genocide

This is from the translation project some of us are working on of the book 1971: Dreadful Experiences (১৯৭১: ভয়াবহ অভিজ্ঞতা). The book is a collection of witness accounts to 1971 Liberation War and the Independence of Bangladesh by the country's educationists, writers, professionals. The book is edited by Rashid Hayder and was first published on the Victory Day of 1989.

An incident near the end of the liberation war agitates me even today, it paralyses me. I do not recall the date clearly but it was around the third week of November, 1971. I used to live in the first house on Road. 32, Dhanmondi, Dhaka. It was near 4 or 4:30 in the afternoon. I had gone to Azimpur Colony with my own plans. Two of my friends used to live there, Naser Chowdhury, who was a student of the Engineering University back then and a famous goalkeeper in those days; and Santu from the Mohammedan Football Club. We were talking about a lot of things for quite some time - the ongoing liberation war, the freedom of our country, the activities of the freedom fighters, the atrocities of the Pak army and their Bengali collaborators- the Razakars, etc.

It was how it usually looked like, all quiet from the outside. Although the windows and doors of the Doulatpur Brajalal College were all shut tight, there was a peacefulness in that silence. Looking at the tall grass that had grown into a waist-high jungle, and the cattle sitting in the shades of the trees under the winter sun, one could hardly realize that the country was flooding in a blood-bath. If you listened carefully in all this silence, you could even hear the echo of the warmth of life going on from the nearby bazaar. It wasn't impossible to hear the strangely grave sounds of the rising tide inside the people, like that of the long dried up river, The Bhairab.

I used to live in the ‘Maneesha’ building of the Science Laboratories back then, with Mirpur Road on one side and Elephant Road on the other. I could hear slogans from the streets till 11PM on 25th March. At midnight I opened my doors and went outside.

[justify]“Seems like these a**h*les are Bengalis. They want separation. Make them stand in a line.” We tried to pledge with them in a mixed language using Bengali and Urdu, “Please take us to your officers. Don’t kill us here. If we are proven guilty in a trial, we will not argue that decision.”

I went to sleep early on the night of 25th March. Had read in the newspapers that very day that an understanding between Bangabandhu and Yahya Khan would follow soon. So everyone was rather relaxed. We woke up in the middle of the night at the sound of a huge explosion.

The continuous firing and mortar noises began just after a short break. We took shelter in the passage between the bedroom and washroom to save ourselves from stray bullets. I couldn’t resist my curiosity and a while later crawled near the window to peek at what was happening outside.

There has been an ongoing massive protest happening in Bangladesh demanding prosecution and ensuring just justice for war criminals of its independence war in 1971. The peaceful protest of unprecedented scale has been taking place for the last eighteen days. The voices of Bangladesh have been tirelessly showing their conviction in protesting against the verdict of the prosecuted 1971 war criminal Abdul Quader Mollah. The verdict was announced on February 5th, 2013 and it has been broadly deemed to be too lenient. The smile and victory sign shown by Quader Molla to the journalists will make anyone search for the deeper context of this verditct. But it was a little too much for the Bangladeshi people who have been agonizingly waiting for the last 42 years to finally have some justice. Within hours, hundreds and thousands of spontaneous protesters gathered together in a central crossing of Dhaka city, known as Shahbag square.

In the 1971 genocide in Bangladesh, more than 3 million civilians were killed by Pakistani army and soldiers. A meticulously planned intellectual extermination was carried out where physicians, engineers, professors, bankers, movie directors, writers, journalists were targeted and killed. In addition approximately 500,000 women and girls were systematically raped with many of whom later killed.

Kuloda Roy
MMR Jalal

Published in Sachalayatan

This is 3rd in the series of translation of witness accounts collected in the book 1971: Dreadful Experiences. When translating I often feel at loss for proper adjectives in English that could do justice in describing the heinous atrocities these hyenas wearing Pak army uniform or calling themselves rajakar or "friend" committed. If the reader can think of more appropriate language that can help portray the intensity of the truth, please suggest. It will be much appreciated.