Special Content
A colourless Victory Day in Bogura, memories of celebration being faded
For many residents of Bogura, this year’s Victory Day felt unusually muted. Abdus Salam, a local businessman, recalled the festive atmosphere of past celebrations while listening to patriotic songs on his phone. “Victory Day is no longer what it used to be,” he said. “The few arrangements we see today feel purely formal. Earlier, streets were filled with music and decorations, and the city was alive with celebration. Now everything seems dull.”
Village life during 1971
[In 2002, Liberation War researcher Afsan Chowdhury started a history project called ‘Bangladesh 1971’. As part of this work, a four-volume book called ‘Bangladesh 1971’ was published in 2007. In 2013, another project called ‘Gramer Ekattor’ started. Based on the information from that project, he published a book titled ‘Gramer Ekattor’ in 2019. Inspired by the author’s ‘Gramer Ekattor’, Views Bangladesh brings its Victory Day event ‘How was the village life during the 1971 war?’]
Bangladesh: The dream of lonely charioteers
Jean Eugene Paul Kay was a 29-year-old young man from a wealthy family in France, one of the wealthiest countries in Europe. At that age, he was supposed to be busy with his profession, beloved, and his own life, or be drunk in all the famous French bars. But what a strange humanity, he hijacked a Pakistan International Airlines plane, risking his life. He joined the Bengali liberation struggle. This incident created a stir in France and the whole of Europe. When the mediator spoke to Jean Kay, he demanded that 20 tons of medicine and relief materials be sent for the Bengali refugees who had taken refuge in India! At one point in the hostage incident, the security guards shot him in the chest. He was seriously injured but survived. Later, when detailed information about the matter was published, the French government sent relief medicine for the Bengali refugees.
Guerrilla girl, Pakistani child, boatman's wife and bullet-hit Pakistani woman
Bangladesh achieved its independence through a nine-month-long armed struggle. As in a people's war like the Liberation War, it was a war beyond the battlefield. Every person in the country, young and old, women and children, service holders and housewives, became a warrior. This is another war within the war, a daily battle for survival. The stories of that war have been lost and continue to be lost. This collection of memoirs by the heroic freedom fighter Kazi Ferdousi Haque Linu is an attempt to piece together these lost stories. The very stories are lost in the crowd of uncounted events.
Hadi assassination attempt raises concerns about electoral environment, security
The assassination attempt on Sharif Osman Hadi, spokesperson of Inqilab Mancha and a prospective candidate for the Dhaka-8 constituency, has been carried out at a time when the much-needed poll schedule was just announced. The incident has raised renewed concern, uncertainty and tension among the political leadership.
Bruised and battered Selina Parvin in shallow pit of abandoned brick kiln
The Rayerbazar area, located on the outskirts of Dhaka city, was once quite desolate. It was a low-lying wetland along the riverbank. During the dry season, several brick kilns operated in this area, which was commonly known to the people of Dhaka as “Itkhola” (brick kilns). In newly independent Bangladesh, the bodies of the nation’s finest sons were discovered in the shallow, circular pit resembling a pond of one such abandoned brick kiln. These bodies bore marks of extreme brutality—chests and backs riddled with bullets, hands tied behind their backs, fingernails uprooted, various limbs crushed, bodies perforated by gunfire, deep bayonet wounds, and half-decomposed remains. These were the bodies of enlightened individuals—freedom-loving Bengali professors, doctors, lawyers, journalists, and professionals from other walks of life.
Crucial day for Bangladesh on the eve of Independence
December 13, 1971, was an exciting, crisis-ridden and at the same time hopeful day in the last chapter of Bangladesh's Liberation War. The Pakistani occupying forces were disoriented by the gradual advance of the combined Liberation Army and the Indian allies from all sides. Several events marked this day in history, which accelerated the birth of the Independent Bangladesh.
Osman Hadi shot in Bijoynagar: A day of worry and anxiety
Independent candidate and Inqilab Mancha spokesperson Sharif Osman Hadi was shot while attending an election rally in Bijoynagar in the capital.
Rape case trials: The endless waiting for Justice
Due to the increase in rape and atrocities against women in the country, the Bangladesh Women and Children Repression Prevention Act 2000 (Nari-O-Shishu Nirjaton Daman Ain) was amended in 2020 to ensure the maximum punishment of death penalty. Five years have passed since then. Even the provision of the maximum punishment could not reduce the extreme atrocities like rape. Even though the cases related to rape are increasing, only a few judgements are being served.
Dhaka besieged, Pakistan forces' defenses start collapsing
December 12, 1971. Just four days before the independence, the battlefield in Bangladesh reached its peak of maximum tension. The Indo-Bangladesh joint forces surrounded Dhaka from all sides. The defenses of the Pakistani forces collapsed; most of the areas of the country was declared a liberated area. In the international arena, the independence of Bangladesh was practically certain—this was the most important day just before the victory.