Thirty seven years ago today the Pakistan army and their Islamist allies launched a campaign of genocide against 75 million of its own citizens. The army was intent on massacring into submission 75 million Bengalis who had committed a singularly unforgivable crime. Months earlier the Bengalis had gone to the polls and voted for a candidate of their choice to become the next Prime Minister of Pakistan. The Pakistan army responded to the vote with a genocide. In the name of “God and a united Pakistan” the killing began.

In the end, the Pakistan army failed in its purpose. Nine months later, an army that had engaged in the killing of millions of its citizens surrendered in humiliation to the Indian army and Bangladeshi freedom fighters. An army that was so adept in machine gunning unarmed civilians proved to be no match for men and women who could shoot back.

A new nation was born. But at great cost. Up to three million Bengalis were killed in nine months of genocide. Two hundred thousand to four hundred thousand Bengali women were raped. Ten million refugees had fled to India. Cities were devastated, villages had been razed, and the new country’s intellectual class had been massacred in a last minute frenzy of madness.

I was a child during the genocide of Bangladesh. I am one of the lucky ones - I survived. But I have been haunted all my life by memories of those who did not. I am haunted by watching the hopes of those who fought so bravely for the ideals of democracy, for freedom to speak without fear of persecution, for freedom from relgious bigotry, for freedom from poverty, dashed repeatedly over the last three decades. I have watched the Islamists who were apparently defeated in 1971 come creeping back into the Bangladeshi political mainstream. I have watched the cottage industry of genocide denial grow in Bangladesh. I have watched as family members of the millions killed have pleaded in vain for some measure of justice. I have watched known genocide perpetrators live as free men in Bangladesh, in the United States and United Kingdom. I have been again and again let down by successive American governments that pay lip service against genocide after the fact but do nothing to prevent them. I have had to witness the top American diplomat in Bangladesh have tea with a leading Islamist and known perpetrator of genocide.

I have grown weary and my hair is graying. The child that lived through the genocide is now a grown man. In the years to come, the generation that lived through the genocide will be gone forever. Gone will be the eyewitnesses to one of history’s most brutal killing sprees.

So we collect our stories and collect every fragment of documentation we can find. We want to leave for our children the memory of what our fathers and mothers fought and died for. We want to leave for the world the memory of a genocide that the world should never forget.

Today my good friend and fellow blogger Rezwan has launched a website to collect what needs to be collected. Bangladesh Genocide Archive has been launched as a platform to collect together in one place on the Internet the available documentation on the genocide perpetrated on the people of Bangladesh in 1971. For our children and for the world.

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NBC News 1/7/1972: Dhaka University massacre. Video of Pakistani soldiers executing students, professors and workers at Dhaka University on March 26, 1971.

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CBS News 2/2/1972: Evidence of mass graves and widespread killing in Khulna. Approximately 100,000 people were killed in Khulna.

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NBC News 2/20/1972: Rape victims. Genocidal rapes of Bangladeshi women and girls during the Bangladesh Liberation War. The report interviews pregnant girls held at Pakistani army barracks and repeatedly raped. Some of the girls are as young as 13.

[Headlines: Straits Times, March 27, 1971... The Age, March 29, 1971... New Age, January 22, 2008.]

In their March issue, Daily Star newspaper’s monthly magazine Forum has published the article on Bangladesh’s declaration of independence. The article, entitled “Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendro and Bangladesh’s Declaration of Independence“, is based on the post we wrote in January.

The March issue of Forum commemorates March 26, 1971, Bangladesh’s independence day. Of particular note are reprinted articles originally written in March 1971 by Rehman Sobhan and Dr. Hameeda Hossain, who were Executive Editor and Editor respectively of the original Forum. These articles offer a fascinating glimpse into the days leading up to the independence of Bangladesh.

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[Mashuqur Rahman with MMR Jalal.]

The last message from Dacca Betar Kendro was from announcer Nazma Akhtar:

The 75 million people of Bangla Desh, freedom-loving as they are, have been subjected to brutal genocide by the army. The people of Bangla Desh will shed more blood rather than forget the injury. We will never allow the sacrifice to go in vain.

Soon after the Pakistan army took over Dacca Betar Kendro in the early hours of March 26, 1971, they renamed the radio station as “Radio Pakistan Dacca” and used it to announce martial law orders. The Pakistan army’s attempt at silencing the voice of the Bengalis had begun. Bengalis however fought back. The war of Bangladesh’s liberation had begun.

On the evening of that same day a small radio station started broadcasting defiantly in the face of the Pakistan military’s bloody onslaught on the Bengalis. The clandestine radio station, located in Kalurghat, north of the city of Chittagong, declared to the world: “The Sheikh has declared the 75 million people of East Pakistan as citizens of the sovereign independent Bangla Desh.” The station called itself Swadhin Bangla Biplobi Betar Kendro (Free Bengal Radio Station). At a later stage, the word “Biplobi” [revolutionary] was dropped from the station name.

For the next four days the radio station engaged in a propaganda battle with the Pakistan army. While the Pakistan army claimed all was calm in Bangladesh, the clandestine radio station declared liberation forces were marching on the capital and Pakistani soldiers were surrendering. While the Pakistan army claimed it had crushed the will of the Bengalis, the clandestine radio station declared that the Pakistani military governor General Tikka Khan had been assassinated. While the Pakistan army claimed the Bengalis had been defeated, the clandestine radio station claimed to have formed a provisional government of Bangladesh.

In those early days of the genocide, Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendro declared to the world that Bengalis would not give up, that Bengalis would fight, and that the sacrifice would not go in vain. And the world listened. The small radio station in Kalurghat in those four days refused to be silenced. It rallied the morale of the Bengalis and it frustrated the Pakistani army.

The men and women of Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendro and the men of the East Bengal Regiment who defended the station from attack, announced to the world that an organized Bengali resistance was fighting back, ensured that Pakistani tanks and airplanes could not silence the voice of the 75 million people of Bangladesh.

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Recently the Bangladesh military government decided to rewrite the history books in Bangladesh to more accurately reflect the history of how the independence of Bangladesh was declared on March 26, 1971. In the tug of war between the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the history of Bangladesh has been rewritten several times over the past three decades. The AFP reports on the controversy and the recent change:

School textbooks in Bangladesh have been revised to reflect the latest government version of the role of two slain leaders when the country won independence in 1971, an official said Wednesday. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who led Bangladesh’s bitter independence struggle against Pakistan, is now once again referred to as the “father of the nation,” said Mosir Uddin, head of the National Curriculum and Textbook Board. Sheikh Mujib, who died in a military coup in 1975, is credited with the independence declaration at midnight on March 25, 1971 and referred to by his popular name of “Bangabandhu” or friend of Bengalis in the new texts.

In another change, former president Ziaur Rahman, who was slain in an attempted military coup in 1981, was acknowledged to have made an independence proclamation “on behalf of Bangabandhu at Kalurghat Radio Station in Chittagong, on March 27″, he added. School textbooks containing the changes have already been printed and would be read in the schools from January 2008, Uddin said.

The place of the two leaders in the nation’s history remains a deeply sensitive subject in Bangladesh. Since 1991, textbooks have been subject to alterations by governments led alternately by Sheikh Mujib’s daughter, Sheikh Hasina Wajed, and Ziaur’s widow, Khaleda Zia. The two women are bitter rivals and lead the country’s two main political parties. Supporters of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League believe that independence was proclaimed by a regional party leader acting on the instructions of Sheikh Mujib. Members of Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), however, say it was the former army chief Ziaur who made the historic proclamation.

