Bangladesh is NOT India. Bangladesh is NOT Pakistan. Bangladesh is NOT the “same thing” as India or Pakistan. Bangladesh is a country in Asia, bordered by India and Myanmar, with a population of 156,594,962 (making Bangladesh the 8th most populous nation in the entire WORLD) and 147,570 kilometers squared of total area, which makes us the 94th largest nation in the world. Bangladesh is a minuscule nation with an incredibly large population. It’s surprising to hear that MANY people are unaware of the existence of Bangladesh. It’s surprising to hear that MANY people ask, “What is a Bangladesh?” Check the back of your H&M, Old Navy or Zara clothes. You’ll most likely see MADE IN BANGLADESH written in capital letters, hardly visible. And that’s exactly what Bangladesh is to many people. Hardly visible. But Bangladesh shouldn’t be. Why? You’re about to know why.
After the partition of India in 1947, two separate nations emerged: India and Pakistan. In the midst of it all, Bangladesh was thrown into and made apart of Pakistan. Not much thought was put into where Bangladesh and its people would go. So we were just placed in Pakistan, and became East Pakistan. In East Pakistan, Bangladeshis were persecuted. For being Bangladeshi, for speaking Bengali instead of the state’s official language, Urdu, for not being Muslim enough, for being impure, for many Bangladeshis practicing Hinduism. Bangladeshis were nearly robbed of their right to speak Bengali by the government of West Pakistan.
In the year of 1952, in Dhaka (then spelled as Dacca, still East Pakistan), students marched for their right to speak Bengali. For their right to preserve their language, their culture. Men and women, side by side, fought for their right. Bangladeshi women fronted this march, however. Strong and resilient, powerful. In 1965, when the first Indo-Pakistani war occurred, Bangladesh was left completely undefended. In 1971, war took place between Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. India supported the idea of Bangladesh becoming a sovereign state whereas the Pakistani government had different goals. As war was waged upon Pakistan, the mass genocide and ethnic cleansing of Bangladeshis ensued.
ON MARCH 25TH, 1971, THE FIRST ATTACKS WERE LAUNCHED, STUDENTS AND INTELLECTUALS MURDERED, 7,000 KILLED IN ONE NIGHT. THREE MILLION BANGLADESHIS WERE KILLED. EIGHT TO TEN MILLION BANGLADESHIS WERE DISPLACED, FLEEING FOR THEIR LIVES. THIRTY MILLION WANDERED HELPLESSLY IN EAST PAKISTAN LOOKING TO ESCAPE WAR. 200,000 TO 400,000 BANGLADESHI WOMEN WERE RAPED BY THE PAKISTANI MILITARY. THOUSANDS OF WOMEN AND YOUNG GIRLS WERE KEPT AS SEX SLAVES BY THE PAKISTANI MILITARY. SEVERAL INTELLECTUALS AND STUDENTS WERE KILLED. INFANT CHILDREN, STACKED UPON EACH OTHER LIKE A PILE OF DEBRIS, WERE RUTHLESSLY MURDERED.
Why? Because they were Bangladeshi.
Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi, then head of the Pakistani Forces in East Pakistan, referred to the region and Bangladeshis as “A LOW-LYING LAND OF LOW, LYING PEOPLE.” Bangladeshis were second class citizens in Pakistan. President Yahya Khan–a man who had gone to brothels and slept with prostitutes–had said, referring to the Bangladeshis of East Pakistan, “KILL THREE MILLION OF THEM, AND THE REST WILL EAT OUT OF OUR HANDS.”
And let’s not forget, former president of the United States of America, Richard Nixon, had SPONSORED the genocide of Bangladeshis. Let’s NOT forget. Never.
Within a span of EIGHT MONTHS, TWO WEEKS AND THREE DAYS, three million Bangladeshis were murdered by the Pakistani government. What would have happened if the genocide occurred over a span of a couple years and was a much slower process? The entire population of East Pakistan would have been annihilated. No such thing as Bangladesh would have come into existence. The Bangladeshi genocide of 1971 has been titled ONE OF THE MOST CONCENTRATED ACTS OF GENOCIDE OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY.
The Pakistani and American government have YET to apologize for their actions in the 1971 war.
The hopes of Bangladesh becoming a sovereign, democratic state free from Pakistani control were kept alive through the efforts of the Indian government and military, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (the founder of Bangladesh), and the Mukti Bahini. The Mukti Bahini, meaning Freedom Fighters of Liberation Forces, was the guerrilla resistance movement formed in East Pakistan by civilians, paramilitary, and the East Pakistani military. Bangladesh was birthed into bloodshed and rose from bloodshed an independent state free of Pakistani control on the morning of December 16th, 1971.
The flag of Bangladesh is highly symbolic. A deep shade of green with a red circle in the center. The green is representative of her lush agriculture, vegetation and fields. The red disc is representative of the sun that rose over her on the morning of victory and the blood of those who fought for her.
Many of our families were affected by the war in 1971. I lost family at the hands of the Pakistani government. I nearly lost my father, then a teenager, who was brutally beaten by Pakistani soldiers and still bears the scars on his bask today. I could have lost my mother as well, then a child, forced to hide underground with her siblings as my grandparents kept guard, bullets being fired everywhere. May all those who lost their lives for Bangladesh rest in peace.
Bangladesh is also much more than this. A beautiful nation with beautiful people. We have feminism, and early on, many women’s movements were set up. We have a respect for education, and that was also seen early on in 1952 as WOMEN fronted the march to preserve our culture and language. Because of 1952, because of Bangladesh, International Mother Language Day on February 21st exists.
So, you should know Bangladesh. What she stands for. How beautiful she is. What she has fought for, gone through. Bangladesh is more than India’s neighbour. Bangladesh is more than the tag on the back of your H&M shirt.
Joy Bangla. Victory to Bangladesh.
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