On a cold rainy Sunday afternoon (9 Dec 2007) we the Bangladeshi expatriates in New Jersey and surrounding areas were presented with an excellent retrospective on the genocide in our Motherland commited by the occupying Pakistani forces and their local Bangalee collaborators in 1971. This seminar and exhibit under the auspices of the the Department of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Kean University was largely the work of a few young people of Bangladeshi origin at Kean (who were born at least a generation after 1971) supported by a professor of English, Dr. Bernard Weinstein. The seminar was preceded by a moving exhibit of rare photographs painstakingly collected from scattered sources around the world. This well attended seminar started with a moment of silence for the three million martyrs due to whose sacrifice Bangladesh is now a free country and a short film documenting the history of the Liberation War. It was addressed by Dr. Farahi, President of Kean University, Dr. Rounaq Jahan of Columbia University and a number of scholars, freedom fighters and noted personalities - many of whom are familiar figures in these internet discussion groups. The highlight of the seminar was a segment consisting of short talks by family members of genocide victims and survivors of the genocide. Every participant at this seminar left the auditorium with a strong feeling that as civilized humans we must make every effort to ensure that a genocide of the likes of what happened in Bangladesh must not be allowed to happen ever again.
As a person who witnessed and lived through the horrors of 1971, I have been progressively disheartened by the rewriting of the history of our Liberation War and the systematic rehabilitation and rewarding of the war criminals and razakars over the last thirtysix years. Having seen the level of awareness of our new generation living half a world away from our Motherland and their effort to highlight and disseminate to the world our glorious history using the most powerful tools available today, I feel comfort in the thought that the sacrifices of our brothers and sisters have not gone in vain.
Victory for Bangladesh!
Shubhechhante,
Dibosh Rajani, New Jersey, USA.
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