‘Recognise war children’

Women's rights organisation Naripokkho yesterday called for solidarity with war children of the country and demanded Bangladesh to recognise them.

Speakers also demanded an amendment to the citizenship and guardianship act to allow women to be sole guardians of a child.

Naripokkho, along with representatives from other rights-based organisations, organised the press conference at the Naripokkho seminar room in the capital's Dhanmondi area.

Speaking at the programme, Shejuti Nure Maksurat said, "Birangana -- the war heroines in our country -- were recognised as freedom fighters after a long time. They are still facing problems to be gazetted in the list."

"Like them, their children -- who were born out of rape during the Liberation War -- have been suffering from an identity crisis, as our country is yet to recognise them officially," she said.

"We want to say that they are our children, and it is our global call to all civil society to work unitedly to uphold their rights," she added.

Naripokkho member UM Habibun Nesa said, "After the war, the Birangana had to go through a long series of untold and unbearable sufferings. While some were abandoned, others were rejected or disowned by their families and society."

The children also went through the same type of discrimination. Most of the children who stayed in Bangladesh were abused and humiliated in society, she added.

Shireen Huq from Naripokkho said, "The recognition of the Birangana was one of the significant decisions taken just after the war in 1971. However, this recognition became a burden for them in society. We, from Naripokkho, want them to be treated with respect," she added.

Speakers at the programme also demanded the amendment to the existing citizenship and guardianship act.

Lawyer Robiul Hasan Mojumdar, who is associated with BLAST, said, "In the Citizenship Act 1951, women can not identify their children as Bangladeshi unless their husbands have citizenship. On the other hand, mothers are not recognised as the primary guardian, unlike the fathers, under the existing guardianship act."

Speakers from the programme called on all rights-based organisations and concerned individuals to take a unified stance on this issue.