In revising the history books, the current government relied on the government’s official history of the war of independence published in 1982:

“This is more authentic than the others we have seen in the past. This is based on authentic documents. All the references are taken from the official history of the war of independence published by the information ministry in 1982,” he said.

The official history has given rise to the following timeline:

The above timeline is reflected in the Wikipedia article on Bangladesh’s Declaration of Independence, in the Wikipedia article on the Kalurghat radio transmitter, and in the Virtual Bangladesh article on the Declaration of Independence, among others. According to all three articles, the timeline suggests that until Major Ziaur Rahman broadcast his speech on March 27, the outside world did not hear about Bangladesh’s independence. For example, the Wikipedia Kalurghat article states:

An English translation of the first declaration of independence by MA Hannan on 26th March 1971… It is believed that the first declaration of independence was not widely noticed by international media and the international community. Major Ziaur Rahman’s opening words in Bangla, “Ami Major Zia bolchi”, that is, “I am Major Zia speaking,” were picked up by news agencies, and were given wide publicity across the globe. Ami Major Zia bolchi were followed by declaration of a sovereign and independent Bangladesh… These words were picked up first by a Japanese ship anchored in Chittagong harbour, and were flashed to the world. News of Zia’s declaration was first broadcast by Radio Australia, and the world at large came to know of birth of Bangladesh.

The Virtual Bangladesh article states:

Soon after the Pakistani army crackdown on the night of March 25, 1971, the first declaration of independence was made over the radio by MA Hannan. Very few people heard this declaration and Major Zia’s famous “Ami Major Zia bolchi” declaration over Chittagong radio on March 27 was picked up by foreign news agencies and was given wide publicity.

The facts and the available documentary evidence however paint a starkly different picture. A survey of leading English language newspapers from every continent in the world clearly shows that the world came to know about the independence of Bangladesh from Sheikh Mujib’s original message received in Calcutta on the morning of March 26 and from broadcasts by Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendro on the evening of March 26.

The Statesman, New Delhi edition, on March 27, 1971 explains the two messages:

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman made two broadcasts on Friday following the Pakistan troops move to crush his movement, says UNI. In a message to the world broadcast by an unidentified wireless station monitored in Calcutta, the Awami League leader declared that “the enemy” had struck and that the people were fighting gallantly. In a subsequent broadcast over a radio station, describing itself as “Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra” (free Bengal wireless station), monitored in Shillong, he proclaimed Bangla Desh an independent republic.

The Statesman, Calcutta edition, on March 27, 1971 lays out the timeline of the two messages from the previous day:

Mr. Rahman, in a message to the world broadcast by an unidentified wireless station monitored in Calcutta this morning declared that the enemy had struck and that the people were fighting gallantly. In a subsequent broadcast over a radio station, describing itself as “Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra” (free Bengal wireless station) monitored in Shillong, Mr. Rahman proclaimed Bangla Desh an independent republic.

The Times of India, Bombay edition, on March 27, 1971 provides the text of the message received from the first broadcast in the morning:

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman said in a message to the world today that the people of Bangla Desh were fighting gallantly for their freedom. The message, broadcast by an unidentified wireless station, was picked up here. It was believed that the station was located at Chittagong or Chalna in East Pakistan. Mr. Rahman said in the message: “Pakistani armed forces suddenly attacked the East Pakistan Rifles base at Bilkhana and Rajarbagh near here at zero hours today, killing a lot of [text missing]… “Stern fighting is going on with the EPR in Dacca and the police force. The people are fighting the enemy gallantly for the cause of the freedom of Bangla Desh… Every section of the people of Bangla Desh must resist the enemy forces at all costs in every corner of Bangla Desh… May Allah bless you and help you in the struggle for freedom from the enemy. Jai Bangla.”

The Statesman, New Delhi edition, on March 27, 1971 also provides the text of the first message:

Mr. Rahman said: “Pakistan armed forces suddenly attacked the East Pakistan Rifle base at Pielkhana and Rajabag police station in Dacca at zero hours on March 26, killing a number of unarmed people. Fierce fighting is going on with East Pakistan Rifles at Dacca… People are fighting gallantly with the enemy for the cause of freedom of Bangla Desh. Every section of the people of Bangla Desh are asked to resist the enemy forces at any cost in every corner of Bangla Desh. May Allah bless you and help in your struggle for freedom from the enemy. Jai Bangla.”

In the evening on March 26, 1971 Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendro at Kalurghat came alive for the first time and broadcast multiple messages. These broadcasts were all monitored and reported on. Most significantly, in one report from Kalurghat on the evening of March 26, 1971, the announcer was monitored in India as saying: “The Sheikh has declared the 75 million people of East Pakistan as citizens of the sovereign independent Bangla Desh.” This announcement as well as the previous message was flashed around the world on newswires on the evening of March 26, 1971. Bangladesh’s declaration of independence thus became front page news on nearly all, if not all, major newspapers around the world published the following day on March 27, 1971. A sampling of the reports from March 27, 1971 on English language newspapers on every continent of the world announcing Sheikh Mujib’s declaration of independence can be found at the end of this post. There is simply no doubt that Bangladesh’s declaration of independence was heard around the world on March 26, 1971 from Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendro at Kalurghat and reported on in world newspapers the following morning.

According to an article in the Bangladesh Observer published on April 23, 1972 the first persons to broadcast Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s declaration of independence in the evening on March 26, 1971 from Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendro in English were Ashikul Islam, a WAPDA engineer, and in Bengali, Abul Kashem Sandwip. Later in the evening MA Hannan also broadcast the declaration in a speech. Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendro continued to broadcast from Kalurghat from March 26 to March 30, when Kalurghat was abandoned due to Pakistani air attacks.

On March 28, 1971 Indian newspapers reported that a Major “Jia Khan” or “Zia Khan” had also broadcast an announcement on March 27. Zia Khan was identified by the announcer as “Chief of the Liberation Army of Bangla Desh.”

The Statesman, New Delhi edition, on March 28, 1971 reported:

In another broadcast the radio claimed that freedom-loving people of Baluchistan, the North West Frontier Province and Pakhtoonistan had declared independence, following the example of Bangla Desh. The person who spoke on the radio was identified as “Major Jia, Chief of the Liberation Army of Bangla Desh”.

The Times of India, Bombay edition, on March 28, 1971 reported:

Major Zia Khan, chief of the Bangla Desh liberation army, declared over the free Bangla Radio tonight that Bangla Desh would be rid of the Pakistani military administration in two or three days. The West Punjabi soldiers “will be annihilated” if they did not surrender, he said.

The reports misidentified Major Ziaur Rahman as “Zia Khan” or “Jia Khan.” The reports did not make any mention of a declaration of independence by Major Zia on March 27, 1971. These two reports in the Indian newspapers on March 28 were not picked up by the world press. Beyond the Indian newspapers, a survey of major English language newspapers around the world on March 28, 1971 found no reports on Major Zia’s broadcast on March 27. Some relevant news reports from March 28, 1971 can be found at the end of this post.

On March 28, 1971 broadcasts from Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendro monitored in India announced that a provisional government of Bangla Desh had been formed and that Major Zia Khan or Major Jia Khan (again misidentifying Major Ziaur Rahman) had been declared the temporary head of the provisional government. The Kalurghat broadcasts announced that the provisional government “would be guided by Banga Bandhu Mujibur Rahman.”

