Victory Day To Commemorate The 1971 War Of Bangladesh

SALEEM SAMAD

Vijay Diwas or Victory Day is celebrated in Bangladesh and observed in India to commemorate the victory of Indian forces in a battle against the ‘occupation’ Pakistan military and the liberation of Bangladesh.

The fall of Dhaka was indeed the greatest achievement of a military battle in years to come, which culminated in a surrender ceremony on December 16, 1971.

The brutal war of Bangladesh's independence came with a heavy cost of the supreme sacrifice of thousands of fallen soldiers of the Indian Army and Mukti Bahini (Bangladesh Liberation Force).

With the surrender of 93,000 troops, officers and staff of government offices and their family members became prisoners of war (POW) under the Geneva Convention of 1949.

With heads down in shame, the defeated soldiers laid down their weapons. Ranks from their uniform were removed and taken away by the Indian army to military garrisons as POWs.

After several wars between India and Pakistan, it was indeed a humiliating defeat for Pakistan in the eastern war theatre.

Pakistan's government in Islamabad and the military headquarters in Rawalpindi gave hope to their military and civilians that China would open a battlefront with India, which would divert the Indian Mountain Division to hold the incursion.

Simultaneously the United States Seventh Fleet would move into the Bay of Bengal to provide aerial support to block Indian Air Force to provide ground support to the advancing Indian forces and the Mukti Bahini.

Nothing happened! China did not dare to push into India as snow-capped mountains were difficult to cross. There was no movement of the People's Liberation Army of China from their warm quarters. The US fleet also did not sail into the Indian Ocean after threats by the Soviet Union.

The India-Pakistan war in the eastern sector created history. The nine months to freedom was the shortest war of independence of the last century compared to the war in Vietnam, Cuba, Zimbabwe, Namibia and scores of other countries gained after protracted bloody wars.

After WWII, it was the only battle that ended with a surrender ceremony at Dhaka. The Instrument of Surrender was signed by Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora, who was the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Command and Pakistan's Eastern Command General A. A. K. Niazi, who corroborated the surrender of 93,000 Pakistani soldiers to India — the world's largest surrender in terms of number of personnel since World War II.

The war created the largest number of 10 million war refugees sheltered in squalid camps in neighbouring states with Bangladesh. Another information is that the majority of the refugees have returned home.

The war-torn Bangladesh government had to undertake a gigantic post-war rehabilitation programme to settle the returnees in their villages.

As a foot soldier with the Mukti Bahini deployed in Dhaka under Sector 2 commanded by Major ATM Haider, I witnessed the demoralised Pakistan troops in the capital being driven to POW camps.

During my recent visit to the Northeast Indian states of Assam and Tripura, I found among different professions and backgrounds a keen interest in Bangladesh-India bilateral relations, especially improving connectivity between the northeast states with Bangladesh.

Of course, the interest is centred on one-sided upcoming elections in Bangladesh with threats of opposition in the battle of votes.

Of course, the Awami League will make a land-slide victory led by Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of the independence hero Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who is popularly known as ‘Bangabandhu’. Hasina will surely go into the Guinness Book of World Records for being the longest-serving women prime minister in the world.

A couple of years ago, the Guwahati-Dhaka bus service began with fanfare. The public transport needs to be rolling to augment people-to-people contact.

The bus service between Agartala and Dhaka is functioning. The much-expected Agartala-Kolkata train connectivity through Dhaka is expected in 2024.

Lots of enthusiasm was found after the news of the Guwahati-Dhaka and Agartala-Chattogram flights appeared in the media in the Northeast.

It is expected that trade, commerce, and connectivity will bring the neighbouring states with the return of the Awami League government with Northeast states closer than before.

