No Google Doodle For Victory Day

Some Bangladeshi netizens started a campaign to let Google know that we want a Google Doodle for Bangladesh's 40th victory day. Their voices were not heard. But still we can share the proposal. No?

Via Forhad

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40th Anniversary of The Concert For Bangladesh

Ever since Bob Geldof and Midge Ure arranged Live Aid, a dual-venue concert to raise funds for relief of the Ethiopian famine on 13 July 1985, which was aired to 2 million viewers from 150 countries, such benefit concerts have become widely popular in the world. But in the backdrop of this event was the Concert For Bangladesh, the two benefit concerts organized by musicians George Harrison and Ravi Shankar on August 1, 1971, which is not known to many people. Bangladeshi bloggers celebrate the 40th anniversary of that epic event and tell the world why it matters for Bangladesh.

Naadir Junaid at Sachalayatan provides the background of that historical event:

১৯৭১ সালের আগস্ট মাস; এক ভয়াল সময় অতিক্রম করছে বাংলাদেশের অগণিত মানুষ। বিশ্বের বৃহৎ পশ্চিমী রাষ্ট্রগুলি বাংলাদেশে পাকিস্তানী সামরিক বাহিনীর গণহত্যা আর ধ্বংসযজ্ঞের ব্যাপারে সচেতন হচ্ছে না। বাংলাদেশের মানুষের যৌক্তিক দাবী দমন করার জন্য পাকিস্তানী সামরিক সরকার বেছে নিলো নির্মম সামরিক আক্রমণের পথ; অজস্র বাঙালী তাদের ঘরবাড়ি ছেড়ে, কেবল প্রাণ বাঁচানোর তাগিদে ভারতে শরণার্থী হিসেবে আশ্রয় নিলো। শুরু হলো বাংলাদেশের মুক্তিসংগ্রাম। অথচ ক্ষমতাধর মার্কিন যুক্তরাষ্ট্র বিশ্বের এই প্রান্তে নিজেদের রাজনৈতিক প্রভাব টিকিয়ে রাখার জন্য নতুন দেশ হিসেবে বাংলাদেশের আবির্ভাবের বিরোধিতায় ব্যস্ত। বাংলাদেশের শরণার্থীদের আশ্রয় দেয়ার জন্য, বাঙালী মুক্তিযোদ্ধাদের সমর্থন করার জন্য ভারতের প্রধানমন্ত্রী ইন্দিরা গান্ধী তখন নিক্সন প্রশাসনের চক্ষুশূল।

It was August 1971; many people of Bangladesh were going through a terrible time. The important Western countries were not becoming aware of the repression and genocide of the Pakistani army in Bangladesh (then East Pakistan). The Pakistani army chose to militarily tackle and silence the valid demands of Bangladeshi civilians. Millions of Bangladeshis left their home to run for their lives and many ended up in refugee camps in neighboring India. But the mighty United States kept resisting the advent of a new country named Bangladesh just to maintain their political interests in this region. The Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was resented by the Nixon administration because she sheltered the Bangladeshi refugees and aided the freedom fighters.

এমন পরিস্থিতিতেই ১৯৭১ সালের পহেলা আগস্ট বাংলাদেশকে সাহায্য করার জন্য বাংলাদেশের স্বাধীনতা যুদ্ধের প্রতি বিরূপ মার্কিন যুক্তরাষ্ট্রেই আয়োজন করা হয় এক অসাধারণ কনসার্ট, যা ইতিহাসে স্থান করে নিয়েছে বিভিন্ন কারণে। এর আগে কখনো একদল অসম্ভব খ্যাতিমান এবং বরেণ্য সঙ্গীতশিল্পী কোন দেশকে সাহায্য করার জন্য একসাথে কোন অনুষ্ঠানে অংশগ্রহণ করেননি; ইতিহাসে এমন কনসার্ট এই প্রথম। এই কনসার্ট অগণিত মানুষের সামনে তুলে ধরে সঙ্গীত আর শিল্পের শক্তি, যে শক্তি অতিক্রম করে যায় অনেক রাজনৈতিক শক্তিকেও। নিউ ইয়র্কের ম্যাডিসন স্কোয়্যার গার্ডেনে উপস্থিত হওয়া বহু মার্কিন তরুণ-তরুণী দেখতে পান তাদের প্রিয় সঙ্গীতশিল্পীরা তুলে ধরছেন মানবতা আর বর্বরতার পার্থক্য, আর তাঁরা সবাইকে আহ্বান জানাচ্ছেন অসহায়, অত্যাচারিত মানুষের পাশে দাঁড়াবার জন্য যখন তাদের দেশের সরকারকে বহু নিপীড়িত মা আর শিশুর ক্রন্দন স্পর্শ করছে না। রবি শঙ্কর কনসার্টে আসা অসংখ্য দর্শকদের উদ্দেশ্যে বলেন, “আমরা কোন রাজনীতি করতে আসিনি; আমরা শিল্পী। আমরা শুধু আমাদের অনুষ্ঠানের মধ্য দিয়ে একটি বার্তা পৌঁছে দিতে সমবেত হয়েছি। আমরা চাই আমাদের সঙ্গীত আপনাদের বাংলাদেশের মানুষের তীব্র বেদনা আর মনোযন্ত্রণা অনুভব করতে সাহায্য করুক”।