The Statesman, New Delhi edition, on March 29, 1971 reported on a speech by Major Zia declaring himself the provisional head:

In a broadcast over the Free Bangla Radio Major Jia Khan, commander-in-chief of the “liberation army” said: “I hereby assume the powers of the provisional head of the liberation army of Swadhin Bangla Desh… As provisional head I order the freedom fighters of Bangla Desh to continue the struggle till ultimate victory. Jai Bangla”. He said the enemy was bringing additional troops both by the sea and by the air. He appealed to all peace-loving peoples of the world to come to help of “the democratic minded fighting people of Bangla Desh.” Major Jia claimed that the “liberation army” had killed 300 men of the Punjab Regiment at Comilla. Other men of the regiment fled at the end of the fighting.

This report of the formation of a “provisional government” with “Major Zia Khan” as its temporary head was picked up and widely reported in the world press on March 29, 1971. There was, however, no report of Major Zia’s declaration of independence in the world press on March 29, 1971.

The official Bangladesh government document on the Liberation War, published in 1982 in 15 volumes called Bangladesh Swadhinata Juddho: Dalil Potro and used by the current military government to alter the text books, contains the text of Major Ziaur Rahman’s Declaration of Independence in Volume 3:

Major Zia, Provisional Commander-in-Chief of the Bangladesh Liberation Army, hereby proclaims, on behalf of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the independence of Bangladesh.

I also declare, we have already framed a sovereign, legal government under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman which pledges to function as per law and the constitution. The new democratic government is committed to a policy of non-alignment in international relations. It will seek friendship with all nations and strive for international peace. I appeal to all government to mobilize public opinion in their respective countries against the brutal genocide in Bangladesh.

The government under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is sovereign legal government of Bangladesh and is entitled to recognition from all democratic nations of the world.

The date for this speech is given in the Dalil Potro as March 27, 1971. The speech is sourced in the Dalil Potro to The Statesman, New Delhi edition, on March 27, 1971. However the March 27, 1971 Statesman, New Delhi edition, does not contain this speech. The first references to Major Zia’s speech cited in the Dalil Potro appeared in the Indian newspapers on March 31, 1971. According to Indian reports the speech was broadcast from Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendro on the morning of March 30, 1971.

The Statesman, New Delhi edition, on March 31, 1971 reported on page 9:

Calcutta, Mar 30 — The government under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is the sovereign legal government of Bangla Desh and is entitled to recognition by all democratic countries of the world, Maj Jia Khan, provisional Commander-in-Chief of the Liberation Army, declared this morning, reports UNI. In a broadcast over Free Bangla Radio on behalf of the Sheikh, Maj Jia Khan said: “The new democratic government is committed to a policy of non-alignment in international relations. It will seek friendship with all nations and strive for international peace… We have already formed a sovereign legal Government under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman which pledges to function as per law and the constitution… We therefore appeal to all democratic and peace-loving countries of the world to immediately recognize the legal democratic government of Bangla Desh.” He appealed to all governments to mobilize public opinion in their respective countries against the “brutal genocide” in Bangla Desh. Maj Jia Khan said the Pakistan government was trying to confuse and deceive the people of the world through contradictory statements. “But nobody will be deceived by Yahya Khan and his followers,” he said.

The Times of India, Bombay edition, on March 31, 1971 reported on page 15:

Calcutta, March 30. The government under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is the sovereign, legal government of Bangla Desh and is entitled to “recognition from all democratic countries of the world.” Major Zia Khan, Provisional Commander-in-Chief of the Liberation Army, declared this morning. In a broadcast over Free Bangla Radio on behalf of the Sheikh, Maj. Zia Khan said: “The new democratic government is committed to a policy of non-alignment in international relations. It will seek friendship with all nations and strive for international peace.” Maj. Zia Khan began the broadcast with these words: “I, Major Zia, Provisional Commander-in-Chief of the Bangla Liberation Army, hereby proclaim on behalf of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman the independence of Bangla Desh. “I also declare,” he continued, “we have already formed a sovereign legal government under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman which pledges to function as per law and the constitution.”

This speech by Major Zia on March 30 that was reported in the Indian press on March 31 was not widely reported in the world press. The declaration of independence, as announced on the morning of March 30, 1971 by Major Zia, was not reported in any of the English language world newspapers outside India that were surveyed. A sample of the world papers that did report on the March 30 speech can be found at the end of this post.

After Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendro ended transmission at Kalurghat in the afternoon of March 30, 1971, Major Zia would make his way to Brahmanbaria and meet up with Major Khalid Musharraf and Major Shafiullah on April 3, 1971. He would go on to serve as a sector commander under Colonel MAG Osmani, the commander in chief of the Mukti Bahini (Bangladesh Liberation Army).

Contrary to the conventional wisdom that has developed over the last three decades due to the constant rewriting of Bangladesh’s official history, the world press reports from late March 1971 make clear that Bangladesh’s declaration of independence was widely reported throughout the world based on the broadcasts from Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendro on March 26, 1971. There is no doubt that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s original message about attacks on EPR and police barracks in Dhaka at midnight was widely reported in the world press. Although Major Zia’s broadcasts from Kalurghat on March 28 about the creation of a provisional government were widely reported in the world press, Major Ziaur Rahman was not credited in the world press for declaring the independence of Bangladesh.

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Recordings: Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendro
March 28, 1971 — March 30, 1971

Click the button below or download a M3U AUDIO STREAMING of recordings of broadcasts by Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendro from March 28, 1971 to March 30, 1971. The recordings include broadcasts by Major Ziaur Rahman, Lieutenant Shamsher Mobin Choudhury, as well as from the civilian announcers of Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendro. Broadcasts are in both English and Bengali.

[display_podcast]

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Video: Major Ziaur Rahman says he went on air on March 27, 1971.

Bangladesh declares freedom: Foreign news reports
March 27, 1971 — March 31, 1971[March 27, 1971.]– Statesman (New Delhi), India
“Bangla Desh declares freedom — Rahman’s step follows army crackdown”– Statesman (New Delhi), India
“Two steps to freedom”

– Statesman (Calcutta), India
“Bangla Desh declares independence — Street fighting in Dacca and Chittagong”

– Statesman (Calcutta), India
“Proclamation by Rahman”

– Statesman (Calcutta), India
“Chittagong Radio Station captured”

– Times of India (Bombay), India
“Mujib proclaims free Bangla Desh”

– Times of India (Bombay), India
“Gallant fight for freedom, Mujib tells the world”

– The Age, Australia
“Dacca breaks with Pakistan”

– Daily Telegraph, United Kingdom
“Civil war flares in E. Pakistan”

– Asahi Evening News, Japan
“East Pakistan cut off from world as heavy fighting rocks cities”

– Baltimore Sun, USA
“10,000 civilians reported killed in Bengal strife”

– Bangkok Post, Thailand
“Pak near civil war”

– Boston Globe, USA
“East Pakistan secedes, civil war breaks out”

– Buenos Aires Herald, Argentina
“Bengali independence declared by Mujib”

– Christian Science Monitor, USA
“East Pakistan in breakaway struggle”

– Chicago Tribune, USA
“Pakistan Sheik arrested”

– Globe and Mail, Canada
“Civil war in East Pakistan”

– Hong Kong Standard, Hong Kong
“Mujib sets up independent republic”

– Los Angeles Times, USA
“Civil war flares as East Pakistanis claim independence”

– Times of London, United Kingdom
“Heavy fighting as Shaikh Mujibur declares E Pakistan independent”

– Times of London, United Kingdom
“President says traitors must be punished”

– Philadelphia Inquirer, USA
“Civil war hits E. Pakistan as rebels revolt”

– Pretoria News, South Africa
“10000 slain in Pakistan civil war”

– San Francisco Chronicle
“Civil War in East Pakistan — Fierce battles reported”

– Straits Times, Singapore
“Mujibur proclaims Bangla Republic”

– Washington Post, USA
“Rebel leader arrested in Pakistan war”

[March 28, 1971.]

