1971

March 1971 and the Bengali struggle

Posted by & filed under 1971.

Darkness had descended. It was the end of a phase and the beginning of another. The terse, grim words went out, ‘Big bird in the cage. Little birds have flown.’ It was from a Pakistan army officer to his superiors in Dhaka cantonment. It was about the arrest of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in the… Read more »

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The legacy of the Zia clan

Posted by & filed under Comment.

Some weeks ago, Begum Khaleda Zia publicly expressed her doubts about the number of Bengalis killed in the War of Liberation. A few days later, Goyeshwar Roy, one of her foremost loyalists in the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, enlightened us on the ‘foolish way’ in which the country’s intellectuals died at the hands of the Al-Badr… Read more »

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Hannan Shah’s Kashmir analogy

Posted by & filed under Features & Analysis.

The BNP’s Hannan Shah has certainly given people some food for thought. He has been effusive in his praises of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, which is refreshing. He has maintained that Ziaur Rahman declared Bangladesh’s independence, which is half the historical truth. The half that he did not mention was that Zia made his announcement… Read more »

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Is it possible to include women in the history of 1971?

Posted by & filed under Comment.

Bangladesh has taken a significant stride by attempting to describe a more inclusive history of 1971. They did so by declaring the rape victims of 1971 as “freedom fighters”. This achieved two objectives. First, it recognised the victimisation of women as part of the war effort. Second, it was an attempt, albeit a very delayed… Read more »

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