Today Is the Victory Day in Bangladesh

Bangladesh muktijuddhas (freedom fighters) raising the flag of Bangladesh

 Artwork © Joachim Romeo D'Costa (2011)

Bangladesh gained its independence from the ruling elite of Pakistan on December 16 of 1971. Millions gave their lives, hundreds of thousands of women lost their honour in the raping armymen of the then West Pakistan and their local East Pakistani collaborators, billions of dollars worth of properties were also lost to army arson and destruction. Today Bangladeshis commemorate that victory with determination and pride.

On this occasion, you may read the following to look back to the history of the 9-month genocide and atrocities in East Pakistan (Bangladesh) in 1971: 

• 1971 Bangladesh War of Independence (An Exhibition of Photographs) (The Guardian, London)
• Bangladesh Genocide Archive (Dhaka, Bangladesh)
• Bangladesh Genocide Archive in Facebook
  
• Bangladesh Genocide Archives -- Pakistani Newspaper Reports (The Dawn of Karachi, Pakistan: March 1 - 26, 1971)
• Bangladesh Genocide Archives -- Pakistani Newspaper Reports (The Pakistan Observer of Dhaka, East Pakistan: March 26 - December 16, 1971) 
• Bangladesh Genocide Archives -- Bangladeshi Newspaper Reports (The Bangladesh Observer of Dhaka, Bangladesh: December 19, 1971 - February 18, 1972)
• Bangladesh war: The article that changed history (BBC, London)
• Bangladesh Genocide Archives -- Foreign Newspaper Reports
• Fall of Dhaka: Memories of a Bloody December (The Dawn of Karachi, Pakistan: December 16, 2014)
• Bangladesh 1971: A Forgotten Genocide
•  Bangladesh Holocaust of 1971
• Bangladesh and Pakistan: The Forgotten War (A photo gallery of TIME magazine)
• 1971 Rapes: Bangladesh Cannot Hide History
•  Bengali women in 1971 -- Bangladesh War of Independence
• Freedom in the air: The Daily Star - Grameenphone Archive on the Liberation War of Bangladesh
• Bangladesh Canada and Beyond: Bangladesh War of Independence (1971)

Today Is the 41st Independence Day of Bangladesh

The above image says: "Independence '71, 26th March"

Artwork (Toronto: March 25, 2012) © Joachim Romeo D'Costa

Today is the 41st Independence Day of Bangladesh. This day reminds its citizens how much sacrifice was made to make this country independent in 1971. 

This freedom also bestowed upon us a tremendous burden of responsibility. A responsibility encompassing all its citizens -- irrespective of ethnicity, religion and education -- to treat each other fairly and equally as much as possible in every sphere of life. 

We need to go back to the past and deeply look at different aspects of the independence movement that culminated in 1971 in a deadly warfare with the West Pakistani ruling junta and finally in the independence of Bangladesh.

This study and re-study will open our minds further and make us more introspective and mindful of our responsibilities. Then and then only will we be able to strive to take our country forward to greater peace and prosperity.

Today Is Bangladesh's 40th 'Bijoy Dibosh' (Victory Day)

The Jatiyo Smriti Shoudha (National Martyrs' 

Memorial) at Savar, Bangladesh, is the symbol 

of Bangladesh's Bijoy Dibosh (Victory Day)

Graphics (Toronto: Dec. 16, 2011) © Jerome D'Costa

Bangladesh observes its 40^th Bijoy Dibosh (Victory Day) today. Forty years ago, on this day, General Niazi, who was head of the Pakistani occupation forces in East Pakistan (later renamed Bangladesh), surrendered to the joint forces of India and Bangladesh muktijuddhas (freedom fighters). 

It is sad but true that the ideals that spurred the independence movement did not get realized fully even in the last 40 years of independence. The question of freedom, democracy (holding regular elections is only a part of democracy; real democracy also means enjoyment of rights and practice of responsibilities), political stability, the rich and poor divide, violation of the rights of the minority ethnic groups, corruption, naked nepotism, law and order situation, implementation of true justice, and economic stagnation still need to be addressed firmly. 

Bangladesh is in the middle age now. It has attained enough maturity to think for itself and work for the greatest interest and good of its people – majority people who are Muslims as well as minority peoples, who are Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, aboriginals and small ethnic groups. 

To understand the history, significance and meaning of the Bijoy Dibosh, you may read the following: 

• Bangladesh Victory Day

• Today is the Bangladesh Victory Day

• Today is the Bangladesh Bijoy Dibosh (Victory Day)

Today is the Independence Day of Bangladesh

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Jatiyo Smriti Shoudha (National Martyrs' Memorial) at Savar
near Dhaka memorializes the war dead of 1971.
It's the symbol of independence of Bangladesh.
Photo (Savar: November 19, 1986) © Jerome D'Costa

Today is the 39th anniversary of the independence of Bangladesh. On this day, Bangladeshis, within the country and without, fondly remember the independence of Bangladesh in 1971. They also pay their highest tribute to the three million dead and 200,000 girls and women who were raped by the West Pakistani armymen and their collaborators. They also salute the freedom fighters and millions of people who made immeasurable sacrifices in bringing about the most awaited independence.