– Statesman (New Delhi), India
“Secessionist forces offer stiff resistance”

– Times of India (Bombay), India
“Tikka Khan is shot, Mujib promises victory in day or two”

– Boston Globe, USA
“Government claims E. Pakistan victory”

– Chicago Tribune, USA
“Civil war continues in Dacca”

– Manila Times, Philippines
“10,000 killed in Pakistan”

[March 29, 1971.]

– Statesman (New Delhi), India
“Appeal to nations for recognition”

– Statesman (Calcutta), India
“Provisional government of Bangla Desh formed”

– Times of India (Bombay), India
“Zia heads provisional regime”

– Age, Australia
“Pakistanis rally to Sheik’s call”

– Baltimore Sun, USA
“Rebels report Bengali regime”

– Bangkok Post, Thailand
“Dacca asks for more troops”

– Boston Globe, USA
“E. Pakistan: Army claims control, but rebels report gains”

– Boston Globe, USA
“Fighting wanes in East Pakistan as army tightens grip”

– Buenos Aires Herald, Argentina
“Rebel government set up under army major”

– Chicago Tribune, USA
“Report: E. Pakistan revolt crushed by West troops”

– Globe and Mail, Canada
“Army in control of Dacca, banks to reopen, radio says”

– Hong Kong Standard, Hong Kong
“Mujib sets up govt in E. Pak”

– Jakarta Times, Indonesia
“Bangla Desh Republic Proclaimed”

– Los Angeles Times, USA
“W. Pakistan reported in full control of Dacca”

– Manila Times, Philippines
“Fighting continues in East Pakistan”

– New York Times, USA
“Both sides claim gains in Pakistan; all news banned”

– Philadelphia Inquirer, USA
“W. Pakistan controls Dacca; Death toll may reach 7000″

– Pretoria News, South Africa
“Rebellion is over, says Pakistan”

– San Francisco Chronicle, USA
“Confusing war reports in Pakistan”

– Straits Times, Singapore
“Provisional government formed”

– Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
“Major leads Dacca Govt”

– Washington Post, USA
“Pakistan in control of Dacca”

[March 30, 1971.]

Manila Times, Philippines
“Where is Sheikh Mujib?”

Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
“Rebels claim successes”

[March 31, 1971.]

– Statesman (New Delhi), India
“Jia Khan’s appeal for recognition”

– Times of India (Bombay), India
“Bangla Desh Govt is sovereign and legal”

– Times of London, United Kingdom
“President Yahya was advised against force”

– Bangkok Post, Thailand
“‘War of the words’ rages in P’stan”

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Supporting documentation

– Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra, The story of March 26, 1971, Bangladesh Observer, April 23, 1972.

– Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s Declaration of Independence, Bangladesh Swadhinata Juddho: Dalil Potro, Volume 3, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, 1982.

– Ziaur Rahman’s Declaration of Independence, Bangladesh Swadhinata Juddho: Dalil Potro, Volume 3, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, 1982.

– Mujibnagar Proclamation of Independence, April 10, 1971, Bangladesh Swadhinata Juddho: Dalil Potro, Volume 3, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, 1982.

– Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendro transcripts (fragments), March 26-30, 1971, Bangladesh Swadhinata Juddho: Dalil Potro, Volume 5, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, 1982.

– Article on Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendro by Atikur Rahman published in Purbodesh, December 15, 1972, Bangladesh Swadhinata Juddho: Dalil Potro, Volume 5, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, 1982.

– Article on Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendro by Belal Mohammad, Bangladesh Swadhinata Juddho: Dalil Potro, Volume 5, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, 1982.

– Telex from March 26, 1971.

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MMR Jalal [http://www.sachalayatan.com/user/mmr_jalal] is a USA based archivist of the Bangladesh Liberation War. He maintains one of the largest private collections of liberation war documents in the world.

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Mashuqur Rahman [http://www.docstrangelove.com] is one of the highest read Bangladeshi-American bloggers. Critically acclaimed for his incisive analysis on Bangladesh, US foreign policy and dedicated advocacy of human rights.

[Read posts by Mashuqur Rahman]

Last week I received an email from a dear friend. The email came from Sweden, on Valentine’s Day. I have spent the better part of this week trying to craft a response. I have failed. This post is my attempt at a response.

My blog is anti-torture. There is a logo on the sidebar of this blog that declares the unequivocal position of this blog and its author. Being anti-torture seems to me to be a commonsense position to hold. It is however not a position that is universally held. There are torturers in this world and there are those who aid and abet the torturers. Then there are the victims. My friend, Tasneem Khalil, is a torture victim.

On May 10th of last year I received an urgent email from a friend. It was 4:04pm and I was at my mundane day job. Soon many other emails arrived with the same news. Tasneem Khalil, a Bangladeshi journalist and researcher for Human Rights Watch, had been picked just hours earlier by the Bangladesh military. Just before 1am on the morning of May 11 (Bangladesh time) members of Bangladesh military’s intelligence services, the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), had taken away Tasneem from his home in Dhaka. Tasneem’s wife, left alone with their 6-month old baby boy, managed to get word out of his abduction.

Via email and SMS Bangladeshi bloggers from all over the world came together within minutes of hearing the news. Soon blog posts were going up everywhere. American and British bloggers joined in and the news spread quickly. Soon Human Rights Watch put out a press release demanding his release, and CNN and the Associated Press put the news out over the wire. After sustained pressure from human rights organizations, foreign diplomats, and the press Tasneem was released 22 hours later. He was alive, but he had been tortured.

After his release, Sweden offered Tasneem, his wife Suchi and his baby boy Tiyash, political asylum. Today they have begun a new life in Sweden, in exile.

On February 14th Human Rights Watch released a 44-page report  (PDF) entitled “The Torture of Tasneem Khalil: How the Bangladesh Military Abuses Its Power Under the State of Emergency”. The report, in first person testimony, details how the DGFI brutally beat and threatened Tasneem during his 22 hour ordeal.

Tasneem was taken to one of the DGFI’s torture chambers known as a “black hole”. The HRW report explains:

In Dhaka alone, the DGFI maintains at least three unofficial detention centers, known as “black holes.” “Black Hole 1″ is located in DGFI headquarters inside Dhaka cantonment near BNS Haji Moshin naval base. “Black Hole 2″ is near Kachukhet, a civilian residential area inside Dhaka cantonment. “Black Hole 3″ is maintained in the Uttara residential district near Zia International Airport.

 Of his ordeal Tasneem writes in the HRW report:

The Forum article made my interrogators furious. They started beating me again mercilessly, from all possible directions with hands and batons and kicks. I pleaded with them to give me one last chance. I said I would not do those things again. But one person said I had already “made the blunder.” I think this was a reference to my lunch with the diplomats.

I started begging for mercy. The beating continued for some time. Then another person said, “We will think about giving you a chance, but you have to do as we say.” He said I had to write a confession to the AIG [Additional Inspector General] of police, saying what they wanted me to say. Then I had to beg for his mercy.

…

There were two CCTV cameras in the corners attached to the ceiling. There was a fan. I was sitting in front of a table and three batons were on the table along with some stationery. One was a wooden baton, about a meter long. The other two were covered with black plastic. Poking out of the end of these were metal wires which appeared to fill the plastic covers. The plastic and wire batons were a little shorter than the wooden one. I assume these were the batons they tortured me with. When one guy saw that I was looking at them, he put them aside. I’m not sure if they used electricity on me. The pain often came like shocks, but they were hitting me so hard that I’m not sure whether it was just the force that hurt like this or if it was electricity.

