Infamous Bastards

Original: কুখ্যাত জারজ
Translator : Fahmim (ফাহমিম)
Editor: Rikta (রিক্তা)

Momena Begum continued in a monotonous voice,

- I am Momena Begum, wife of Habibur Rahman, daughter of Hazrat Ali Lashkar.
- How old were you?
- I was twelve or thirteen in 1971. I was the eldest of the four brothers and three sisters. My mother was pregnant on March 26, 1971.
- What happened on that day?
- It was before sundown. My father ran into the house and kept saying Quader Mollah will kill us.
- Why?
- He was a follower of Bangabandhu. He supported Awami League, went to rallies, campaign for the electoral symbol "Nouka" (boat).
- Then?
- Father came into the house and put up the latches. We were all inside the house. My father asked us to hide. Me and my sister Amena, we hid under the bed.
- Then?
- Quader Mollah and some Bihari people came to our door and said "Ay Harami Ka Bachha, Darwaza Khol, Boma Mar Denga!" (You bastards! open the door or will bomb it down!) When we didn't open, they hurled a bomb. So my mother opened the door, holding a “Daw” (large household knife).
- Then?
- They shot mother just as she opened the door.
- They killed her?
- They would have, if not for ...
- If not for what?
- If not for the soldier who brought a letter.
- What letter?
- A Pakistani soldier ran in with a letter from international humanitarian organization Human Rights Watch Director Brad Adams. He had asked to postpone the firing.
- Is that even possible?
- It is. In the letter, he said firing on pregnant women is a violation of human rights, and asked to review the firing. After going through it, Quader and his cohorts stopped firing.
- Then?
- When my father went to hold my mother, Quader Mollah pulled him by the collar and said "You swine! You still want to support Awami League? Still want to go with Bangabandhu? Go to rallies now? Shout 'Joy Bangla'?"
- Then?
- Another letter arrived.
- From who?
- From Abbas Faiz of Amnesty International. He wrote swearing and calling names is a violation of human rights. After reading it, Quader Mollah stopped swearing and began to slit my father's throat. He was some way through when a soldier brought yet another letter.
- Who was it from this time?
- The UK and EU. They expressed concerns in the letter. So Quader Mollah let go of my father.
- What happened next?
- Then they began to slit the throats of my sisters Khodeza and Taslima.
- Weren't there any more letters?
- There was, another letter came and they stopped the slitting midway.
- Okay, you don't have to say who it was from. Tell us what happened next.
- The letter was from the British minister Sayeeda.
- Okay. Then?
- Our little brother was crying. He was two years old at the time. They took him and slammed him to the ground a few times.
- Did he die?
- No; another Pakistani soldier came running in.
- With a letter?
- Yes, from human rights experts of the UN Human Rights Council, Gabriela Knaul and Christof Heyns. They had asked not to hurry in slamming the baby.
- Mhmm. Then?
- They let him go. But his screaming had prompted Amena to scream out from under the bed. They immediately pulled her out, and ripped all her clothes off.
- How old was Amena?
- Eleven.
- And then?
- Quader Mollah and his associates positioned themselves over Amena. She was screaming her lungs out. Then suddenly ... - What happened?
- Another Pakistani soldier came in, panting.
- With a letter?
- Yes.
- UN?
- Yes.
- But we heard when the war of liberation was happening in Bangladesh, the UN was busy counting hair around its balls.
- You heard wrong. Anyway, the soldier shouted: "I have come with a letter from UN Human Right Council chief Navi Pillay. Stop the rape. The UN is against rape, under any condition".
- Really?
- Yes.
- Then?
- Quader Mollah and his gang put their clothes back on. Then they dressed up Amena, nursed the baby, and then sewed back the partly-slit throats of my father, Khodeza and Taslima. They took out the bullet from my mother's body. The unborn baby was also shot; they took out her bullet as well, and bandaged it. Then they walked off, chanting "Hail Human Rights!"

[* The real parts of the conversation are taken from the accounts of 1971war victim Momena's witness deposition, published in newspapers.
* The title is inspired from Quentin Tarantino's film "Inglorious Bastards". ]