In this circumstance a concert was arranged on the 1st of August 1971, in the very place USA, which was not in favor of Bangladesh's Liberation War. This concert has been en-grafted in history for several reasons. Never before so many talented and popular artists had gathered to help a population, a country; such event is the first in history. This concert shows people the power of music and arts, which overshadows political powers. Many young men and women standing in the Madison Square Garden had witnessed in front of them how their beloved musicians portrayed the difference between humanity and barbarism, how they appealed to people to stand by the helpless, tortured people when their government was not being touched by the plights of the repressed mothers and the crying children. Ravi Shankar said to the crows: "We have not come for politics; we are musicians. We have gathered to spread only one message. We want you to feel the deep pain and plights of the people of Bangladesh through our music."

My friend came to me,
With sadness in his eyes,
He told me that he wanted help,
Before his country died,
Although I couldn't feel the pain,
I knew I'd have to try,
Now I'm asking all of you,
To help us save some lives
(Bangladesh: George Harrison)

Naadir remembers that the song Bangladesh by George Harrison gave him shivers and inspired him when he listened to it after 20 years and still the song produces the same reaction.

Valobashar Deyal (Wall Of Love) pays tribute to the musicians:

সবসময়ের শ্রদ্ধা আর ভালবাসা থাকবে এই সব গুনী মানুষদের জন্য,যাদের প্রান কেদেছিল এই আমার মাটি আর মানুষের জন্য ১৯৭১ এর স্বাধীনতা সংগ্রামকালীন সময়ে। [..]

কেন জানি বিশ্বাস হয় সেই সময়ের কনসার্টে যারাই দর্শক হিসেবে অংশ নিয়েছিল তারা সবাই ই আমাদের দেশের শুভ কামনার জন্যই জড়ো হয়েছিল।

Our gratitude and respect will forever be with these talented people; who felt and cried for our people and country in 1971, during our liberation war.

I believe that those who came to the concert had good wishes for our people.

Bangladesh, Bangladesh
Bangladesh, Bangladesh
When the sun sinks in the west
Die a million people of the Bangladesh
….
And the students at the university
Asleep at night quite peacefully
The soldiers came and shot them in their beds
And terror took the dorm awakening shrieks of dread
And silent frozen forms and pillows drenched in red.. (Joan Baez)

Some 40,000 peoples attended the Concert For Bangladesh and $243,418.50 was collected from the event and was given to Unicef for the war affected children of Bangladesh. The sale proceeds of the album and DVD continue to benefit the George Harrison Fund for UNICEF.

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Concert for Bangladesh, The George Harrison Fund for UNICEF is streaming the video of the entire concert HERE till 1 August, 2011 11:59PM EDT.

Image Courtesy Omi Rahman Pial

Omi Rahman Pial at Somewhereinblog reminds [bn] everyone of another forgotten benefit concert for Bangladesh, which took place in Kennington Oval in London on the September 18th, 1971. The advertisements for the event titled Goodbye Summer clearly stated that it was "A Rock Concert In The Aid Of The Victims Of Bangladesh". The artists included The Who, The Face (vocal: Rod Stewart), America, Mott The Hoople etc.

Mosaddik Uzzal informs [bn] that the Bangladesh government will be awarding different merits to foreign friends who helped Bangladesh and Bangladeshis during the liberation war in 1971. The list includes musicians George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Pandit Ravi Shankar among many.

First Published in Global Voices Online

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Controversial House of Lords Seminar Sponsored by War Criminal Lobbies

(A translation from the original Bengali version of the piece at Muktangon blog)

London: 22 June.

An attempt to make the ongoing trial of war criminals in Bangladesh questionable in international arena has been wasted. One makeshift organization called ‘Justice Concern’ tried to arrange this with the help of All-party Parliamentary Human Rights Group (APPGHR) of UK. The role of Lord Eric Avebury, the vice Chairman of APPGHR has also been questioned by different quarters.

It may be mentioned here that Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, the protectors of some alleged Bangladeshi war criminals have been lobbying in the international arena, especially in the UK and USA, under different banners to stop the trial of war criminals. Justice Concern is one such organization, which was unheard in UK till-to-date.

Justice Concern used All-party Parliamentary Human Rights Group (APPGHR) to take steps to make the ongoing trial of war criminals in Bangladesh questionable. They achieved preliminary success on this as on 23^rd of June they arranged a seminar in the House Of Lords titled “Bangladesh’s International Crime (Tribunal) Act 1973: Quality Of International Trial”. The activities of ‘Justice Concern’ (JC) was to make a buzz about this seminar and ensure presence of the representatives of the Bangladesh Government. Not only JC failed in that but it was also exposed that they have close ties with Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh. Many Bangladeshi expatriates in UK have raised concerns about this APPGHR seminar.
Meanwhile, we tried to contact them via the telephone number available for RSVP on the seminar and we have succeeded on the 21^st of June. The phone call was received by Barrister Ashaduzzaman Fuad, the convener of JC. Talking about the seminar he mentioned that JC is not involved with the arrangement of this seminar and APPGHR is solely responsible.

