Bengalis between 1971 and 1974, tracing how state power redefined belonging through suspicion, confinement, and exclusion. It argues that the aftermath of 1971 exposed the fragility of national identity and reveals how political crises can rapidly transform citizens into perceived enemies.

About the speaker
Ilyas Chattha is Associate Professor of History at LUMS. He is the author of Citizens to Traitors: Bengali Internment in Pakistan, 1971–1974 (Cambridge University Press, 2025); The Punjab Borderland (Cambridge University Press, 2022); and Partition and Locality: Violence (Oxford University Press, 2012). His upcoming work is on the Evacuee and Enemy Property in Pakistan.