[vinnomot] 1971: A civil war or a liberation war? A response

SAN-Feature Service

SOUTH ASIAN NEWS-FEATURE SERVICE

October 30,2007

 

1971: A civil war or a liberation war? A response

Jahed Ahmed

  

SAN-Feature Service : 'From what I have read in foreign newspapers and encyclopedia, it was a civil war and most people did NOT call it a "struggle for freedom".- S.A. Hannan

 

I begin quoting Arnold Zeitlin, an American eyewitness (journalist) of 1971 war:

 

"The liberation war was certainly a time when the world eyed on East Pakistan, but Pakistan made the mistake of forcing journalists to leave East Pakistan on March 26 cutting the world off from information."

 

Well, when the whole "world eyed on east Pakistan", is it credible that our learned Mr S A Hannan turned his back and thought of 1971 just as a "civil war" and not a "liberation war"--as it's known both to most Bengalese and rest of the world?  I'd rather think, the reason why S A Hannan said he didn't read any foreign news report terming '71 war as a "liberation war" lies elsewhere: he wants to escape from the vivid yet ironic truth that even the foreign journalists saw- to what extent some pathetic and illegitimate sons of Bangla betrayed with their own soil & its people. Might it be possible, every time they think of their betrayal in 1971, S A Hannan & his likes have no other option but to resort to constant denial! I'm sure they will do so until their last breath. Let us see, how "foreign news media" indeed depicted the 1971 liberation war, the massacre and the role of Razakars.

  

1. New York Times Eyewitness Report by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Sydney Schanberg  (Pakistan army expelled him from the country on June 30, 1971.)

 

"Besides Biharis and other non-Bengali, Urdu-speaking Moslems, the recruits include the small minority of Bengali Moslems who have long supported the army -- adherents of the right-wing religious parties such as the Moslem League and Jamaat-e-Islami. .....

 

'Collectively known as the Razakars, the paramilitary units spread terror throughout the Bengali population. With their local knowledge, the Razakars were an invaluable tool in the Pakistani Army's arsenal of genocide.'... .

 

'Since the offensive began the troops have killed countless thousands of Bengalis -- foreign diplomats estimate at least 200,000 to 250,000 -- many in massacres. Although the targets were Bengali Moslems and the 10 million Hindus at first, the army is now concentrating on Hindus in what foreign observers characterize as a holy war.

 

'Of the more than six million Bengalis who are believed to have fled to India to escape the army's terror, at least four million are Hindus. The troops are still killing Hindus and burning and looting their villages.'

 

2. 'Kill three million of them,' said President Yahya Khan at the February conference, 'and the rest will eat out of our hands.' (Robert Payne, Massacre [1972], page 50.)

 

3. TIME Dec. 20, 1971 issue

 

Bangladesh was born of a dream twice deferred. Twenty-four years ago, Bengalis voted to join the new nation of Pakistan , which had been carved out of British India as a Moslem homeland. Before long, religious unity disintegrated into racial and regional bigotry as the autocratic Moslems of West Pakistan systematically exploited their Bengali brethren in the East. One year ago last week, the Bengalis thronged the polls in Pakistan's first free nationwide election, only to see their overwhelming mandate to Mujib brutally reversed by West Pakistani soldiers. That crackdown took a terrible toll: perhaps 1,000,000 dead, 10 million refugees, untold thousands homeless, hungry and sick.

 

4. Simon Dring, Daily Telegraph Reporter from Dhaka on 25th march 1971:

 

'The lead unit was followed by soldiers carrying cans of gasoline. Those who tried to escape were shot. Those who stayed were burnt alive. About 700 men, women and children died there that day between noon and 2 pm, I was told.

 

'In the Hindu area of the old town, the soldiers reportedly made the people come out of their houses and shot them in groups. The area, too, was eventually razed.

 

'The troops stayed on in force in the old city until about 11 pm on the night of Friday, March 26, driving around with local Bengali informers. The soldiers would fire a flare and the informer would point out the houses of Awami League supporters. The house would then be destroyed -- either with direct fire from tanks or recoilless rifles or with a can of gasoline, witnesses said.'

 

Ending remarks: I do not know of anyone who addresses his/her mother as "my father's wife"; instead we call 'mom', 'ma' etc. I will leave it up to Mr Hannan to judge, which addressing means what although he's 100% entitled to his rights of expression.—SAN-Feature Service

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com __._,_.___

Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___