After that we contacted the APPGHR office and one employee informed us that according to his knowledge APPGHR is not involved in such an event. However one of the organizers of War Crimes Strategy Forum (WCSF) confirmed that Lord Avebury had invited them to be present in that seminar. But they cited evidences of involvement of Jamaat-e-Islami in this seminar and refused to attend.

It has been learnt that although the invitations for the seminar went out in the name of APPGHR, the contact telephone number available is of one persons whose sympathies, based on his other organizational affiliations, evidently lies with Jammat-e-Islami politics. After confirming this information some WCSF activists in UK tried to dig deep. They contacted experts and other human rights activities in the field to learn more about the organization (Justice Concern) and its affiliations. They found out that the domain has been registered in the name of Kamal Sikder, the Executive Editor of weekly Eurobangla magazin, who is affiliated with Jamaat. Kamal Sikder was in the executive committee of Bangladesh Islami Chattra Shibir, the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami. His home address was used to register the domain. The contact us and about us pages of the site is not open for public. Barrister Ashaduzzaman Fuad, the coordinator, was involved with Bangladesh Islami Chattra Shibir’s politics when he was studying in Dhaka university. He became the executive editor of Bangladesh Forum Of Europe (BFE) after coming to UK. BFE is regarded as the flagship organization of Bangladesh Islami Chattra Shibir cadres in UK. Jamaat leaders like Matiur Rahman Nizami have previously attended in their programs in UK. Moreover BFE has been accused of having ties with the radical IFE (Islamic Forum of Europe – IFE). One of the co-founders of IFE is the alleged Bangladeshi war criminal Chowdhury Mueenuddin, who had been accused of killing intellectuals during the 1971 liberation war of Bangladesh. [See here and here, for details]

It has been learnt that certain misguided information were used to ensure presence of the representatives of the Bangladesh Government. The Jamaat lobbyists publicized that many representatives of International Bar Association will be present, so if Bangladesh Government representatives do not attend – this will breed controversy. But WCSF publicized some facts which made everybody aware of the true facts. So it has been learnt that Bangladesh government representatives will not be attending this seminar.

But JC is continuing with their efforts. As a part of their lobbying, a seminar titled “Bangladesh: Democracy, Rule Of Law and Freedom Of Expression” is being arranged in the Queen Mary Mason Lecture Theatre. The seminar will be presided by Barrister Ashaduzzaman Fuad., the convener of JC and the chief guest will be Barrister Mahbub Hossain and Barrister Badruddoza Badal, the Chairman and Secretary of Bangladesh Supreme Court Bar Association respectively.

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Should Bangladesh Join The Rome Statute Of The ICC?

Unheard Voice posted a press release of the Coalition for the International Criminal Court urging Bangladesh to be the first South Asian signatory to International Criminal Court (ICC). The ratification only requires approval of the Cabinet, not the Parliament.

The Coalition for the International Criminal Court has recently published another press release which says:

In May 2010, the ICC will hold its first Review Conference which will consider, among other things, amendments to the Statute including the adoption of a definition for the crime of aggression. Given the impact and repercussions that this meeting will have for the future of international justice, we urge your government to ratify the Rome Statute by 1 March, 2010, so as to ensure full participation as a State Party during the Conference.

Now the question is "how joining the ICC will benefit Bangladesh?" State Minister for Liberation War Affairs, AB Tajul Islam had indicated in April 2009 that Bangladesh may request the International Criminal Court to put on trial Pakistani forces for alleged war crimes.

We will take the matter to the International Criminal Court and seek the trial of the members of the Pakistani occupation forces who committed crimes against humanity during our liberation war. And we will request the world body to bring them to justice as many of them are guilty of war crimes.

Barrister Harun ur Rashid, former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN, Geneva wrote in The Daily Star:

To demonstrate the commitment to trial of war crimes, it is appropriate that Bangladesh ratifies the Statute of International Criminal Court of 1998 (Bangladesh signed it) and the ratification will show to the international community Bangladesh's firm resolve that war crimes must not and cannot escape unpunished.

The Bangladesh government has decided to try the home based war criminal under the existing laws of the country. However, their jurisdiction will not cover to prosecute the Pakistani war criminals. So its important to take measures so that they can be brought to justice too. As Barrister Rashid said:

Crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide are the gravest crimes in international law and are condemned by all UN members. The effective punishment is an important element in the prevention and recurrence of such odious crimes and for protection of the inherent dignity of human person.

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War Criminals In Great Britain Are Protected By Law

Delwar Hussain published an eye opener in Guradian Unlimited (Comment Is Free) depicting that British Bangladeshis like Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin are among those accused of war crimes in the 1971 war of liberation. In this report he wrote on Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin:

A Channel Four documentary from 1995 made allegations of involvement by British Bangladeshis in the genocide. Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin, director of Muslim Spiritual Care Provision in the NHS, who was until recently vice-chairman of the East London Mosque and London Muslim Centre and was involved in setting up the Muslim Council of Britain, is one of the most prominent people to be accused of having carried out war crimes.

