There are growing calls in Bangladesh for a war crimes tribunal to look into atrocities that occurred during the country's 1971 war of independence.

Bangladesh, then known as East Pakistan, accuses Islamabad of unleashing a brutal crackdown during its independence struggle that left up to three million people dead in a span of nine months.

Last week, Bangladeshi war veterans and intellectuals published a list of alleged war criminals and demanded their prosecution.

The War Crimes Fact Finding Committee (WCFF) also proposed the setting up of a truth and reconciliation commission.

Justice denied

Not one person strangely has been convicted yet for the atrocities and a combination of international manipulation and domestic politics are blamed for the judicial inaction.

Worse still, some of the accused have gone on to become important ministers in subsequent governments.

But reporting from Dhaka, Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley says all that could change.

As calls for justice get shriller, a six-roomed rented house in Dhaka has been turned into a museum as a reminder of the dark period. There are growing signs that Bangladesh is finally coming to confront one of its darkest chapters.

"Truth can come out only through trial so we want the truth, we want the light, we want to come out of darkness we are living today," A K Khanker, a retired air vice-marshall says.

Tapan Das, a Hindu surivor of the 1971 massacre, is awaiting justice as well.

Reign of terror

The Pakistanis together with some Bangladeshi collaborators had unleashed a reign of terror in the run-up to Bangladesh's independence and Das lost eleven members of his family, including his father, elder brother, uncle and cousins.

Das and many others were loaded into a train to be massacred. He escaped, but others were not as lucky.

"They were crying help me help me, save me save me, oh God save me’, but no one there, no one there. They killed us one by one. Only 21 people, 21 young men we jump from the train and narrowly escaped," Das says.

It's not certain if Bangladesh will get justice and its day in court. But until it does it will be difficult for many to move on, away from the memories of the terrible cost that was paid for the birth of a nation.

PHOTO CAPTION

Tapan Das had 11 of his family members killed during the 1971 crackdown

Al-Jazeera