This year, the nation is celebrating 54th Victory Day in a markedly different political landscape in which the significance of the day has been dragged into divisive controversies. Following the government change on August 5, 2024, new narratives have emerged about our national history and the Liberation War, with some portraying it as a 'rebirth' of the nation.
This is deeply unfortunate. It is true that the past regime abused the spirit and principles of the 1971 Liberation War, laying exclusive claim to them to gain political mileage. However, that does not justify newly awakened forces to redefine our history to serve their nefarious designs and undermine what was a hard-earned 'Pyrrhic victory'.
What we witnessed in the aftermath of the July-August uprising was a direct assault on the core essence of our history. Widespread vandalism and destruction targeted the hallmarks and relics of our independence and victory. There is little doubt that these heinous acts were politically and ideologically motivated, amounting to an attempt to erase or distort crucial aspects of the nation's historical memory.
According to some estimates, nearly 1,500 sculptures, murals, and memorials depicting the history and sprit of 1971 War of Liberation were vandalized, set ablaze or uprooted across the country in August 2024 alone. Since then, many more such acts of destruction have occurred in various places and continued unabated.
Even Dhanmondi 32, the historic residence of the nation's founder, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was not spared. The house was repeatedly stormed, torched, and ultimately demolished with bulldozers following a social media call for a so-called "Bulldozer March." This took place in broad daylight, in front of thousands of onlookers, while security forces from multiple agencies stood by as mute spectators to the unsavoury spectacle. Allowing this to happen makes the incumbent interim government culpable, and its nonchalant response to such an egregious incident will not easily be forgotten.
Nor was this an isolated case. The Mujibnagar Memorial Complex, which housed more than 600 sculptures of varying sizes related to the Liberation War, was attacked and vandalized. Miscreants smashed the sculptures and looted valuables. The Independence Museum at Suhrawardy Udyan also suffered extensive damage, with photographs and artifacts of the Liberation War including a replica of the table on which the Pakistani occupation army signed the surrender document on December 16, 1971 is badly damaged.
Although these incidents were widely condemned by various groups, who described the perpetrators as "anti-liberation forces" and extremists bent on distorting national history, no one has been brought to book for these acts to date.
In an apparent attempt to deflect responsibility, the interim government acknowledged the public outrage but attributed it to grievances stemming from the actions of the previous regime. The government also claimed that it would not tolerate any further destruction of national symbols and historical sites.
Amid all these odds, the nation is set to celebrate today its Victory Day which was achieved after the great supreme sacrifice of over three million freedom fighters and the chastity of more than two hundred thousand mothers and sisters from the Pakistani occupied forces in 1971. The Pakistan occupation army committed genocide and unleashed a reign of terror committing crimes against humanity to suppress the freedom loving people of the then East Pakistan (now independent Bangladesh).
Our independence was not won easily. It was probably one of the costliest independences achieved in the world through the loss of human lives and properties. This is why our independence is dubbed a "Pyrrhic Victory" and we celebrate it with due honor and fervor paying heartfelt tribute to our beloved sons of the soil whose great sacrifice had made our independence happen.
It is maybe natural that freedom of a nation has to be achieved through shedding blood and valuable sacrifices and hardships. It has never come by itself or is given willingly to a country by those who are in a position to rule it. This is why the American prominent civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr., said: "Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed".
Similarly, our independence was not given by someone freely rather we snatched it by force shedding our sea of flood.
The Victory Day actually memorializes the shameful defeat of Pakistani brutal armed forces in the Liberation War of Bangladesh. The Day reminds us the historic event wherein the commander of the Pakistan occupation army, General AAK Niazi, laid down arms to the Bangladeshi forces (Mukti Bahini) and their Indian allies marking the end of our liberation struggle with the victory over the occupied forces and official secession of the then East Pakistan to become a new state of Bangladesh.
Our Victory Day is inextricably linked to our Independence Day which is celebrated every year on March 26. On the day, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, officially declared the independence of Bangladesh after the Pakistan Army launched a brutal and barbaric operation and killed thousands of civilians in the wee hours of March 25. It is called one of the black days in our history that heralded the light of the day meaning our victory. The Day was the beginning of a nine-month-long war of liberation till the final victory was achieved. The Sector Commanders, Armed Forces men, police, freedom fighters fought the War and forced the Pakistan occupation army to surrender.
How were people of the then East Pakistan pushed into an independence war? It had begun with a landslide victory in the national elections by the Awami League under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1970. Awami League won 288 seats out of 300 in the provincial assembly. The party also won 167 out of 300 seats in the National Assembly of the then Pakistan.
But the Pakistani military government of President Yahya Khan chalked out plans not to hand over power defying the country's constitution. And Pakistani military juntas at that time were biding their time in the name of negotiations and covertly mobilized troops from the western part of the country to silence the voice of Bengalis forever. And on March 26, 1971, they unleashed world history's one of the greatest massacres against innocent people of East Pakistan.
Before March 26, Pakistani personnel detained Bangla-speaking armed forces officers, NCOs, and enlisted personnel. Forced disappearances were rampant.
The Pakistan army launched 'Operation Searchlight' against Bengali civilians, intelligentsia, students, politicians and general people unleashing a genocide in the eastern part of the then Pakistan on the night of March 25. After a long nine-month bloody war, our coveted victory was won on December 16, 1971 and a new nation-Bangladesh emerged as an independent nation on the atlas of the world.
We have passed 54 years of our national freedom and liberation. But the spirits of our Liberation War are yet to be fully implemented. Attempts have been made in the past and even today to distort the history of the 1971 War of Liberation. History cannot be erased and our Victory will never fade.
The writer is a Journalist
