THE SAGA OF A BRAVE NATION
The tragic atrocities committed during the liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971 are one of the less heard and less recognized histories of the world. The fact is there are few accounts in English which have portrayed the war crimes and the sufferings of common people during and after the war. Renowned Indian journalist and author Salil Tripathi has come forward to fill this gap by describing the sufferings of common Bangladeshis in their war torn country.
A discussion session at this year's Hay Festival with Salil and freedom fighter Qayyum Khan on Salil's newly published book “The Colonel Who Would Not Repent” reveals the author's experience with the freedom fighters, war survivors and his reflections on the post independence political turmoil in Bangladesh. In the discussion Salil shares one of the moving accounts from his books, “I talked with one of the witnesses Arshad Ali who was around 18 years old. He and his father were working in the jute field in Chuknagar, Khulna. At that time they saw military trucks coming. His father was waving to the truck to save his crops. The soldiers stopped the truck and shot his father. He saw his father falling before him and ran away. When he returned to fetch his father's body, he saw dead bodies all around the field. Arshad saw a baby still suckling its mother who was already dead. Arshad picked up the baby, and brought her up.”
After nine months of atrocities and fierce fighting with Pakistan army a new nation called Bangladesh was born. But the freedom fighters who once fought selflessly for the liberation witnessed a different picture. Freedom fighter Qayyum Khan says, “After the war, the freedom fighters who actually fought for the country were cornered and demobilized. Ironically those who didn't participate in the war were brandishing their arms in the street.”
After several post war calamities such as the famine of 1974, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rehman was assassinated by a gang of rebellious army officers. Salil's interview with Colonel Faruque Rahman, who led the assassination made this book an account of forgotten history. Salil shares his experience in the session, “When I interviewed Colonel Faruque I found him very boastful of what he did in 1975. He showed no repentance. In the interview he actually sees himself as the saviour of the nation.”
The name of Salil's book is actually to signify that tragic assassination which changed the course of Bangladesh's history. Freedom fighter Qayyum Khan comments, “At first I thought that it was about the men who killed Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Though the book begins with the author's interview with Colonel Faruque Rahman, this very well written book is actually on Bangladesh and its people during the liberation war.”
Efforts like this should be encouraged to reveal the tragedy and heroic saga of our nation who won the liberation at the cost of blood.
Comments