The Photo Meditation of the Month (March, 2011): GRIEF

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Cyclone-victims of Urir Char, taking shelter in the nearby
Sandwip Island in the Bay of Bengal, grieving over their
near and dear ones lost in the deadly cyclone
Photo (Sandwip Island, Bangladesh: May, 1985) © Jerome D'Costa

Grief

Grief comes in one's life on the loss of near or dear one. It's an integral part of one's life. Grief, in the form of crying, confusion or disbelief on what actually happened, takes over the life for a time.

A grieving person may feel helpless seeing no hope for the future as the woman in the above photo. She lost her husband and children in the deadly cyclone in the last week of May of 1985. Shortly after midnight, four to five metre high waves, accompanied by strong winds, swept over the low-lying Urir Char island. Fortunately, this woman, like some other people, could save herself by clinging on to a branch of a tree and floating in the bay. She has no earning member left. This lonely and helpless situation is the hardest burden to bear.

Neighbours' help is most essential for a grieving person. As neighbours, we need to be empathetic in our words, gestures and actions. We need to provide company, sharing and hope to such a person. Our effort will gradually help the affected person get over the feeling of emptiness, loneliness and hopelessness. The person then will be able to be a part of the rhythm of normal life and move forward with confidence and hope.

The Poem of the Month (March, 2011): IF WE HAD CAMERAS

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A camera
Doodle (Toronto: March 29, 2011) © Jerome D'Costa

If We Had Cameras

We wouldn't need to write millions and millions of words
Whether 1971 crackdown on the East Pakistanis
Were a genocide or crimes against humanity
If we had cameras as we have now.

Presently our people have both film and digital cameras --
Kodak, Canon, Pentax, Fuji, Olympus, Sony, and Nikon,
Cameras galore thanks to increase in income,
Free-trade imports, students and migrant workers abroad.

1971 was the time when cameras weren't easy to find
Cameras were a luxury, a dearth possession in East Pakistan,
Due to its prices, non-import, and mass poverty of the people
Resulting in limited documentation of the profoundly important event.

If we had enough cameras we wouldn't need
To convince the international community
To see and understand the depth of the seriousness
Of the widespread atrocities of the West Pakistani soldiers and their local comrades.

We wouldn't need to convince
The international jury to convict
The criminals against humanity,
The un-Islamic activities of the self-avowed guardians of Islam.

In addition, we wouldn't need to prove
The communal hatred and brutal vengeance
Against the Hindu population of East Pakistan
And also rape of women of any religion and ethnic community.

Yet, whatever photos and written documents
Still available from local and foreign sources
Are enough to convict the perpetrators of the blood-thirsty genocide
That calls for the justice and "vengeance from heaven."

Some Photos on the Bangladesh War of Independence of 1971

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West Pakistani soldiers did not spare even unarmed
rickshaw-pullers in Dhaka city on the first day (March 25, 1971)
of their 9-month genocidal crackdown on the
East Pakistanis (Bangladeshis)
Photo courtesy: Press Information Dept. (PID), Govt. of Bangladesh (1972)

There's a saying, "A picture speaks a thousand words." The power of a picture, image or photo is unfathomable, when it deals with an event that's the turning point in history. The photos on the Bangladesh Liberation War, also known as Bangladesh War of Independence, are all the more essential now to understand the severity of the 1971 genocidal war against unarmed civilians of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Photos are also needed to document the history of this event.

You may browse the following websites and blogs to view photos that give a real picture of the genocide of 1971. These photos are a testament to the atrocities and injustices against fellow men, lust for remaining in power, and the selfish short-sightedness of the Pakistani ruling elite (politicians and army brasses) of the day. These also prove the failure of the international community to intervene and stop the genocide in the name of the "non-interference in the internal affairs" of Pakistan.

• Bangla2000: Liberation War
  
• Bangla Community: Pictures of Bangladesh Independence War, 1971
• Bangla Gallery: History, War and Freedom
• Bangladesh 1971: 1971 Photo Archive
  
• Bangladesh Genocide Archive: Photos & Images
• Bangladesh Genocide Archive: Martyred Intellectuals
• Bangladesh Liberation War 1971
• Bangladesh Liberation War 1971
• Banglar.com: Photos on Bangladesh Liberation War 1971
  
• Connect.in.com: Bangladesh Liberation War
• Google Images: Photos of the Bangladesh Liberation War
• Photos on the Bangladesh Liberation War
• pictureworldbd.com: History of the Liberation War of Bangladesh
• The Guardian Weekly: 1971 Bangladesh War of Independence
• TIME Magazine: Bangladesh and Pakistan: The Forgotten War (of 1971)
• Virtualbangladesh.com: Bangladesh Genocide Memorial
  

Some Videos on the Bangladesh War of Independence of 1971

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Here are some videos on the Bangladesh Liberation War, also called Bangladesh War of Independence. These will give you an idea of the nine-month of hell the East Pakistanis (Bangladeshis) passed through under the West Pakistani genocidal regime that unleashed foolhardy and brutal force to cow down these people.