In the last several decades, Bangladesh has come a long way as an independent country. Yet, much more also needs to be done to make Bangladesh a truly free, independent and secular country where there will reside the spirit of unity, solidarity and equality of all irrespective of their social status and political and religious beliefs.

Bangladesh War of Independence: The Killing Field of East Pakistan

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Beginning from March 25, 1971, the then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) was the premeditated killing field of the West Pakistani ruling elite and their marauding soldiers.

Their anger, their revenge, their discriminatory behaviour, and their sadistic atrocities were realized in the nine-month long genocide in East Pakistan. The photos below speak for themselves.

Like thousands of others in Dhaka, these rickshaw-pullers
were also mercilessly killed on the night of March 25, 1971

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Setting fires on structures and burning them to the ground
was also another form of brutality of the West Pakistani soldiers
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Another killing field on a bank of a river
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As people fled away from their villages, there was none to
bury the slaughtered victims of the West Pakistani army
_Wading knee-deep water, villagers are leaving their abodes
and taking shelter in a safe place far away from the army presence

To avoid army atrocities, the old, weak and infirm

are being carried away to safer areas

These villagers left their households and became
internal refugees in a safer place

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More people who were forced to leave their own homes

Photo Courtesy: The Press Information Department,
Government of Bangladesh (1972)

Today is the 39th Independence Day of Bangladesh

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March 26: The Independence Day of Bangladesh
The red signifies sacrifice and death that made the independence
possible in 1971. The rays signify freedom and green colour
symbolizes hope for independent Bangladesh. Jatiyo Smriti
Shoudha (National War Memorial) represents the death
of millions and victory over the enemy. The Bangla
writing, Independence Day, is on top right.
Graphics design (Toronto: March, 2009) © Joachim Romeo D'Costa

Today is the 39th independence day of Bangladesh. This independence was earned through a long struggle and a plenty of bloodshed that started with the Bangla Language Movement in late 1940's.

First, there was the request for Bangla for inclusion as one of the state languages of Pakistan when they faced Urdu as the only state language. Then came the demand for preservation of the Bangla language's status -- but it was faced with repressive measures. Ultimately, on February 21 and 22, 1952, blood had to be shed to gain an equal status of Bangla with Urdu as the state languages of Pakistan. In the first Constitution of Pakistan in 1956, Bangla was officially included with Urdu as the two state languages of the country.

From the beginning of the independence of Pakistan on August 14, 1947, the Pakistani ruling elite, comprising mostly the Urdu-speaking North Indians who migrated to West Pakistan, began to treat East Bengal (East Pakistan) as a colony and supplier of raw materials. Consequently, the East Pakistanis demanded autonomy, which was stipulated in the 1940 Lahore Resolution of the All-India Muslim League. But after independence, the ruling elite merged all the provinces of Pakistan and made it a one unit country in spite of demands for autonomy for East Pakistan.

The six-point programme of the Awami League party, headed by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, spearheaded the autonomy of East Pakistan and gained overwhelmingly the seats in the national parliament in the election of 1970. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the leader of the Pakistan People's Party, and military of coterie of Pakistan conspired and did not allow Sheikh Mujib to take over the leadership of Pakistan as the Prime Minister. Instead, the military machine cracked down on the justifiably agitated East Pakistanis on March 25, 1971, from when started the nine-month long War of Independence. In the early morning of March 26, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared independence of Bangladesh.

In this war, three million East Pakistanis were killed, 300,000 girls and women were raped, and a billion-dollar worth of properties were destroyed. Over 10 million East Pakistanis took shelter in India as refugees, besides millions of internal refugees. In the war, India-trained East Pakistani muktijuddhas (freedom fighters) were engaged in guerrilla warfare throughout East Pakistan. In early December, 1971, when Pakistan suddenly bombed several West Indian airfields, India declared war with Pakistan and moved troops in East Pakistan. On December 16, 1971, Pakistan surrendered in Dhaka and thus, the new state of Bangladesh officially came into being.

Bangladesh Victory Day

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The Jatiyo Smriti Shoudha (National War Memorial) 
at Savar, near Dhaka, on Nov. 19, 1986
(Photo © Jerome D'Costa)

Bangladesh observes its 37th Bijoy Dibosh (Victory Day) tomorrow. This victory was achieved at the cost of three million lives, about 10 million displaced persons within its borders and outside, 300,000 raped women, and over a billion dollars worth of infrastructure and property destroyed.

Independence of Pakistan

After 190 years of British rule, the Indian subcontinent won independence in August, 1947. The Hindu-majority regions became India and Muslim-majority areas Pakistan. Pakistan again was divided into East Pakistan (presently Bangladesh) and West Pakistan (presently Pakistan). These two sections of Pakistan had about 1,000 miles of Indian territory between them. This odd configuration of the country also symbolized marked differences between the two sections of Pakistan.

