History books and the lost generation

Those who were mere children during our Liberation War and who finished their schooling in the post-1975 era, and the later generations, are not aware of the true history of our Liberation War. As a member of one such generation, I consciously feel that the distorted history has divided the nation into pro and anti liberation shibirs. This, in turn, brought about the political turmoil and volatile situation that we see now.
1971 united the whole nation (except a few collaborators of the Pakistani army) with the spirit of the Liberation War. People of all walks of life became freedom fighters in one way or another. Some actively joined the war, and millions, though they did not directly take part in the war, gave moral support to our war of independence. These people were, in fact, silent freedom fighters, among whom many sacrificed their lives, wealth, and efforts for the great cause.
In essence, we may claim that the emergence of Bangladesh was possible due to the collective efforts of the people of the soil. So, naturally, after liberation these collective efforts should have made Bangladesh a prosperous country, as envisioned by many following the spirit of the liberation war. Ironically, Bangladesh has failed miserably to achieve the very objective of liberation.
To unveil the causes behind this failure, we need to shed light on August 15, 1975, the blackest day in our national history. August 15, 1975, can be marked as a turning point for our country, from the light to the darkfrom hope to despair. On this day, with the brutal killing of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib, the monumental icon of independence and founding father of Bangladesh, the nation had to bury the spirit of the liberation war. So, in independent Bangladesh in 1975, the freedom fighters were defeated and the enemies of the liberation war, the collaborators with the Pakistani army, won, reversing history by implementing their well designed conspiracy.
Customarily, the history of a country is written by the victors. For instance, British historians, during the reign of the British Raj, assailed the character of Nawab Sirajuddoula of Bengal. Nawab Sirajuddoula, as a Nawab of independent Bengal in 1756, fought against the East India Company, the forerunner of the British regime. The unfortunate defeat of Sirajuddoula, and the victory of Robert Clive, led the British regime to write the biased history demeaning Sirajuddoula and his associates.
Similarly, the victors of 1975, who were the defeated forces of 1971, deliberately distorted history, especially that of our Liberation War. In fact, the enemies of our country, the collaborators, are very shrewd. So, after the fall of the patriotic freedom fighters in 1975, they started to fabricate the history of Liberation in their own ways. Indeed, they were aware of the implications of the history and its long time impact on the nation. They knew that the revelation of the true history of our Liberation War would put them in the dustbin, and that they would never be able to come to power.
The distortion of history had been initiated during the post-Mujib era, especially in the textbooks of schools and colleges. They knew that if the new generations, which had not witnessed the war of independence, could be kept in the dark concerning the history of the liberation then one day they would be successful. This turned out to be true in the later phases.
The new generations have learned the biased history fabricated by the victors of 1975. This history has not revealed the whole truth; rather it has created smokescreens surrounding 1971, the glorious event of the Bengali nation.
For instance, in our history textbook in school, we read that the freedom fighters had fought against occupying forces in 1971, but who the occupying forces were is not mentioned. The role of Sheikh Mujib in the Liberation War is limited to only two or three sentences. Rather, the role of the late president General Ziaur Rahman (then major in the Pakistan army) has been overemphasised, depicting him as the key organiser of our war of independence.
This overemphasis was to such an extent that one may think that if Zia had not read the proclamation of our independence, the emergence of Bangladesh would not have been possible. Shamelessly, our history text deleted the fact that Ziaur Rahman announced the said proclamation on behalf of Sheikh Mujib. (If Ziaur Rahman were alive then he would have felt ashamed seeing this fabrication of history!)
Again, the history books do not reveal the roles of Jamaat-i-Islami and its infamous leaders like Golam Azam, Motiur Rahman Nizami, and Ali Ahsan Mujahid, who collaborated with the Pakistani army in 1971. We have not learned about the role of the former president General Ershad during our Ali al-Mujahid. He was the chairman of a special tribunal in the Lahore cantonment, which tried Bengali soldiers who tried to flee to India with a view to participating in our war of independence. Had the true roles of the above mentioned heinous people during our Liberation War been reflected in the history books, then they certainly would not have been able to come to power.
Our history courses had utterly failed to teach us the background and the spirit of the Liberation War. This history does not indicate that the war of independence was, in fact, a continuous struggle from 1952 to 1971, and has not focused on the historical 6 points or 11 points demands, which can be regarded as the charters of independence. The fabricated history does not address the Agartala Conspiracy Case against Sheikh Mujib which, in turn, transformed him into Bangabandhu. It does not indicate the significance of Bangabandhu's speech of March 7, which can be compared with the Gettysburg Address delivered by Abraham Lincoln, the great American leader.
Nationalism, secularism, and socialism, were the major ideas of our Liberation War. Abandoning the much hated "two nation theory" in 1971, the people of this land embraced Bengali nationalism and secularism as basic mantras for our salvation. But in our history texts this reality has not been reflected at all.
The manipulated history, as designed by the beneficiaries of 1975 and the collaborators of 1971, has successfully confused the generations. Perhaps due to this confused state, the people from the younger generations voted for and elected (as the lion share of the voters are from these generations) the identified collaborators of 1971 as members of the Parliament. For the same reason, people did not raise their voices much when war criminals like Nizami or Mujahid emerged as ministers in the last alliance government.
The change-over in 1/11, and the statements of the army chief General M. U. Ahmed have given a ray of hope to the conscious citizens of the country. He has categorically mentioned the urgency of honouring Bangabandhu at the state level, as well as the publication of the true history of the Liberation War. Moreover, pointing at the war criminals of 1971, he said that they should be behind bars. However, we are not sure whether his utterances are merely a political stunt or whether they reflect his sincere obligation to the nation. Only the time will reveal the truth.

Md. Anwarul Kabir is an educationist, working at the Computer Science Department of AIUB.