They tortured Tasneem because he had dared to write an article critical of the Bangladesh military and he had just recently given an interview to the Washington Post. It was not a ticking bomb scenario. It was pure thuggery, as all torture is.

Tasneem’s torturers barked that he was “anti-state” because his journalism hurt the military’s “image”:

And then the second voice said, “Baanchot [an abusive word], you have only reported on negative things. And you have fucked Bangladesh by your bloody anti-state reports. Whatever you have reported for CNN in all these years is all negative news. You shit on the same plate you eat, you are a traitor. You work for a foreign agency, and damage Bangladesh’s image outside.”

Someone started punching the side and back of my head. I started crying out in pain. Then someone cried out an order, “Bring in salt and nails!”

Tasneem’s torturer was the military government of Bangladesh. It was the state torturing its own citizen. The most fundamental responsibility of a government is the protection of its own people. When a government not only fails to protect its own citizens but instead actively terrorizes and tortures them it has lost all legitimacy, moral or legal, to govern. It has become anti-state.

Yet there are defenders of Bangladesh’s military government. The defenders include elements of civil society within Bangladesh who see the military as their meal ticket to power and foreign governments such as the Bush administration and the British government who believe only the iron hand of the military can control 150 million people who are perceived to be unfit to govern themselves. To these defenders the minor inconveniences of torture, death in custody, extra-judicial killings, suspension of fundamental rights, and the occasional mass beating are the cost of doing business. Certainly to these defenders the torture of one man, Tasneem Khalil, does not matter.

To me it matters. It matters that my friend was tortured. It matters that, save for the overwhelming response to his detention, he would today be a statistic - a dead body as a result of the uniquely Bangladeshi opera known as “crossfire“. It matters that the 150 million citizens of Bangladesh, who earned their freedom through blood and sacrifice, are today ruled by the gun.

So, this is my response to the email you sent me last week Tasneem. I was told over the weekend, in a harshly worded diatribe from a man with little regard for this “Virginia-based blogger”, that we bloggers are cowards. That we don’t understand real life. That we hide behind our keyboards. That we are irrelevant.

Perhaps.

But I would not trade a thousand words that I write that fall on deaf ears for the one email that you sent me. I am glad you are here my friend. It is, in the sum total of my life, one of the facts I am most proud of.

-

Mashuqur Rahman [http://www.docstrangelove.com] is one of the highest read Bangladeshi-American bloggers. Critically acclaimed for his incisive analysis on Bangladesh, US foreign policy and dedicated advocacy of human rights.

[Read posts by Mashuqur Rahman]

– Mehedi Hasan has been released, a WRC spokesperson confirmed:

… Mehedi Hasan was released Sunday afternoon, Dhaka time. We have confirmed it directly with Mehedi himself. We also understand that the pending charges against him have been dropped, this is what the police have told Mehedi’s lawyer. Documents confirming this have not yet been received, however. We hope to know more soon about the government’s official position on the case and their intentions going forward.

–

[Mashuqur Rahman, USA.]

The newspapers in Bangladesh fed us the party line. They declared that a “foreign body” had been provoking labor unrest in Bangladesh’s garment industry. Never mind that rising food prices and unpaid back wages have driven those who already live on the edge over the edge. The military government, faced with the fruits of its incompetence, has found the convenient foreign bogey man. The Daily Star tells us about this foreign hand:

Law enforcement agencies have confirmed that a foreign organisation and leaders of a section of garment workers were involved in provoking the recent unrest in garment factories in the city’s Mirpur area.

After investigation, an intelligence agency arrested Mehedi Hasan, Bangladesh representative of the Washington-based Workers Rights Consortium (WRC), at the Zia International Airport prior to his departure for Bangkok on January 24.

…

Court sources said Mehedi reportedly confessed to interrogators that he used to collect information about workers’ problems and send it by email to the WRC headquarters in Washington DC in the USA. He was also learnt to have disclosed that he incited garment workers to press for their demands and held several secret meetings with the leaders of a section of garment workers.

The Bangladesh military has arrested Mehedi Hasan, a man who works for Workers Rights Consortium (WRC). The job of WRC is to collect information about worker’s problems and report it to its affiliate schools. You see, WRC represents 178 American colleges and universities (including my alma mater, Vassar College) who buy garments from brands with factories in countries like Bangladesh. WRC defends the rights of garment workers against abuse. Its reports hold the garment factories’ feet to the fire. WRC’s affiliated colleges and universities use these reports to pressure garments companies to protect workers’ rights.

In short, the Bangladesh military has arrested a man and have accused him of doing his job. The Bangladesh military has discovered that a “foreign body” is working to improve the working conditions in Bangladesh’s garment industry. So they have put a stop to it.

Bangladesh generates much needed income from the garments business. According to the Associated Press, the garments industry brings in more than $10 billion a year from exports to mainly the United States and Europe. Arresting a worker who represents WRC for doing his job can only raise concerns amongst American buyers of Bangladeshi garments. There are reports already in the American media of such concerns:

A labor rights investigator was arrested by the Bangladeshi government, prompting U.S. companies to lobby for his release.

Mehedi Hasan, an employee of the Washington-based Workers Rights Consortium (WRC), was arrested Thursday, according to the organization. The WRC said yesterday that he was arrested in retaliation for his efforts to protect the rights of workers in factories that sell U.S. brands.

Gap Inc. spokeswoman Melissa Swanson said the company is “looking into this situation, working with appropriate authorities and local organizations, and we are hopeful for a prompt and just resolution,” she said.

Kazi Shamsul Alam, commerce counselor at the Bangladeshi Embassy, said yesterday that he received calls from the WRC, Nike and Gap expressing concern, but did not know the charges on which Mr. Hasan was being held.

The report further adds that Mehedi Hasan had been under surveillance by Bangladesh’ military intelligence and one of his colleagues was also harassed at the airport:

WRC Executive Director Scott Nova said, “There have been thousands of political arrests [in Bangladesh] and numerous reports of physical mistreatment of prisoners. We just hope that the attention the arrest has got will provide Mr. Hasan with a level of protection.”

Mr. Hasan’s role was to scrutinize factories and their treatment of workers in Dhaka, ensuring that clothing was not produced under sweatshop conditions. WRC monitors conditions for 178 universities and colleges that lend their brands to Nike and Gap.

The WRC said yesterday that another employee was detained at the airport and subjected to “aggressive interrogation” earlier this month, during which his interrogators made clear that both he and Mr. Hasan were under surveillance by the security forces.

Tonight Human Rights Watch issued a press release citing Mehedi Hasan’s arrest and calling on the Bangladesh military to stop harassing labor rights activists. According to the press release:

“The interim government is abusing its emergency powers to target individuals who are trying to protect workers’ rights in Bangladesh’s most important export industry,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “This should set off alarm bells among donors and governments who don’t seem to understand or care how the authorities are using the state of emergency to systematically suppress basic rights.”

UK-based Labour Behind The Label has also called for his immediate and unconditional release.

In one year of emergency rule the Bangladesh military has presided over spiraling food prices, has tortured and killed its own citizens, has jailed nearly half a million people, has jailed students and professors, has created a climate of fear in the business community, and has now seen labor unrest in a key sector of the economy. Its fix to almost all problems has been to pull out the gun.

Today that gun points at Mehedi Hasan. However, behind him stand the millions in Bangladesh and around the world who say no to exploitation of workers, who believe in the right to a living wage, and who believe in humane working conditions. Behind him stand the foreign apparel brands that purchase Bangladeshi garments, the colleges and universities that buy those brands, and the organizations that ensure that human beings are not being treated inhumanely along the way. It seems to me that the Bangladesh military would serve Bangladesh, its people, and its economy best by putting down the gun.

