Dr Sarmila Bose comments on her research on the 1971 Bangladesh War

As Bangladesh marks 40 years of independence this year, Sarmila Bose has frequently been asked to comment on the research in her controversial book Dead Reckoning: Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh War, which questions many widespread views on the 1971 war of independence, particularly the number of casualties incurred during the war.

On 16 December she was interviewedlive for BBC Worldservice Television on the subject, and she also commented in a special report for the BBC Asian Network (12 December), in which she was asked specifically about the likely numbers of people killed during the war.

What I can say for sure, she said, is that the official figure put out by Pakistan of around 26,000 is clearly absurdly low, while the figure of several million put out by the Bangladeshi nationalist side is equally absurdly high, and neither of them can be supported by evidence to date...

The full radio programme can be heard here. (Sarmila appearsc.26.54 on the iPlayer clock.)