Shivam Singh at 00:33, 27 March 2026

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{{Short description|Indian-Pakistani journalist and author}}
{{Use Pakistani English|date=July 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}

'''Neville Anthony Mascarenhas''' (10 July 1928 – 3 December 1986) was an Indian journalist and author. His works include exposés on the brutality of Pakistan's military during the 1971 [[Bangladesh Liberation War|independence movement]] of Bangladesh, ''The Rape of Bangla Desh'' (1971) and ''[[Bangladesh: A Legacy of Blood]]'' (1986). In 1971, he wrote the article titled ''Genocide'', published by the ''[[Sunday Times]]'', which has been dubbed as an article that "changed history",<ref>{{Cite web |last=Singh |first=Brig RP |last2=VSM |date=2021-06-13 |title=How Mascarenhas's report changed Bangladesh's Liberation War |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/news/how-mascarenhass-report-changed-bangladeshs-liberation-war-2109609 |access-date=2023-12-17 |website=The Daily Star |language=en}}</ref> and recognized as ''"one of the most influential pieces of South Asian journalism of the past half century"''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=2011-12-15 |title=Bangladesh war: The article that changed history |language=en-GB |publisher=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-16207201 |access-date=2023-12-17}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Mascarenhas was born into a [[Goan Catholics|Goan Catholic]] family in [[Belgaum]] (then part of the [[Bombay Presidency]]), just over 100 kilometres away from Portuguese-ruled Goa, and educated in Karachi.<ref>{{cite news |first=Beena |last=Sarwar |date=16 July 2011 |title=Pakistani Journalists: Standing Tall |url=http://www.epw.in/commentary/pakistani-journalists-standing-tall.html |newspaper=Economic & Political Weekly |access-date=24 April 2013}}</ref> He and his wife Yvonne Mascarenhas together had five children. He died, aged 58, in London in 1986.<ref>{{cite news |title=Mr Anthony Mascarenhas |newspaper=The Times |location=London |date=8 December 1986 |page=14 |type=Obituary}}</ref>

==Career==
Mascarenhas was a journalist who was the assistant editor at ''The Morning News'' (Karachi). Later on, he worked for 14 years with the ''[[Sunday Times]]'' (London). Afterward, he was a freelance writer.<ref>{{cite news |first=Muhammad Ali |last=Ehsan |date=25 November 2012 |title=Must we apologise? |url=http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=184033 |newspaper=Pakistan Observer |access-date=19 July 2020 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407084832/http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=184033 |archive-date=7 April 2014}}</ref>

=== ''Genocide'' ===
In March 1971, a civil war erupted in East Pakistan (now [[Bangladesh]]) between Bengali nationalists and the Pakistani military government. Mascarenhas was a respected Pakistani journalist based in Karachi. When the conflict began, the Pakistani military brought a group of journalists on a 10-day guided tour of East Pakistan to show them how they had successfully quelled the 'freedom fighters.'<ref name=":0" /> Mascarenhas was one of eight Pakistani reporters given permission to report from the war zone in East Pakistan. This was likely due to his good reputation and contacts within Pakistan's ruling elite. Foreign journalists had already been banned from the region. The military aimed to use the reporters to publish propaganda that promoted their narrative of events. However, Mascarenhas was horrified by what he witnessed during the tightly controlled tour in 1971. He saw the aftermath of brutal mass killings and heard army officers describe large-scale atrocities. The officers even spoke casually about their 'kill counts' from that day's rampages.<ref name=":0" />