–

Mashuqur Rahman [http://www.docstrangelove.com] is one of the highest read Bangladeshi-American bloggers. Critically acclaimed for his incisive analysis on Bangladesh, US foreign policy and dedicated advocacy of human rights.

[Read posts by Mashuqur Rahman]

[Hat tip to Robin Khundkar.]

Recently I wrote about Sarmila Bose’s apologia for the Pakistan army that was published last September in Economic and Political Weekly. In this week’s issue of EPW, two critical comments were published that take to task Ms. Bose’s “research.” The first comment is from Akhtaruzzaman Mandal, a freedom fighter whose first-person account of finding Bengali rape victims being held by Pakistani soldiers was disputed by Ms. Bose. The second comment is from Nayanika Mookherjee, lecturer in the Department of Sociology at Lancaster University. Ms. Bose had cited one of Dr. Mookherjee’s articles to try to cast doubt on the rapes committed by the Pakistan army in their campaign of genocide in 1971.

Mr. Mandal exposes Ms. Bose’s “research” with the authority of one who has lived history. Below are some excerpts from Mr. Mandal’s comment:

Since Bose knew nothing about this humble freedom fighter and the pride we all bear, she could casually describe me as a muktijoddha accompanying the Indian army. Such description also served her purpose, as she tried to portray me as someone who had no prior knowledge about the land and people of Bhurungamari/Nageshwari, about their suffering and destitution. As guerrilla fighters we were active in the region all through monitoring the day to day developments. We were like the fish in the water, as the saying goes. That is why in my book, not known to Bose, I have also written about few other specific cases of how women had to suffer. But that is another story, quite a long one, let me concentrate here on the accusation made by Bose.

While doing her “research,” Bose never tried to contact me. On the other hand her search for truth took her to Pakistan and she interviewed Lt Col Saleem Zia of 8 Punjab who was stationed in that area and cross-checked my information with this partisan source of hers. Quoting my account Bose writes, “According to Mandal, Bhurungamari seemed like a ghost town. He claims 60 East Pakistan Civil Armed Force (EPCAF) members and 30-40 Pakistani soldiers were captured [as] they had run out of ammunition. He also claims that 40-50 Pakistani soldiers were killed in this battle.” Then quoting her Pakistani source she writes, “Brigadier Zia found 30 injured men, who were evacuated, and 36 able-bodied ones. The rest were dead or dispersed and four or five, by his estimate, were captured.” The anomaly in the description provided by members from two contending side is not new in any battle account. It is the researcher’s job to dig for the truth. But according to our researcher here Akhtaruzzaman Mandal “claims” whereas brigadier Zia “found” and that shows where she is standing as a dispassionate independent scholar. Even in her account about the number of deaths she has not said anything about the EPCAF, who were raw recruits from the villages of West Pakistan and were put into forward position to work as a shield to the Pakistan army.

…

Now let us take the case of captain Ataullah Khan, the human devil. Bose has been successful in collecting laudable quotes about Ataullah and in her attempt to whitewash the devil’s deeds made a jugglery of the location of Bhurungamari and Nageswari depicting them as two sites completely separated from each other. She writes, “According to this fellow (Pakistani) officer, Captain Ataullah had not been in Bhurungamari before and he was based at Nageswari. He had barely got there when he faced the Indian attack.” Her research or lack of research has led her to greatly differentiate between Nageswari and Bhurungamari and if only she was interested to know more she could have found out that the distance between the two place is only 15 km and at that time, even with a ferry crossing, it took only 30 minutes for a commanding officer to cover the distance by his jeep. The Pakistani captain being based at Nageswari was a frequent visitor to the forward position at Bhurungamari and he was no stranger there.

Bose never asked any woman, any common man of Nageswari and Bhurungamari, about Ataullah Khan but quoted her Pakistani source at length and writes, “This fellow officer of 25 Punjab described [Not claimed: AM] Captain Ataullah as a six-foot plus Pathan officer known for being ‘humane.’ He further stated that he saw people in Nageswari weep upon hearing the Ataullah’s death. According to him, when the Pakistanis were POWs in India after the war, a senior Indian officer had expressed his respect, soldier-to-soldier, to the officers of 25 Punjab and mentioned by name Ataullah, who had become a ’shaheed’ (martyr).” In the footnote Bose mentions that, “this inclusion of evidence from the Indian side in the future would be of great value in assessing this and many other aspect of 1971 war.” I am happy that she noted the importance of the Indian source which she never tried to use and would request her to look for members of 6 Mountain Division with whom we fought side by side. After 36 long years I cannot remember all of them or their full names, but how can I forget Major General Thappa, Brigadier Josie, Major Chatowal Singh, Captain Shambu, Captain Mitra, Captain Bannerje, Major Bala Reddy, as well as fellow fighters from the 78 Battalion of the BSF and others. Instead of interviewing only the perpetrators of genocide, rape and crimes against humanity she should also try to get evidences from the Indian side.

As Bose has gathered most of her information from highly dubious one-sided Pakistani sources following atrocious and unbelievable lines, “The picture painted of captain Ataullah by his fellow officer, who knew him, completely contradicts the one given by Mandal, who appears to have only seen his dead body. Clearly, if captain Ataullah had been based in Nageswari and only gone up to Bhurungamari the day the Indian attack started, he could not have been responsible for whatever might have been going on in Bhurungamari. Mandal offers no corroborating evidence for his character assassination of an officer who had died defending his country, and therefore, cannot speak in his own defence.”

As a freedom fighter operating in the area we came to know about many of the atrocious acts of Ataullah and this human-devil was not unknown to us. Our informers also brought many news and on that auspicious day we knew very well about the bunker he took shelter in and that is why the Indian army could pinpoint their artillery attack. I have seen his dead body at the bunker and could immediately know that this was the man who brought so much suffering to our people, to the poor civilians and villagers of the area. Ataullah Khan was no soldier defending his country, he was part of a killing machine, doing heinous acts against an unarmed civil population which no professional soldier can ever think of. Such acts can in no way be equated with defending one’s country. In that case all the Nazi war criminals will get acquitted as they were “defending” their own country.

[Read the entire article here.]

Dr. Mookherjee, in her comment, discusses Ms. Bose’s flawed methodology and bias. Below are some excerpts:

To any student of social science methodology and memory studies, the article reveals how the pursuit of “facts” alone disallows any analytical, sociological, historical and interpretative perspective. That it was published in EPW is a surprise indeed.

…

It is not clear from the article the extent of the research in Bangladesh, how many survivors the author met, particularly women, what was her position towards these women, i.e., her reflexive position. It is clear that she talked to Pakistani military authorities and accepts everything they say to be true but considers all Bangladeshi accounts as predominantly fabricated.

…

The article accepts every account of Pakistani military authorities as truth while that of Bangladeshis as false and “shrill cries.” Particularly if the accounts are of “illiterate” Bangladeshis they can only be false so the space for any “subalterns” is clearly absent, while those within the military paraphernalia provide legitimate authoritative accounts according to the author. Particularly the role of Bangladeshi women either as witnesses or as raped: like the sweeper Rabeya Khatoon or the sculptor Firdousy Priyobhashini is always of suspect to Bose. Also while mentioning the Hamdoodur Rehman commission of the Pakistani government the author does not mention the instances of rapes and the role of General Niazi as cited in the document.

…

The article cites the case of Ferdousy Priyobhashini who as a single woman had to look after her widowed mother and young siblings and continued to work during the war and becomes the focus of sexual violence by various Pakistani officers as well as Bengali collaborators.

