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In 1971, the goal was secular democracy
by Syed Badrul Ahsan
The rise of Bengali nationalism throughout the decade of the 1960s, precipitated as it had been by the language movement of 1952 and again by the clear attempts to strip away at the majority status of Bengalis in the Pakistan state structure, was clearly based on the principle of secularism. It was felt, as much in those early days as in later times, that the ethos upon which Bengali politics shaped itself was all founded on the heritage from which the culture of the land and its people had taken root. One can argue, of course, that the conscious move on the part of the people of East Bengal to align themselves with the patently communal movement for Pakistan quite belied their secular background... [ + ]
The Battle of Gangasagar
by M Harun-Ar-Rashid, Bir Pratik (Lieutenant General, retired)
By April 10, the Pakistani Forces from the Comilla Cantonment had launched a column towards Brahmanbaria. As they moved out of the Cantonment and moved towards Brahmanbaria they started facing minor oppositions organized locally by indigenous freedom fighters. The enemy column, led by 12 Frontier Force (FF) Regiment, a newly-arrived Battalion at Comilla Cantonment, consisted of two regular battalions supported by Artillery as well as the Air Force. At that time, the resistance movement was still in the growing phase and did not have adequate fire power... [ + ]
‘When we heard news of victory, we toasted Bangladesh’
by Mubin S Khan
Archer K Blood was the US consul general in Dhaka during Bangladesh’s war of liberation in 1971. In a famous cable titled ‘Selective Genocide’ on March 28, Blood detailed the atrocities being committed by the Pakistani forces. On April 6, he sent another cable signed by 20 US officers stationed in Dhaka officially questioning the US’ pro-Pakistan policy. In 2002, UPL published Blood’s memoirs of those times, titled ‘The Cruel Birth of Bangladesh: Memoirs of an American Diplomat.’ In 2004 Blood passed away at the age of 81. In an exclusive interview with New Age, Archer K Blood’s wife Margaret Blood talks about the dark days that led up to March 1971, and after... [ + ]
‘Our intellectual
crisis dwarfs our political crisis’
by Mahtab Haider
Doctor, freedom fighter, originator of social movements, the man behind the Ganasasthya Kendra — Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury talks to New Age about the war, and after, and now. Excerpts:
How do you read the rise of Islamist militancy in Bangladesh?
It’s only logical that those we left behind are now holding us back like dead-weights. In the three decades since 1971 we have privatised every sector, even education and healthcare, and we have abandoned our commitment to social welfare... [ + ]
Living to tell the tale
by Mahfuz Sadique
Stories of those who stayed, those who left, those who fought and those that were captured... [ + ]
Isn’t it a pity?
The fading memory of George Harrison
by Shumit Rehman
Recently a DVD version of George Harrison’s Concert of Bangladesh was released to much fanfare around the world. It is already zooming up the music dvd charts in the US and the UK. Finally after more than thirty years you can sit back at home and enjoy the songs and performances of George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Ravi Shankar and Bob Dylan from their 1971 heydays in what is billed as the first ever concert for a humanitarian cause... [ + ]
Liberation war
on celluloid
by Showkot Marcel Khan
Though Bangladesh has stepped into its thirty-fifth year of independence, it is very unfortunate that there aren’t enough films based on our glorious liberation war. In fact, it is a difficult task to find thirty-five films based on the war of independence... [ + ]
The war Swadhin Bangla Betar waged... and won
by Syed Badrul Ahsan
The Bengali armed struggle for freedom began with the rebellion put up by Shwadhin Bangla Betar in March 1971. Call it resistance to the Pakistani occupation, call it a war to throw the enemy out of our land, the truth is that everything commenced with the revolutionary broadcasts that began to make their way out of Kalurghat in the early afternoon of 26 March 1971. It had by then become obvious that Dhaka had gone under a relentless pounding by the Pakistani army, the consequences of which had been horrendous. Academics, teachers and other categories of citizens had already died in their thousands, having become the furious target of the army. Bangabandhu had been taken away and there were hardly any reports on the whereabouts of all the other political figures who had till recently been engaged in negotiations over a peaceful end to the crisis... [ + ]
Abdul Jabbar remembers Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra
by Showkot Marcel Khan
The lyrics of the songs Salam salam / hajar salam /Shahid bhaier shoroney or Hajar bachhor pore/ abar asechhi phire /Banglar bookey achi dariey penned by Fazle Lohani and Shymal Gupta respectively and sung by Abdul Jabbar during the war of independence still stir emotion in the hearts of the people of Bangladesh because these two songs and many more sung during the tumultuous days of the war of independence have become integral parts of our glorious history... [ + ]
‘First the headlines...’
by Robab Rosan
‘It is really astonishing that the man, who installed the transmitter dismantled from the Kalurghat Radio Station, was not an engineer. He was simply a technical operator in the station. This man, Rashed, came to Chittagong from his home district Brahmanbaria. Like many others, he was committed to do something for the country.’.. [ + ]
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In 1971, the goal