In a 2018 article Christian Gerlach rejected the claims of coordinated attempt to exterminate the Bengali intelligentsia by using statistical measures: "if one accepts the data published by the Bangladesh propaganda ministry, 4.2 per cent of all university professors were killed, along with 1.4 per cent of all college teachers, 0.6 per cent of all secondary and primary school teachers, and 0.6 per cent of all teaching personnel.
In a 2018 article Christian Gerlach challenged the claims that there was a coordinated attempt to wipe out the Bengali academic community using statistical data: According to the Bangladesh Ministry of Propaganda's published figures, 4.2% of university professors, 1.4% of college teachers, 0.6% of secondary and primary school teachers, and 0.6% of all teaching staff were killed.