Mueen-Uddin is alleged to have been part of a group that abducted and “disappeared” people. Witnesses at the time describe seeing him kidnapping a university professor and a journalist in Dhaka during the war. Mueen-Uddin told the documentary makers “all the accusations being made against me are … utterly false and malicious, and either politically motivated or instigated otherwise”.

Having left the newly created country of Bangladesh for London, Mueen-Uddin, along with other members of JI set up Islamic Forum Europe, an avowedly Islamist organisation connected to the East London Mosque.

As Lucy Lips at Harry's place predicted the Guardian has apparently received a libel threat from solicitors representing Mr Mueen-Uddin and they have deleted the phrases above from that article. They have added this disclaimer:

• On 13 October this article was changed following a legal complaint.

Lucy notes:

Fortunately, I live in New York. This blog is also hosted in the United States. I am therefore protected by the Libel Terrorism Protection Act.

The Guardian, by contrast, struggles to report factual information while handicapped by a law which is a serious and disturbing threat, to freedom of expression, the fight against extremism, and the struggle for justice by the people of Bangladesh.

Lucy also informs how these people use law to muffle voices raised against them:

Prominent members and supporters of Jamaat-e-Islami are now well embedded within the United Kingdom. They more or less run the Muslim Council of Britain and the East London Mosque/London Muslim Centre. The Imam of the East London Mosque distinguished himself recently by signing the notorious Istanbul Declaration, which the Government regards as a threat of terrorism against the Royal Navy and ‘everyone standing with the Zionist Entity’. The London Muslim Centre, similarly, regularly hosts meeting by extremists, including the Al Qaeda cleric, Awlaki.

Thanks to the efforts of judges like Mr Justice Eady, and England’s claimant-friendly law of Defamation, activists connected to Jamaat-e-Islami and the Muslim Brotherhood routinely instruct their solicitors to fire off letters before action, claiming that their poor client’s reputations have been sullied, whenever blogs or newspapers report on their words, deeds, or the politics of the organisations to which they belong. Harry’s Place receives these sorts of letters all the time.

The Spittoon also carries the news and check out their comments section for some interesting trolls. The Blog urges:

Those who are in favour of freedom of expression and justice in Britain must counter this despicable underhand move by Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin.

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RIP Senator Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy

Yesterday Senator Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009), the second most senior member of the US Senate, died of cancer. Here is how Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina expressed her reaction:

The prime minister in her message recalled the unstinting support of the senator to the war of independence from Pakistan and his role in mobilising world opinion for Bangladesh.

"The people of Bangladesh will remember his contribution forever."

She said in his death Bangldesh lost a real friend.

In her condolence message, Khaleda Zia (the leader of the opposition) said, "The late senator was a humanist and democratic personality. The people of Bangladesh will remember him forever for the role he played in mobilising world opinion in favour of Bangladesh liberation war".

She sympathised with the members of the Kennedy family.

"The United States has lost a great leader in the death of Senator Kennedy and the people of Bangladesh have lost a real friend".

(Source BDNEWS24.com)

Here is a summary of what he did for Bangladesh in 1971 (Smithbarney at OpenSalon):

Bangladeshi refugees 1971-1972

After the invasion of East Pakistan (also called East Bengal, now called Bangladesh) by West Pakistani forces in the spring of 1971, some 9,000,000 refugees streamed across the border into India. The world and the United States (Nixon/Kissinger mired in Vietnam, famously "tilting" toward West Pakistan) took little note. All except the 39 year old senior senator from Massachusetts, Edward M. Kennedy.

In the brutal heat and monsoon muck of August, Senator Kennedy traveled to refugee camps throughout West Bengal (the neighboring Indian state) and reported back to the Senate in an extraordinarily passionate document ⁽¹⁾ about the plight of the refugees in India and what he called the "reign of terror which grips East Bengal."

He concluded: "America's heavy support of Islamabad (West Pakistan) is nothing short of complicity in the human and political tragedy of East Bengal."

Kennedy not only bore witness, he jolted the world into taking notice and aiding the refugees if not the independence fighters in East Bengal.

Bangladesh gained its independence in December, 1971 after Pakistan was defeated in a short and brutally effective war by India. Senator Kennedy returned to India and now Bangladesh in February, 1972. The United States had so far refused to recognize the new nation (see Kissinger's extraordinary memo). Kennedy called for its recognition. He was lionized in Dhaka, the capital, with cries of "Joi Kennedy" (Hail, or literally, Victory to Kennedy) as well as in Calcutta, India, when he revisited the refugee camps.

Senator Kennedy has remained a steadfast friend of Bangladesh and India. In fact, there is a move to recognize him officially as a Bangladeshi hero, along with the late George Harrison, who had organized the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh, the archetype for such benefits in later years.

More readings:

* Senator Kennedy on the Bangladesh Genocide

* August 15, 1971: Statement by Senator Kennedy expressing his disappointment over the poor response of the international community on the Bangladesh problem.

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Trial Of War Criminals

The mass opinion of Bangladesh has tilted towards the trial of War Criminals of 1971 liberation war. People from all walks of life have raised their voices with petitions, signature campaigns, pasting stickers in public places etc. to pressurize the government to make this possible.