The article interrogates Priyobhashini’s account questioning why she stayed back during the war and whether her rape was as a result of coercion or a voluntary sexual act by stating that she “willingly fraternised.” By that argument is the article suggesting that Priyobhashini brought the rape upon her since she stayed back? This is extremely problematic and parallels the biases within various rape laws which seem to suggest that women must have brought the rape upon them in different instances.

By this argument the sociologically nuanced analysis of how single women and their sexuality are always suspect, is never addressed and instead Priyobhashini’s experience is highlighted by the derisive comment that she “makes much of her threats.” The complexity of war time violence and the various threatening compulsive situations is well articulated in the work of Cynthia Enloe, Veena Das, Urvashi Butalia, Ritu Menon and Kamla Bhasin. Primo Levi’s work on the holocaust also shows the complex negotiations made by survivors.

…

The article also states the account of Champa from one of my articles [Mookherjee 2003] and tries to infer that no rapes happened during the Bangladesh war. My article was exploring how the trauma of rape is understood in independent Bangladesh and in the process I explore how scholars of memory make sense of the process of forgetting. The nuanced arguments I make about Champa is hinged on long-term fieldwork, cross-checking of hospital files and documents and finding the social workers who found her and brought her to the hospital. These are the “evidences” of Champa’s war-time violent encounter of rape. I have also worked with and written about other women who encountered rape during the Bangladesh war. This was done by means of over a year’s fieldwork as well as cross-checking interviews, and examining archival, official documents, etc.

[Read the entire article here.]

–

Mashuqur Rahman [http://www.docstrangelove.com] is one of the highest read Bangladeshi-American bloggers. Critically acclaimed for his incisive analysis on Bangladesh, US foreign policy and dedicated advocacy of human rights.

[Read posts by Mashuqur Rahman]

[Click here on the photo for a PDF of the complete 4 page issue of The Observer (Bangladesh Observer) from December 18, 1971.]

[Mashuqur Rahman, USA.]

The erstwhile Pakistan Observer newspaper, renamed The Observer, published its first issue in independent Bangladesh on December 18, 1971, two days after the Pakistan army surrendered to the joint forces of the Indian army and the Mukti Bahini. The banner headline read “Bangladesh comes into being.”

The hurriedly published front page report read:

The sovereign state of Bangladesh, the dream of 75 million of people has come into being. The barbarous Pakistan Army which had let loose a reign of terror in the fertile soil of Bangladesh for the last nine months unconditionally surrendered to the allied forces of India and Mukti Bahini in Dacca on Thursday thus bringing to an end of a chapter of this deltaic region by West Pakistan cliques.

The flag of Bangladesh was hoisted on housetops and business concerns soon after the news of surrender of the Pakistan Army was spread.

The new state which has already received recognition from its great neighbour and friendly state of India and the mountain kingdom of Bhutan is expected to get similar recognition from other countries who believe in the right of humanity and the oppressed people.

The full cost of the war in lives lost and destroyed was not apparent on the first day of publication. Over the next months, as news began to come in from all corners of Bangladesh — of mass graves, of rapes, of razed villages, of slaughterhouses — did the full magnitude of the genocide become apparent.

Even the murders of the Bengali intellectuals just two days before liberation was not yet known. However, a small item on the last page of the newspaper raised a question whose answer we now unfortunately know. The item asked “Where are they?”:

The Al-Badar, the collaborating student political wing of the occupation forces in Bangladesh took into their custody a number of persons mostly journalist and university lecturers last week by raiding their houses. The Al-Badar students, mostly affiliated with the extreme rightist political party Jamaat-e-Islam, a boot-licking political force of the occupation army.

The arrested persons are Mr. Shahidullah Kaiser, Joint Editor of the Daily Sangbad, Mr. Nizamuddin Ahmed, former Bureau Chief of PPI and a Correspondent of BBC, Mr. Syeed Abdul Mannan, a Senior Sub-editor of the former Pakistan Observer, Mr. Serajuddin Hossain, News Editor of the Ittefaq, Mr. Gholam Mustofa, a Senior Sub editor of Purbodesh, Prof. Munier Chowdhury, Head of the Dept. of Bengali, Dacca University and Prof. Santosh Banerjee of the Dept. of History, Dacca University, Dr. Rabbi, a Professor of the Dacca Medical College.

–

Thirty six years ago Bangladesh emerged after a bloody confrontation with the Pakistan army and its Islamist allies. At the cost of three million lives Bangladesh earned its birth as a secular democracy. The Pakistan army is long gone, but the Islamists remain. They have festered in the Bangladeshi body politic like an untended wound. Today with the collapse of democracy in Bangladesh, the Islamists once again are ascendant.

Last year, on the 35th anniversary of Bangladesh’s liberation, I had written that the future of secular Bangladesh hung in the balance. After the military takeover of Bangladesh last January, it appears the scales have tipped in favor of the Islamists. Sadly, more than three decades after independence Bangladesh is still fighting for its secular dream against ever increasing odds.

The dream of Shonar Bangla remains illusive and under threat.

–

Mashuqur Rahman [http://www.docstrangelove.com] is one of the highest read Bangladeshi-American bloggers. Critically acclaimed for his incisive analysis on Bangladesh, US foreign policy and dedicated advocacy of human rights.

[Read posts by Mashuqur Rahman]

Last Sunday I attended a seminar on the Bangladesh Genocide at Kean University in Union, New Jersey. The seminar was organized by the Nathan Weiss Graduate College at Kean. The seminar inaugurated graduate course work on the Bangladesh Genocide as part of the Masters program in Holocaust and Genocide Studies. The seminar was introduced by Dr. Bernard Weinstein, Holocaust and Genocide Studies Program Coordinator. The dean of the Graduate College Dr. Kristie Reilly and the President of Kean University Dr. Dawood Farahi also made introductory remarks.

Freedom fighter and author Dr. Nurun Nabi, Dr. Rounaq Jahan of Columbia University, Dr. ABM Nasir of North Carolina Central University, and Dr. Sachi Dastidar of the State University of New York made presentations to an audience of about 300 at the University Center Theater.

The event was organized due to the tireless work of Bangladeshi students at Kean University. These students, all born after 1971, are not only the future of the Bengali nation but also the future guardians of our history. I salute them.

The importance of preserving and defending our history was brought into focus when family members of some of the victims of the genocide spoke at the seminar. The family members, one by one, approached the podium and opened a window for a brief few minutes into lives of courage and of sacrifice. They shamed us. As Dr. ABM Nasir mentioned in his speech, in many ways we have failed the victims of the genocide and their families. Millions of lives were brutally extinguished in those nine months in 1971, and millions more were left shattered. The Bangladeshi nation has failed them in the last 36 years. We have failed to preserve our history and we have failed to defend it against attacks from the very people who perpetuated the genocide. We have failed to bring to justice the perpetrators. We have let the murderers and rapists walk free. In doing so, we have insulted those on whose backs we have become free.

So our task is clear. Our task is to preserve and honor the sacrifices of those who we lost in 1971. We owe it to ourselves, to our parents, and to those who will come after us.

[Also see the post by Addabaj on Sachalayatan and the report from NYBangla.]

Clarification (12/13/2007 2:00PM): I stated in the post above that the seminar inaugurated graduate course work on the Bangladesh Genocide. That is not quite accurate. The seminar was the first step in developing course work for a graduate course. The university is looking into developing the course work. The following is from a memorandum from Kean University:

The university authority is overwhelmed by knowing the magnitude of the genocide and by looking into resources available. It will look into the possibility of writing a course after collecting enough resources that can support the course curricula. The university administration is looking into developing research network with other universities and researchers about this genocide so that there is a strong background work before the curriculum is developed. All these actions are yet to be taken by the university administration.