• Bangladesh Genocide Archive: Videos on Bangladesh Liberation War
• Bangladesh Liberation War Videos
• Bangladesh Liberation War Videos (additional videos)
  
• Bangladeshi News: Rare Footage from 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War
• Fhiredekha...In Search of Roots: Liberation War
• Fhiredekha...In Search of Roots: Liberation War (more videos)
• Genocide 1971
• Google Videos: History of Bangladesh Liberation War 1947-1971
  
• Liberation War Museum: Video Clips
• Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying: Bangladesh Liberation War
  
• OVGuide: Bangladesh Liberation War Video
  
• Rare Footage from 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War
• Rare Mrs. Indira Gandhi Interview on Bangladesh Liberation War 1971 (video)
• Video: The Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971
• Videos on Bangladesh Liberation War
  
• Videos on Bangladesh War of Independence
• Videos: Ind-Pak War 1971 -- Bangladesh Liberation
• YouTube: Videos on the Bangladesh Liberation War
  
• 5-Minute Documentary on Bangladesh
• 1917 Bangladesh Liberation War

Some Books on the Bangladesh War of Independence of 1971

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Muktijuddhe Amra: Christander Obodan
-- a 1995 book in Bengali speaks of the contributions
of Christians in the Bangladesh War of Independence

So far many books have been written and many documents have been prepared on the Bangladesh Liberation War, also called Bangladesh War of Independence. To get a complete picture of this deadly war, we need to read books by different writers who have seen the war from different perspectives.

A partial list of books are mentioned below for our readers.

• Bangladesh: Contemporary Events and Documents (Bangladesh Ministry of Foreign Affairs, External Publicity Division, 1971)

• Bloodbath in Bangladesh by Prabodh Chandra (New Delhi, India: Adarsh Publication, 1971)
• Daktar-Diplomat in Bangladesh by Viggo Olsen (Chicago: Moody Press, 1972)
  
• Dateline Bangladesh by Ajit Bhattacharjea (Bombay, India: Jaico Publishing House, 1971)
• Death to Life: Bangladesh (The Experience of an American Missionary Family) by Rev. Jim (James) McKinley (1979)
  
• Genocide in Bangladesh by Kalayan Chaudhury (Orient Longman, 1972)
• Muktijuddhe Amra: Christander Obodan (We in the Liberation War: Contributions of Christians), (In Bengali), Edited by Sunil Perera et al (Dhaka: Pratibeshi Prakashani, 1995)
  
• Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the Birth of Bangladesh by K. A. Kamal (Dacca: Shainpukur Art Press, 1972)
• The Challenge of Bangladesh by Pran Chopra (Bombay, India: Popular Prakashan Press, 1971)
• The Rape of Bangladesh by Anthony Mascarenhas (London: Vikas Publ., 1971)
• Bangladesh Genocide Archive: List of Books on the Liberation War of Bangladesh (Books in English and Bengali)
• Banglar.com: Books on Liberation War 1971
  
• Liberation War Museum, Dhaka: Documents on Crimes Against Humanity Committed by Pakistan Army and Their Agents in Bangladesh in 1971 (Books in English and Bengali)
• Mukto-mona.com: English Literature on the 1971 War of Liberation & Genocide
  
• Wikipedia.org: List of Books on Liberation War of Bangladesh
  

The Quotation of the Week (March 27 - April 2, 2011)

Light sources at night in Toronto

Photo (Toronto: Oct. 31, 2010) © Jerome D'Costa

Today Is the 4oth Independence Day of Bangladesh

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Bangladesh muktijuddhas (freedom fighters) raising a flag
in honour of newly-independent Bangladesh
Painting (Toronto: March 10, 2011) © Joachim Romeo D'Costa

Today Gonoprojatontri Bangladesh (the People's Republic of Bangladesh) observes its 4oth independence day. In the early morning of March 26, 1971, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared the independence of Bangladesh before his arrest by the West Pakistani soldiers who had already started crackdown on the East Pakistanis (people of Bangladesh) before midnight of March 25. The birth pang of Bangladesh was in the form of the Bangladesh War of Independence that lasted for nine months. During this time, West Pakistani soldiers and their local collaborators killed three million East Pakistanis, raped three hundred thousand girls and women and made 10 million people leave their homes and take refuge in neighbouring India. Bangladesh muktijuddhas, trained by India, were engaged in guerrilla warfare with the West Pakistani soldiers and ultimately with the assistance of the Indian army liberated the country. On December 16, 1971, Bangladesh emerged as the newly independent nation.

The Real Independence Is Proven in Actions, Not in Words

A lot of water has passed through the rivers of Bangladesh, a lot of events took place in the country -- some are totally condemnable, some tolerable, others laudatory. In its 40 years of life, Bangladesh is now passing through its middle age. It's time to deeply reflect on the achievements and failures of this country that had gained its independence after profound sacrifices and pains of its entire population in 1971.

Being Bangladeshis, we must reflect on the following and prove the real independence in actions and not in words alone.

• Are the fruits of independence being enjoyed by all Bangladeshis irrespective of religion, ethnicity and socio-economic-political status in the society?
• How much freedom (personal freedom, freedom of religion, freedom of thought, freedom of the media including the press, freedom from encroachment of others, freedom from poverty) is being enjoyed by the people of Bangladesh?
• How much discrimination is being faced by religious and ethnic minority groups in the country? What is really being done to reduce this discrimination?
  
• Aren't indiscriminate and unnecessary hartals (general strikes), picketing and vandalism an encroachment on the rights and livelihood of other people?
• Independence is supposed to provide opportunities to formation of political leadership in the country. In reality, same old leadership is holding on to the power in rotation depriving the formation, mentoring and maturity of new leadership. This huge gap is dangerous for the country.
• How much has been done to look after the real muktijuddhas (freedom fighters) and birongonas (girls and women who had been raped during the Bangladesh War of Independence)?
• Do our people know the real causes of and events that led to the Bangladesh War of Independence? Are our school, college and university textbooks portraying the true history of Bangladesh?
• Forty years have already passed, but how much has been achieved in giving exemplary punishment to the war criminals who were engaged in crimes against humanity in 1971?

Flowery words by politicians will not suffice, but real actions will make Bangladesh truly independent. Otherwise, this country will remain fettered by half-truths and lies, injustices and hypocrisies with no real freedom in sight.