It was an election promise of the Awami League government and the Bangladesh parliament has approved a resolution seeking speedy prosecution of the country's 1971 war criminals. Bangladesh has sought United Nations' assistance for trial of the war criminals, many of whom were rehabilitated in Bangladesh's politics taking the advantage of a state of impunity over the last three decades.

Adding to that the government has imposed travel restrictions on people suspected of war crimes.

It seems sensing their defeat the Islamist political party Jamaat-e-Islami has been planning their defense:

"The top leadership of Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), the country’s largest Islamist party which is accused of killing unarmed civilians then, is planning an “apology” for its “political stance” of opposing the freedom movement.

But it will not acknowledge or apologise for the role of many of its leaders and its youth front cadres who engaged in the killings.

War records show JeI formed the Razakars and Al-Badr forces to counter the freedom fighters. The then secretary general of JeI Moulana Abul Kalam Mohammad Yousuf established the Razakars and Al-Badr with Islami Chhatra Shangha members."

Jamaat has never been apologetic about its opposition to the freedom movement. So they are finally coming to the reality and the truth is coming out. I think the younger Jamaat leaders can save their face by kicking their accused top leaders and let an UN led impartial trial of War Criminals happen. Justice must prevail.

Signature Campaign: Please join us by downloading in Bangla or English

Stickers courtesy: Sachalayatan

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Victory Day

Greetings to everyone on the 37th anniversary of the Victory day in Bangladesh.

It is a day when Bangladesh came into being. 'Victory against what?' one may ask. It was a victory against the farcical two nation theory, The colonialism of West Pakistan and their oppression against their East Pakistani brothers in economic, administrative and cultural sectors, victory against one of the worst genocides in the history of the world, victory against the rape of thousands of women by the Pakistani soldiers and the nine month long liberation war.

The history of the Bangladesh liberation war is an epic itself, the journey from east Pakistan to Bangladesh was long and full of struggles.

In my last years post on the victory day I had promised that supported by E-Bangladesh I will build an online archive of all the available information, evidence, eye witness portraying the true story of the genocide committed by the Pakistanis in 1971. Here is it "1971 Bangladesh Genocide Archive".

This site is essential because:

Now there is a renewed call for trial of the war criminals who are trying to rewrite history.

The general Pakistanis were provided with the wrong version of the truth all the time. From a Pakistani newspaper:

Only foreign media aired the news of the Fall of Dhaka on December 16, 1971. Radio Pakistan kept airing usual transmission and giving a picture of “all is well”.

Even the reports the Pakistani people get display a fragment of the truth.

We dedicate this site to the hundreds and thousands of people who have died in the war and those brave souls who has fought for the country with firearms, support and stood in solidarity with the Bangladeshis.

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In Memory of Gurudasi Mondol

Rest in peace Gurudasi Mondol, finally, after 37 years.

“I will NOT forget. I will not let YOU forget.”

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Blood flows in a painful birth for Bangladesh

The Sunday Times releases from archive (April 4, 1971) a report of Nicholas Tomalin who witnessed a massacre by the Pakistan army.

"We thought the West Pakistan soldiers were attacking and scattered, only to discover, on a grass patch beside the road, men freshly stabbed and bludgeoned, lying in still-flowing pools of blood. Four of them were still just alive, rolling over and waving their legs and arms. None made any noise.
...
Until about Thursday the West Pakistan garrison, which is about battalion size, was in some kind of control. But these troops started killing people for no discernible reason. The local hospital is filled with 35 wounded men, women and children, who claimed that Punjabi troops fired indiscriminately.

If Jessore is typical, East Pakistan is in for a terrible time in the next months and Karachi’s great gamble – to crush all opposition by one big attack – has failed.
..."

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Keeping Jalladkhana buried or alive

So what should a nation do? Purge the memory of the genocide it experienced or keep the ghosts alive?

Time Magazine reports:

Bangladesh sits atop an alluvial plain, so those bent on genocide needed only to dump bodies in rivers or, as at the Jalladkhana, down the wells and conduits of local water-pumping stations, where corpses were literally flushed away into the sea. "These are crimes so horrible that even God wouldn't forgive you," says K.M. Safiullah, a retired general who led the independence war effort. "There cannot be unity without this being solved."

Mirpur's Jalladkhana Killing Field Memorial is a reminder of the gruesome murders that have still gone unpunished for all these decades. Photo: Zahedul I Khan via Star Weekend

However:

Ali Ahsan Mojaheed, general secretary of the Jamaat-e-Islami, a powerful political party that sided with Pakistan in 1971, thinks it's better to close the book on a tragic chapter in history rather than risk opening old wounds. After all, many who supported unity with Pakistan were also killed in reprisal attacks. "This is a dead issue," says Mojaheed. "It cannot be raised."

Ali Ahsan Muzahid's activities during the war makes him one of the hated apologist of the war criminals and forces against Bangladesh. So one can reralize why he wants to keep everything buried. But there are some crimes you can never purge from History.

