Today Is the Bangladesh Bijoy Dibosh (Victory Day)

A doodle on Jatiyo Smriti Shoudha (National War Memorial)
at Savar, Bangladesh

Doodle (Dhaka: September 22, 1989) © Jerome D'Costa

Today is the 40th Bijoy Dibosh (Victory Day) of Bangladesh. On this day, the nine-month War of Independence ended with the surrender of more than 90,000 West Pakistani forces.

Today we remember about three million people who were killed during the Bangladesh War of Independence. We also remember innumerable girls and women who had been raped, many of them killed by West Pakistani soldiers and their East Pakistani collaborators.

In this blog, we especially remember today many East Pakistani (Bangladeshi) Christians who were also killed in 1971. Among them, there were three Catholic priests (Father William P. Evans, CSC, Father Mario Veronesi, SX, and Father Lucas Marandi) as well as my father Dr. Peter D'Costa. Even Christian churches suffered desecration in the hands of the West Pakistani soldiers.

For a strong Bangladesh, the spirit (sacrifice, upholding of the truth, fighting for justice and human rights, and communal harmony) of the War of Independence needs to pervade in all sectors (politics, economy, education, and societal activities). Although late, justice needs to be meted out against certain Bangladesh people who are found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the liberation struggle in 1971.