Anthony Mascarenhas

Neville Anthony Mascarenhas (10 July 1928 – 3 December 1986) was a Pakistani journalist and author. His works include exposés on the brutality of Pakistan's military during the 1971 independence movement of Bangladesh, The Rape of Bangla Desh (1971) and Bangladesh: A Legacy of Blood (1986).[1]

Personal life

Mascarenhas was born into a Goan Catholic family in Belgaum, Goa ( then a part of the Portuguese Empire ) and educated in Karachi.[2] He and his wife Yvonne Mascarenhas together had five children. He died in 1986.[3]

Career

Mascarenhas was a journalist who was the assistant editor at The Morning News (Karachi).[4] After collecting information on the atrocities committed in Bangladesh, he realised he could not publish the story in Pakistan and contacted Harold Evans of The Sunday Times. Before the publication of his report in 1971, he moved his family to Britain.[5] Thereafter, he worked for 14 years with The Sunday Times. Afterwards, he was a freelance writer.

In 1972, he was awarded the Granada's Gerald Barry Award for lifetime achievement in journalism (ceremony on What The Papers Say), as well as the International Publishing Company's Special Award for reporting on the human rights violations committed during the Bangladesh Liberation War.[6] His article "Genocide" in The Sunday Times on 13 June 1971 is credited with having "exposed for the first time the scale of the Pakistan army's brutal campaign to suppress its breakaway eastern province".[1]

The BBC writes: "There is little doubt that Mascarenhas' reportage played its part in ending the war. It helped turn world opinion against Pakistan and encouraged India to play a decisive role."[1] Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi stating that Mascarenhas' article led her "to prepare the ground for India's armed intervention".[1]

The Bangladeshi government honoured Mascarenhas's contribution to the nation during the 1971 liberation war by preparing an official list of names.[7]

Works
  • —— (1971). The Rape of Bangla Desh. Delhi: Vikas Publications. ISBN 0-7069-0148-7.
  • —— (1986). Bangladesh: A Legacy of Blood. London: Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-39420-X.

References
  1. "Bangladesh war: The article that changed history". BBC News website. 16 December 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  2. Sarwar, Beena (16 July 2011). "Pakistani Journalists: Standing Tall". Economic & Political Weekly. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
  3. "Mr Anthony Mascarenhas". The Times (Obituary). London. 8 December 1986. p. 14.
  4. Ehsan, Muhammad Ali (25 November 2012). "Must we apologise?". Pakistan Observer. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  5. Jack, Ian (21 May 2011). "It's not the arithmetic of genocide that's important. It's that we pay attention". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
  6. Veenhoven, Willem Adriaan; Samenlevingen, Stichting Plurale (1976). Case Studies on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms: A World Survey. 5. BRILL. p. 239. ISBN 90-247-1779-5.
  7. "Bangladesh: Foreigners to be honoured for contribution to Liberation War". Right Vision News. 26 March 2010.
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