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India wasn't the architect of Bangladesh

Ahmad Ferdous Bin Alam vents his frustration reading certain Indian media's claim that India and the 13 day Indo-pak war in 1971 was solely the creator of Bangladesh ignoring the nine month long liberation war struggle of Bangladesh and bloods of millions of Bengalis who died:

Bloody birth of Bangladesh was a by-product of that so-called Indo-Pak war? With this statement, the sacrifice of our freedom fighters and martyrs has been brazenly belittled. It's downright despicable!

India's help in our war of liberation has always been aptly appreciated by us except some anti-India freaks. We're indebted to India for its help throughout our liberation war. But exaggeration of their contribution on the part of the Indian press is reprehensible. Describing the war waged by Bangladeshis and fought fiercely in which Indian Force helped us cannot be dubbed as Indo-Pak war in any way.

It's liberation war of Bangladesh, NOT 1971 Indo-Pak war.

B. Raman, former deputy chief of India’s external intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW)adds the right perspective in his book ‘The Kaoboys of RAW’:

‘India’s role was more of a facilitator than a creator. It was a war jointly won by India and the people of East Pakistan’.

‘Without the desire and the will of the people of Bangladesh, there would have been no Bangladesh. Their sacrifices for their cause were immense. How many were brutally killed by the Pakistan Army!

‘How many Bengali intellectuals were massacred by the Pakistan Army and by terrorist organisations such as Al Badr and Al Shams created by the ISI! It is their sacrifice which laid the foundation for an independent Bangladesh.

What India did under the leadership of Indira Gandhi was to make sure that their sacrifices were not in vain. (Source)

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Al Jazeera: 101 East - Bangladeshis seeking justice of Pakistani genocide

Part 1:



Part 2:



Related:
* Bangladesh's long wait for justice
* 1971 Bangladesh Genocide Archive

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Bangladesh 1971

"They had risked all to hold on to this moment in history. The scarred negatives, hidden from the military, wrapped in old cloth, buried underground, also bore the wounds of war. These photographers were the only soldiers who preserved tangible memories, a contested memory that politicians fight over, in their battle for supremacy. These faded images, war weary, bloodied in battle, provide the only record of what was witnessed. Nearly four decades later, they speak."

- Renowned Photo Journalist Shahidul Alam spells out these words to introduce us to the photo exhibition on the Bangladesh's liberation war. Shahidul's photo agency Drik is behind this with the partnership of Autograph ABP. and this is being held at Rivington Place, London EC2A 3BA, until May 31.

Bangladeshi writer Tahmima Anam writes in the Guardian a review of the exhibition:

The contradiction between exalting and forgetting persists in Bangladesh, where the war remains a contested space, still charged 37 years later with an emotional and psychological intensity that brings to life William Faulkner's words "The past is never dead, it is not even past". Yet these complexities are captured in a photograph taken by Naib Uddin Ahmed of a woman - one of the birangona - obscuring her face by clutching a thick mass of her own hair.

The Guardian has published a 12 page photo gallery containing images being displayed in the exhibition.

The exhibition is also accompanied by the Bangladesh 1971 Film Season. So those who are in London should not miss this opportunity. Also check out our effort - the Bangladesh Genocide Archive to learn more about the war and the genocide.

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A tribute to the victims of the Bangladesh 1971 genocide

If you are wondering why I was not blogging last couple of month as frequently as before, I confess now I was engaged in a mammoth project.

It all started after the much discussed denial - Jamaat-e-Islami's leader Ali Ahsan Muzahid's statement that "Jamaat did not work against the Liberation War in 1971 and there are no war criminals in the country." Soon other apologists joined the procession of denials terming the war of liberation as a civil war. Even scholars like Sharmila Bose tried to deny a lot of thing with faulty research.

Some fellow bloggers notably Mashuqur Rahman and Tasneem Khalil stressed that we need a proper archive to tackle these issues. Since I was reading and compiling a list of all available content on liberation war since long, I came forward to gather contents for an archive. I started work in December 2007 and it was a learning experience for me to study and revisit our glorious history of liberation.

I have listed in this archive the International newspaper clippings, events, documentations, audio, video, images, media reports and eyewitness accounts of the 1971 Genocide in Bangladesh all with workable links to judge the truth for yourself. I have compiled views of Pakistanis, Indians, US Government with articles, documents and provided many rare known facts. I am not an historian nor I am here to distort the history. But I hope this archive will help the seekers of truth. For an example you can refute Jamaat's statement from the facts in this page (in Bangla) alone.

As I wrote in the about section of the Bangladesh Genocide Archive:

"The plot is so huge that no one person can tell the story. Many books were written, video footage was taken and words are passed from generation to generation. But due to lack of information in one place and platform many truth were distorted. The struggle for Bangladesh’s liberation and the efforts of the Pakistani army to cull the resistance resulted in one of the worst genocide in the World history. This was interpreted in many different ways. To many Bengalis it was a struggle for liberation, to many Pakistanis a armed rebel to be quashed, to the US govt. Pakistan’s internal affair. However it was in the US the peace loving people arranged the first ever aid concert for the people of Bangladesh.

