Memories of the 1971 Liberation War

I have often wondered about the seemingly contradictory patriotism of Bangladeshis. In most cases, it is the ferocious snarl of a country that only recently gained independence after centuries of colonial rule (Mogul then British). However, the sort of nationalist sentiment that lead an older woman in Old Dhaka to shout at me and my group "you are a foreigner, this is my ground, my air, my water" is undermined in my mind by the way that most people treat their country and countrymen. How often have a seen a window roll down and a bag of trash ejected onto the street, or read about working class Bangladeshis (what we would consider unbearably impoverished) getting beaten up for protesting their company withholding their pay. This combination of rabid nationalism and an inability to treat the constituents of this nation with humanity is one that I have difficulty reconciling given my cultural background. Yet there it is, and Bangladeshis are genuine.


In 1971, Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan in an intense and gruesome war. Fearing rebellion (rightly) from the newly elected Awami party in East Pakistan (which was led by the current Prime Minister's father), what was then West Pakistan launched a preemptive strike on their darker, eastern allies. In the 1950's WP attempted to make Urdu the official language of East Pakistan. When East Pakistan gained independence, it became Bangladesh, which means "country of Bangla," the national language. Despite both ends of Pakistan sharing a faith, there seemed to be an irreconcilable cultural difference.

It was anything but a fair fight, and the WP army slaughtered over thirty thousand Bangladeshi intellectuals in Dhaka alone. With no army or militia of its own, Bangladesh was literally defenseless. Many in Bangladesh remember this as a genocide. The Indian Army came to their aid and helped defeat West Pakistan, and Bangladesh became an independent state.

Presently, there are still efforts in Bangladesh to have Pakistani leaders tried in a war crimes court, though that is looking pretty unlikely.


So why bring this up now? Well in class today we ended up discussing capital punishments and its motivations, of which one of the more obvious is revenge. While most students seemed to agree that revenge was not a suitable motivation for killing, one Bangladeshi student was not convinced. After more discussion, she was forced to come up with a scenario in which more people would be convinced of her view point. Suddenly, tears started in her eyes and emotion flooded her voice as she argued that the Pakistani soldiers who had raped and murdered in the streets and left the bodies to "die like dogs" should be made to pay. They should be killed. She and her family are from the artist and intellectual class that was singled out for annihilation in 1971.


Needless to say everyone in class was caught off guard. She spoke about the atrocities as if they had occurred only last year. As if there was time to strike back, to make things right. While it inspired me to do more research online (just type in 1971 Bangladesh Independence in Google and browse away) and spread the old, old news a bit in this blog, it also got me thinking about the nature of pain, war and memory.

The immediacy of the pain is what I could not have predicted. September 11th is about as close as I can come to some sort of understanding, but even then the attacks were, on a relative scale, brief and isolated for those on the West Coast. This student was born over twenty years after the War of Independence, how will New Yorkers born in another ten years remember September 11th? My guess is that it will depend on the events between now and this imagined day. If the United States is able to help the world end Islamic terrorism, then 9/11 will almost certainly be remembered differently than if the U.S. is unable to track down the ringleaders and destroy the networks that brought tragedy to U.S. soil. Pearl Harbor is remembered the way it is today because we eventually crushed Japan and other Axis forces. The future defines the past.

For Bangladeshis, what restitution can take place? What can be done to ease the tortured collective memories of an internationally powerless nation born from such violent deeds? There is still plenty of anger in Bangladesh, where will it be directed? There is fear that Bangladesh could supplement Afghanistan as a training ground and operational base for Islamic terrorists. This is unlikely because there are just far too many people here, and no isolated nooks. Also, the U.S. and other western countries do so much aid work (with no oil or other natural resources to secure), it's hard to imagine the country turning on its benefactors.

The truth, that likely nothing will happen, is almost as hard to bear.