''"All but one of the reporters did as they were told"'' — only Mascarenhas seemed so shaken by his experience that he had a moral crisis. Yvonne Mascarenhas, Anthony's wife, recalled to the BBC in 2011: "I'd never seen my husband looking in such a state. He was absolutely shocked, stressed, upset and terribly emotional. ''"He told me that if he couldn't write the story of what he'd seen he'd never be able to write another word again."''<ref name="the daily star">{{cite news |date=25 March 2021 |title=The view from the West |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/book-reviews/news/the-view-the-west-2066473 |publisher=TheDailStar News |access-date=24 May 2024}}</ref> Realizing he could not report this news from within Pakistan due to strict censorship, Mascarenhas fled to London with his family. He informed ''[[Sunday Times]]'' editor [[Harold Evans]] of an organized [[genocide]] by Pakistani forces. His explosive eyewitness account detailed 'kill and burn missions' against Bengalis, and the devastation of villages by "punitive action".<ref name=":0" />

By publishing Mascarenhas' piece, the ''Sunday Times'' exposed the genocide and refuted Pakistan's official line. This coverage was pivotal in turning world opinion against Pakistan's actions, strengthening the Bangladesh nationalist cause.<ref>{{cite news |first=Ian |last=Jack |date=21 May 2011 |title=It's not the arithmetic of genocide that's important. It's that we pay attention |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/may/21/ian-jack-bangladesh-war-genocide |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=24 April 2013}}</ref> Later on, he worked for 14 years with ''The Sunday Times''. Afterward, he was a freelance writer.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}

=== Recognition ===
In 1972, he was awarded the [[ITV Granada|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]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Veenhoven |first1=Willem Adriaan |last2=Samenlevingen |first2=Stichting Plurale |year=1976 |title=Case Studies on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms: A World Survey |publisher=BRILL |volume=5 |page=239 |isbn=90-247-1779-5}}</ref> 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".<ref name="bbc"/>

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."<ref name="bbc"/> "Indian Prime Minister [[Indira Gandhi]] stated that Mascarenhas' article led her "'to prepare the ground for India's armed intervention'."<ref name="bbc">{{cite news |date=16 December 2011 |title=Bangladesh war: The article that changed history |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16207201 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=19 July 2020}}</ref> "(...)That's why I sent in the Army, because I'd read the story of the massacre".

Mascarenhas was posthumously lauded as both a brave and "wonderful man" by Sir [[Harold Evans]] in an interview for ''Open Magazine''.<ref name="open">{{cite news |date=14 June 2017 |title=Sir Harold Evans: 'The decline of the printed newspaper is a great loss for English' |url=https://openthemagazine.com/columns/open-conversation/sir-harold-evans-the-decline-of-the-printed-newspaper-is-a-great-loss-for-english/ |publisher=Open Magazine |access-date=24 May 2024}}</ref>

Bangladesh's government honoured Mascarenhas's contribution to the nation during the 1971 [[Bangladesh Liberation War]] by preparing an official list of names.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bangladesh: Foreigners to be honoured for contribution to Liberation War |publisher=Right Vision News |date=26 March 2010}}</ref>

==Works==
* {{cite book |last=Mascarenhas |first=Anthony |author-mask=2 |date=1971 |title=The Rape of Bangla Desh |location=Delhi |publisher=Vikas Publications |isbn=0-7069-0148-7}}
* {{cite book |last=Mascarenhas |first=Anthony |author-mask=2 |date=1986 |title=[[Bangladesh: A Legacy of Blood]] |location=London |publisher=Hodder and Stoughton |isbn=0-340-39420-X}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mascarenhas, Anthony}}
[[Category:1928 births]]
[[Category:1986 deaths]]
[[Category:People of the Bangladesh Liberation War]]
[[Category:British Asian writers]]
[[Category:Goan Catholics]]
[[Category:Pakistani dissidents]]
[[Category:Pakistani emigrants to the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Pakistani male journalists]]
[[Category:Pakistani people of Goan descent]]
[[Category:British people of Goan descent]]
[[Category:Pakistani whistleblowers]]
[[Category:Pakistani Christians]]
[[Category:Pakistani Roman Catholics]]

Anthony Mascarenhas - Revision history

Shivam Singh at 00:33, 27 March 2026