Politicians tried to bank on these in the past and will be doing this in the future. The new generation is baffled as text books were rewritten to instill superiority of the visionaries of the political governments over rivals. People are forgetting that it was a mass effort and prompting to disrespect the catalysts and the father of nation, who was the inspiration.

That is why this site is born."

Actually its a repository of all the information available online listed in one place. From here you will be able to navigate to the original contents in their original locations. I will try to include all valid viewpoints with authenticated sources and let the readers/viewers be the judge.

I personally thank to all these individuals and organizations who have done excellent job over the years but people barely know about their excellent efforts. In different sections of the archive I have listed and collated from their commendable works in one place and linked them accordingly so that people can go to those sites and see the amazing work they have done.

I also thank Mashuqur Rahman, and MMR Jalal for their contents we proudly present here. If MMR Jalal was a website himself no other sites would be required. Ehab did an excellent work on site architect and design (more features coming). Also thanking here fellow bloggers Sushanta, Tasneem, Nazzina, Tanoy, Zafa, Shada Kalo, Rubel, Faiyaz and seniors like Saleem Samad and Abdul Gaffar Chowdhury for their support and encouragement. One disclaimer here is that this is purely a personal effort and I will keep this from any political or organizational alignment.

Let this be a tribute to the victims of the Bangladesh 1971 genocide and all those who fought for the country.

If you haven't bookmarked it yet here is the site: Bangladesh Genocide Archive

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Bangladesh: Bloggers discussing cinema, politics, health, photography and history

(First published in Global Voices Online)

The Bangladeshi film industry nicknamed Dhallywood used to produce decent films for the Bangladeshi society. But with the competition of superior quality pictures from Hollywood and Bollywood, which conquered Bangladesh market and the people with the help of cheap bootleg VCD/DVDs, Dhallywood was in trouble in the last decade. Keeping the strict censorship rule in a predominantly Muslim society in mind, the Dhallywood producers invented new ways to attract viewers with saucier and violent scenes as well as stories and using colorful explicit posters.



Shafiur of imperfect world 2008 shares 8 posters from his collection of almost 500 posters to let us have an idea of what Dhallywood offers now- a- days. Click on the image to view those.

Politics

“The rule of law is essential for society to live without fear. For it to apply, it must start at the top.”

World renowned photojournalist Shahidul Alam comments the above in a photo essay on the existing rule of law (or the absence of it) in Bangladesh. Click here for the photo essay.

Health

Recently an email about maltreatment and death of a patient in a Dhaka clinic was widely circulated among the Bangladeshis. Life in Eskaton posts it to portray the sorry state of the private clinics who are just cash mongers and negligent in service.

The blogger shares another story about his father’s MRI investigation in a diagnostic center in Dhaka. Being a heart patient he had to take some cautions. His mother detected that from a display in a board and rushed to alert doctors before they proceeded with the investigation.

He asks:

"Lucky for us, my mother is a sensible woman. And a person who could read English instructions being used as decorative items inside the hospital. What if it was some innocent man from a rural area who can’t read? How can one accept negligence of this magnitude from doctors who appear so smart and intelligent?"

Photography



Russell John posts in BP Blog (Official Blog of Bangladeshi Photographers) a collage of 110 photos which are on display in the Sidr Aid Photography Exhibition 2008 being held in Dhaka.

History

There is a controversy in Bangladesh brewed by the dynastic political descendants of two architects of Bangladesh’s liberation - the father of the nation and ex-prime minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and ex-president General Ziaur Rahman, on the issue of who declared the independence of Bangladesh. We have seen text books have been rewritten during the tenure of BNP (headed by Zia’s wife Khaleda Zia) and Awamy League (headed by Shiekh Mujib’s daughter Sheikh Hasina) claiming their versions of the history.

Blogger Mashuqur Rahman and freedom fighter and liberation war historian M. M. Rahman Jalal did an extensive research on this and published the revealing facts. Please read the post to find out the truth.

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Victory day and the quest for the truth

Today marks the 36th anniversary of the Victory day in Bangladesh, a day when Bangladesh came into being. 'Victory against what?' one may ask. It was a victory against the farcical two nation theory, The colonialism of West Pakistan and their oppression against their East Pakistani brothers in economic, administrative and cultural sectors, victory against one of the worst genocides in the history of the world, victory against the rape of thousands of women by the Pakistani soldiers and the nine month long liberation war.

The history of the Bangladesh liberation war is an epic itself, the journey from east Pakistan to Bangladesh was long and full of struggles.

This year's victory day is different because there is a renewed call for trial of the war criminals who are trying to rewrite history.

I was watching TV talk shows in a Pakistani channel which talked about the fall of Dhaka and what mistakes Pakistan made. To Pakistan Bangladesh's father of nation Sheikh Mujibur is a traitor and India was the driving power behind the cessation. However they did not mention the Genocide that took place during nine-month war in which official records say 3 million people were killed and thousands of women raped. The general Pakistanis were provided with the wrong version of the truth all the time. From a Pakistani newspaper:

Only foreign media aired the news of the Fall of Dhaka on December 16, 1971. Radio Pakistan kept airing usual transmission and giving a picture of “all is well”.