Differences Between the East and West Pakistanis

Except the religion of Islam, the people of East Pakistan and West Pakistan completely differed in physical structure and skin colour, food habits, dress, intellect and attitude, culture and language. There was only peripheral similarity in religion. The East Pakistani Muslims observed syncretic and more tolerant Islam, whereas the West Pakistanis observed conservative to fundamentalist Islam.

Most of the Muslim leaders, giving leadership in the independence movement against the British, were of Farsi or Urdu speaking background and they were living in northern India. After independence, they naturally moved to West Pakistan, where Farsi and Urdu were also in use to a certain extent, and formed the new central government of Pakistan. Everything was being administered and controlled from West Pakistan. From the very beginning, East Pakistan, instead of being equal with West Pakistan, was in the secondary position and was being treated almost as an "administered territory."

The State Language Crisis and the East-West Discrimination

The effort of the ruling elite to impose Urdu as the state language of Pakistan was mostly resisted by Bengali-speaking students of East Pakistan. Ultimately on February 21, 1952 police fired on protesting students in Dhaka and killed three university students and two other non-students. This incident had country-wide repercussion. On May 7, 1954 Pakistan government recognized Bengali along with Urdu as two state languages of Pakistan. The Constituent Assembly ratified it on February 26, 1956. This language movement aroused Bengalee nationalism that culminated in independence of Bangladesh.

The unceasing and unabashed exploitation -- whether political , economic, social or religious -- of East Pakistan by West Pakistan and conscious struggle for Bengali identity and cultural freedom led to deep resentment among the East Pakistani educated class. Different student movement of the decade led to mass movement in 1969 and brought about the downfall of the military ironman Ayub Khan. It also led to overwhelming victory of the Awami League under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in the election of December 7, 1970. The Awami League won 160 seats out of 162 seats of the Pakistan National Assembly in East Pakistan. With this victory he became the leader of the majority party destined to lawfully form the central government of Pakistan. In this election the East Pakistani overwhelmingly gave support to the Awami League's six-point demands seeking greater regional autonomy for East Pakistan.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Deprived of His Right of Being the Prime Minister

The military elite and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the then leader of Pakistan People's Party, that received the second highest number of National Assembly seats, openly expressed their opposition to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's forming the government. In the name of negotiation for handing over the power to him, the military were heavily arming themselves in East Pakistan. The Bengalees were losing patience and there were several unhappy incidents between the Bengalees and Urdu-speaking Bihari Muslims, who, due to communal riots, had previously fled to East Pakistan as refugees from the Bihar province of India. These Biharis always supported the Urdu-speaking West Pakistani ruling class.

The War of Independence

The East Pakistanis started a country-wide non-cooperation with the existing military government. On the night of March 25, 1971, there came the deadly military crackdown in Dhaka city where thousands of unarmed people, including university students and Bengalee policemen, were killed in cold blood, many houses and shanties were burned down, and numerous others were wounded.

After receiving Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's written note on the declaration of independence, the Bengalee Major Ziaur Rahman, on March 27 declared independence of East Pakistan as the People's Republic of Bangladesh over a makeshift radio station at Kalurghat near Chittagong. The Awami League also formed the Bangladesh government in exile. Thus began the 9-month Bangladesh War of Independence. During this war about eight million inhabitants of varous religious and ethnic groups fled and took refuge in India, the country that was always on the lookout for ways to weaken its rival Pakistan. Getting this opportunity out of the blue, India took full advantage of it and provided guerrilla warfare training to thousands of East Pakistani refugee youths organized into Mukti Bahini (liberation force).

These guerrillas for a few months indiscriminately attacked Pakistani army posts in different parts of East Pakistan and almost broke down the enemy morale. Pakistan as a last resort, declared war on India on December 4, 1971, but, in face of superior Indian army aided by the Mukti Bahini, lost it with the full surrender of its forces consisting of 90,000 soldiers and paramilitary men in East Pakistan on December 16, 1971. The embattled East Pakistan emerged as the full-fledged independent nation of Bangladesh.

Pope John Paul II on an official visit to Bangladesh
pays homage at the National War Memorial at Savar on Nov. 19, 1986

(Photo © Jerome D'Costa)

War Crimes Unpunished, Reparations Still Due

After the long-awaited independence, Bangladesh started from the scratch. Under foreign pressure and influence it could not try the war criminals and until now it failed to receive due reparations for the wealth it lost to the West Pakistanis. It is ironic that Pakistan always declared its unconditional allegiance to Islam that speaks of love and justice, but it has been acting as a coward by not expressing its simple regret for its deliberately discriminatory and unjust role in East Pakistan.

Do you think that the Government of Bangladesh should actively pursue the issue of war crimes and genocide with the United Nations Human Rights Commission and related agencies?