————————————-

Below I have included the written testimony from the family members who spoke and those who were present. I thank Dr. Ziauddin Ahmed for compiling and providing me with a copy of the testimony of the family members. I thank the family members for their courage and for their humanity.

Major M.A. Hasib stationed in Comilla cantonment, a city approximately 60 miles from Dhaka, was making arrangements and looking forward to a civilian life, after devoting a 21 year career to the Pakistan army. He had opted for an early retirement, because he had been superseded for promotion to Colonel twice. He was disgusted with the treatment of Bengali officers by the Pakistani army, who routinely and deliberately, used the concept of the glass ceiling and kept the Bengali officers in their midst at lower ranks. Hearing of the atrocities committed by the Pakistani soldiers, from the news on BBC radio, his wife feared that he was imminent danger. But he comforted her. Believing that since his early retirement was approved and came into effect only ten days earlier and that he had been a loyal army officer all his life, they had nothing to fear from him, thus no harm would come to him and his family. But the Pakistani death squads were taking no chances.
They came for him on the morning of March 29th 2007, as he sat down to breakfast with his family and huddled together to listen to BBC news on the transistor radio. He was my father, Major M.A.Hasib. Four armed soldiers escorted into a jeep at gunpoint. That was the last time he was seen alive.

My mother and two small sisters were later thrown into prison camp, where they witnessed and suffered the atrocities committed by the Pakistani soldiers.
My father

Aparajito: The word cannot be properly translated into English. Those who have seen Satyajit Ray’s 1956 film “Aparajito” may translate the word as “unvanquished”. Undefeated. Unbowed. Uncowed. Unbeaten. It is much more than any of those words.

Today, four Bangladeshi prisoners of conscience — Moloy Bhowmik, Selim Reza Newton, Abdullah Al Mamun and Dulal Chandra Biswas — walked out from the Rajshahi Central Jail as free men — aparajito. These four Rajshahi University professors were sentenced last week to two years rigorous imprisonment by a Bangladeshi kangaroo court for taking part in a silent procession in August of this year. Today they were released when Bangladesh’s civilian puppet president, Iajuddin Ahmed, “pardon”ed them of their “crimes”.

The military government claimed that the professors were released following a petition for mercy to the president from the professors. However, the professors rejected the military government’s claim saying they had not asked for mercy:

Later at the grave of Shamsuzzoha, Bhoumik told journalists, “We heard the media is saying that we had sought presidential clemency.”

“I want to make it clear that we never sought any mercy from anyone. If anybody claims so, he should show the proof. If the claim comes from the government then it is an insult to the teaching community.”

“If the government claims that we sought mercy, they must prove it. We are ready to go to jail again if necessary. It is a matter of the teaching community’s prestige.”

Talking on the matter of presidential clemency, Sayed Selim Reza Newton also expressed his astonishment. Rejecting the government’s claim he said, “There was no question of mercy petitions. Neither we nor our wives submitted any petition to the government for mercy.”

“We are disappointed at the government’s claim. We suffered in jail long enough because we didn’t want to seek mercy. We could have been freed much earlier if we had sought mercy.”

Dulal Chandra Biswas thanked the president for his ‘voluntary initiative’. “We thank him for his voluntary move of ordering the mercy. It was possible only for the efforts of all the people including our colleagues and students.”

The release comes after growing public outrage over the sentencing of these professors for a non-violent and silent protest. In support of the prisoners of conscience few days ago over 40 Dhaka University professors held a silent protest in front Aparajeyo Bangla (unvanquished Bengal). The Dhaka University Teachers Association (DUTA) issued an ultimatum to the military government demanding the release of the prisoners of conscience by December 12th. In response, a three member team from the army - reportedly Brigadier General ATM Amin, Colonel Abu Saleh and Colonel Almas Raisul Ghani of the DGFI (Directorate General of Forces Intelligence) - met with DUTA and the Dhaka University Vice Chancellor to dissuade (threaten) them into cancelling their planned protests. The Dhaka University professors refused and began their protests as previously planned. It was clear that battle lines had been drawn between the brute force of the military and the moral authority of the Bangladeshi academic community.

Today the military government buckled. The military had nothing more to gain by holding these professors. They had already gotten their point across - dissent is punishable by torture and/or imprisonment. Confrontation would have led to nothing more than bad press.

However, the detention and subsequent release of these prisoners of conscience also exposes the modus operandi of this military government. The rule of law, or the flouting of it, lies at the whims of the generals in charge and at the mercy of military intelligence officers of the DGFI. It was notable and illuminating that it was the DGFI that was negotiating with DUTA. It was also notable that only under threat of what was likely to be mass protests did the military government release these men. This does not bode well for the future of Bangladesh. If force, or the threat of force, are the only checks on this military government’s behavior its exit - an inevitability - is likely to be bloody.

Meanwhile up to 250,000 other prisoners are being held by this military government without due process. Among them are Dhaka University professors also being held for protesting against army brutality last August. Today, the civilian water carrier for the military government, Mainul Hosein, declared that the Dhaka University professors “could also be freed if they apologise for their actions.”

Last August the BBC pointed out that the army’s wrath against students and professors was unleashed in part because it felt insulted. It appears that the “rule of law” in Bangladesh is now not much more than insult and apology. An unaccountable military force rules by fiat. And only the politics of confrontation appears to be on the horizon. These are dangerous times.

Nonetheless, four prisoners of conscience are free today. Unapologetic. Aparajito.

–

Mashuqur Rahman [http://www.docstrangelove.com] is one of the highest read Bangladeshi-American bloggers. Critically acclaimed for his incisive analysis on Bangladesh, US foreign policy and dedicated advocacy of human rights.

[Read posts by Mashuqur Rahman]

[Photo: Cyclone, a baby born during the onslaught of Sidr.]

[Mashuqur Rahman, USA.]

Cyclone Sidr battered Bangladesh last Thursday taking an yet unknown number of lives in its path. The latest official reports put the death toll over 2000. No one really knows how high the death toll will climb since rescuers have not yet reached all of the devastated areas. The Bangladesh Red Crescent is warning that the death toll could top 10,000.

As Cyclone Sidr was killing the people of Bangladesh, a little baby was born in the southern district of Barisal — the district that took the brunt of the onslaught. The picture you see above is his proud grandmother holding the newborn in front of the debris of their collapsed home. They have named the child “Cyclone.”

I could write today about the horrible destruction that has occurred in Bangladesh. I could write about the many stories of death, the loss of homes, of essential crops, of the destruction of the beautiful Sundarbans. But there is a more urgent need today.

That need is that little baby in his grandmother’s arms. That little baby needs food, water, medicine and shelter. By the cruel chance of nature, that baby was born into a world of unspeakable destruction. We can change that.

Cash is what is needed most. And the tiniest amount makes a huge difference. It costs about 30 cents for a packet of oral saline, something that saves the life of one person. So literally a few dollars saves a lot of lives.

We have seen the power of the internet in bringing the world together, of fighting oppression, of changing lives. I urge you today to use the power of the internet to change the lives of our fellow human beings. The need is urgent and time is of the essence. The survivors of the cyclone will soon face water-borne diseases, hunger and dehydration unless help reaches them. Unless relief reaches the most at need the initial tragedy of the cyclone will have been multiplied many fold.

So today I ask you the reader to help the people of Bangladesh at their time of dire need. I ask you to consider helping