Even the reports the Pakistani people get display a fragment of the truth.

So it is imperative that the truth is available to everyone along with evidences. I have started a project supported by E-Bangladesh which will publish an online archive of all the available information, evidence, eye witness portraying the true story of the genocide committed by the Pakistanis in 1971.

When this is done this will be the greatest gift for the families of the millions of people who have lost their lives. You can help in the endeavor by providing eye witness accounts, scanned copies of relevant copies of the books etc.

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A seminar on Bangladesh genocide in 1971

On December 9, 2007 the Department of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Kean University in Union, New Jersey, will be holding a seminar on genocide in Bangladesh titled "Bangladesh 1971: Intolerance, Violence and Genocide".

This will be the first international academic conference on the Bangladesh genocide and it will become part of the coursework for a masters degree.

More details in Shada Kalo.

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YouTube video of the day

Genocide, denials and convicting war criminals

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War Criminals of 1971

After the recent controversial statement that “Jamaat did not work against the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971 and there are no war criminals in the country,” we hear a new low in political rhetorics.

Former Islami Bank chairman and Jamaat-e-Islam think-tank Shah Abdul Hannan has described the Liberation War of 1971 as a “civil war.” He denied that genocide took place in the country at that time and that war criminals exist here. Speaking on a talk show, Ekushey Shomoy, on private satellite television channel Ekushey Television Friday, Hannan also expressed doubts that three million people died in the war and supported a Pakistani report according to which only 26,000 people or less died during the Liberation War. The Daily Star has a transcript of his comments.

Dr Hasan, convenor of War Crimes Fact Finding Committee, a group investigating war crimes by Pakistani army and their local collaborators in 1971 tells that Jamaat leader Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed’s statement is a blatant lie:

“We have strong evidence and documents against the people who were involved in war crimes during the Liberation War and what is needed now to bring the culprits to justice is an initiative. Ali Ahsan Mojaheed as president of Islami Chhatra Sangha in 1971 was in a leading position of Dhaka city Al Badr Bahini, one of the groups involved in killing Bangladeshi intellectuals at the fag end of the war. Al Badr played the key role in killing innocent intellectuals, professionals and also common people in 1971.

Local collaborators of the Pakistani army were involved in at least 53 types of crimes. The committee traced at least 920 mass graves where Bengalis were dumped by the Pakistani army and their collaborators. The killings were clearly genocide as Bengalis were eliminated because they were Bengalis and the Hindus were killed because they were Hindus.

An investigation by the War Crimes Fact Finding Committee found at least 191 people as Pakistani war criminals who have been accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and mass killing."

Meanwhile details are being emerging that Local collaborators of Pakistani occupation forces or war criminals charged with specific allegations of committing atrocities during the Liberation War have never been pardoned although propaganda campaigns are on claiming that they were granted general amnesty by Bangabandhu-led post-war government:

On November 30, 1973, the government announced general amnesty for those among the arrestees under collaborators order not charged with specific allegations of war atrocities.

The press note on general amnesty categorically said, “Those who were punished for or accused of rape, murder, attempt to murder or arson will not come under general amnesty.”

Out of 37,000 sent to jail on charges of collaboration, some 26,000 were freed after announcement of the general amnesty.

Around 11,000 were still in prison when the government of Justice Sayem and General Ziaur Rahman repealed the collaboration order on December 31, 1975. Following this, those behind bars for war atrocities appealed and eventually got released.

More details here.

And last but not the least a Pakistani major's account reveals Jamaat's role in 1971. Siddiq Salik, who was serving the Pakistan army as a major in Bangladesh in 1971, in his book ‘Witness to Surrender’ he observed that:

Jamaat leaders collaborated with them [Pakistan army] not only to advance their ideals of Pakistan as an Islamic state, but also to wreak vengeance on people they were at enmity with.

Referring to the drives against Bangalee freedom fighters, he wrote, “These operations were only a partial success because the West Pakistani troops neither knew the faces of the suspects nor could they read the lane numbers (in Bengali).

They had to depend on the cooperation of the local people.

(On the collaboration groups) these patriotic elements were organised into two groups. The elderly and prominent among them formed Peace Committees, while the young and able-bodied were recruited as Razakars (volunteers). The committees were formed in Dacca as well as in the rural areas and they served as a useful link between the Army and the local people.

Razakars were raised to augment the strength of the West Pakistani troops and to give a sense of participation to the local population. Their manpower rose to nearly 50,000 as against a target of 100,000.

Some of them were genuinely interested in the integrity of Pakistan and they risked their own lives to cooperate with the Army, but a few of them also used their links with the Army to settle old score with pro-AL people.

To stress the point once again that the Bangladeshi collaborators had purposes other than pursuing the ideology of an Islamic state, Salik recollects, “In the evening I met the officer who carried out the attack. What he said was enough to chill my blood. He confided. ‘There were no rebels, and no weapons. Only poor country-folk, mostly women and old men got roasted in the barrage of fire. It is a pity that the operation was launched without proper intelligence. I will carry this burden on my conscience for the rest of my life’.”

As Sada Kalo Blog said "I will NOT forget. I will not let YOU forget."

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