First in G-Plus digital newspaper, Guwahati, Assam, India, 16 December 2023

Saleem Samad is an award-winning independent journalist based in Bangladesh. A media rights defender with the Reporters Without Borders (@RSF_inter). Recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He could be reached at saleemsamad@hotmail.com; Twitter (X): @saleemsamad

Mujib’s challenge was the road to democracy

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman - Photo Credit: Rafiqur Rahman, Reuters

SALEEM SAMAD

How the architect of our independence paved the way for a democratic nation

Days after Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman returned from Pakistan, after languishing in solitary confinement in Mianwali prison, the stalwart politician quickly understood the challenges ahead.

The architect of Bangladesh’s independence, by dint of political wisdom, overcame the crisis. His first task was to bag diplomatic recognitions. Except for India, Bhutan, and later the Soviet bloc, no Western country had recognized independent Bangladesh.

Mujib decided to send strong messages to the global community and international bodies that war-torn Bangladesh had stepped into democracy.

Just a day after his home-coming on January 10, 1972, Bangabandhu promulgated the “Provisional Constitution of Bangladesh Order of 1972.” The order stated that those elected in the national and provincial parliament held in December 1970 and January 1971 would be deemed as members of the Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh. On the second day, January 12, the leader took an oath of office as the prime minister of Bangladesh and formed an 11-member cabinet of ministers.

Of course, no other political leader had ever been able to drive their country to the road to democracy after a bloody war of independence. In less than three months, Sheikh Mujib held Awami League’s first Council Session on April 7, 1972.

Two days later, the Constituent Assembly held its first session at the Constituent Assembly Hall, which is now the prime minister’s office.

The Constituent Assembly merged all 403 elected members from the national and provincial assembly as Members of the Constituent Assembly. Among the 401 members, all were from Awami League, except for Surenjit Sen Gupta from NAP (Muzaffar), and independent member Manebendra Narayan Larma from the Chittagong Hill Tracts; they were in the opposition bench.

On the first day, the Constituent Assembly formed a 34-member Constitution Drafting Committee with Dr Kamal Hossain, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister in the chair.

Kamal Hossain wrote the draft in English and Anisuzzaman, a professor of Bangla from Chittagong University, painstakingly translated it to Bangla. Kamal Hossain was twice summoned by Bangabandhu for consultation regarding the draft constitution. On both occasions, he was accompanied by Professor Anisuzzaman.

Bangabandhu advised constitutional provisions to bifurcate religion and politics. The second was to block party law-makers from crossing the floor during voting in the parliament. Both pieces of advice were included in the first constitution and both the clauses had drawn flak from lawmakers.

The third issue regarding the citizenship was debated by independent lawmaker Manabendra Larma, for the use of the term “Bangali” to describe all Bangladeshi citizens.

He argued: “Under no definition or logic can a Chakma be a Bangali or a Bangali be a Chakma … as citizens of Bangladesh, we are all Bangladeshis, but we also have a separate ethnic identity.”

Nevertheless, the draft constitution was adopted with thunderous applause on November 4, 1972, and took effect from December 16, 1972 -- the day 93,000 marauding Pakistan troops surrendered at Dhaka -- and lawmakers decided to commemorate the day as Victory Day.

On December 17, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his cabinet colleagues took a fresh oath on the new constitution -- the four pillars of which were nationalism, democracy, socialism, and secularism. The Constituent Assembly decided to hold the first general election on March 7, 1973, to commemorate Bangabandhu’s historic fiery speech at Suhrawardy Uddyan.

After 25 years, the political battle of realizing regional autonomy against the Pakistan junta had yielded a constitution for an independent and sovereign nation.

As Mohiuddin Ahmed, a writer and political historian, described in his book “Bela Obela,” Awami League had envisioned to draft and adopt a constitution in the Constituent Assembly in the shortest time.

Finally, the “road to democracy” adopted a new path after the constitution came into effect.

First published in the Dhaka Tribune on 17 March 2020

Saleem Samad is an independent journalist, media rights defender, and a recipient of the Ashoka Fellow and Hellman-Hammett Award. He can be followed on Twitter @saleemsamad