Biranganas to be included in war hero list

Parliament yesterday unanimously passed a proposal to include Biranganas (war heroines) in the list of freedom fighters.

“Through this, Biranganas will get their long overdue recognition as freedom fighters and subsequently enjoy all government facilities of a war hero,” Monirul Islam, a treasury bench lawmaker who placed the proposal, told The Daily Star.

His proposal was passed through voice votes.

The lawmaker said the government was considering providing more facilities to Biranganas and their children than that of a freedom fighter considering their sacrifice and contribution to the country's Liberation War.

He said the Liberation War Ministry had been working to figure out the numbers of Biranganas.

Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Huq told the House the government had already taken all steps to recognise the women as freedom fighters.

The House also rejected through voice votes 10 lawmakers' proposal to rename Birangana as Birkonya. Mozammel told the House that Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had given the name “Birangana”, so it would not be wise to change the name.

The International Crimes Tribunals in December last year said the state should recognise, honour, compensate and rehabilitate the Biranganas who had sacrificed their supreme self-worth for the cause of the country's independence.

The tribunal also said the government should incorporate the stories of sacrifices and torments of the Biranganas into textbooks so the new generations can learn the real history of the 1971 war.

According to historical documents, over 2 lakh women and girls were raped by Pakistani occupation army and its local collaborators during the war.

After the independence, Bangabandhu had declared the rape victims as Biranganas and taken measures to compensate and rehabilitate them and it continued till 1975, said the tribunal.

“Surprisingly, it discontinued after his assassination in 1975 and the process of rehabilitation, both socially and politically, of the collaborators of the Pakistani junta started in the country by military rulers,” added the tribunal.