Reflections on the Victory Day

By Muhammad Zafar Iqbal:  Children belonging to the new generation sometimes ask me about the most joyous moment in my life. Sometimes, I stop abruptly while answering this question – but not because the correct answer is unknown to me. I stop because countless memories crowd my mind immediately after hearing this question; and I become absent-minded for a while. Actually, there is no uncertainty regarding the answer in the minds of myself or any other person belonging to my generation. We all know for certain that the 16th of December, 1971, or our first Victory Day, was the happiest moment in our lives.

 It happened thirty-nine years ago, but even then it seems to me that the episode took place only a few days back. I remember passing my time with the children of a family inside a trench dug below the soil at Jatrabari. Some tanks accompanied by a motorcade of the Pakistani military travelled through the sprawling road in front of us. The sounds of a battle nearby reverberated throughout the whole area. There were fighter jets in the sky, which dropped leaflets for the Pakistani army, ‘Surrender immediately, otherwise the freedom fighters will catch you.’ There were no humans on the road, only some corpses lay scattered on it.

  The scenario suddenly changed on the Sixteenth of December; the tanks started to roll back by making hoarse sounds. Truck-filled and war-battered Pakistani military were coming back along with the tanks.  The Bihari families, Razakars and Al-Badrs were fleeing alongside them. For the first time, their faces exuded helplessness and fear. I experienced the happiest moment of my life, just when the sun was going down; I heard somebody shouting ‘Joy Bangla’ from a nearby place.

  It was a small slogan. But it changed everything within moments. The brutal repressions of the Pakistani army over  the preceding nine months, the monstrous cruelties of traitors like Razakars and Al-Badrs, our sorrows, sufferings, pains and vulnerabilities, panic and uncertainties – everything evaporated in a single blow. I was transformed into a new man within a second; I was now a free man of an independent nation  – whose head appeared to touch the sky. The memories of the dear ones I lost during the nine months of the war, now crowded my mind. Wiping off the teardrops from my eyes, I felt an intense love for my newly-born motherland. None were as lucky as our own generation, as we had witnessed the birth of our dearest motherland. The new generation can never comprehend or imagine the mirth we derived from our deep love for the country.

  Inside us, our generation shares a type of intense emotion for the liberation war, which cannot be found among the new generation. The whole country was later thrown into an abyss of darkness after 1975. We are coming out of that darkness very slowly. A new generation is growing older, having deep affection for the motherland. I have watched with amazement the love of the new generation for their country, and the great feeling they have for the liberation war. So, when a pledge was made during the last election for holding the trial of the war-criminals, they enthusiastically reposed the responsibility of running the country on the grand alliance. They are now waiting patiently to witness the trial of the seditious war-criminals, and get back a motherland which has been freed from a stigma.

   We all dream about a Bangladesh of our dreams. I believe, our new generation can gift us that country. That is possible only with a genuinely patriotic generation. It is therefore very important that our new generation knows the history of the liberation war. This country was not born by signing deeds or documents after holding diplomatic negotiations. The country was freed by evading the clutches of the greatest super-power on earth and by defeating the world’s cruellest army in a face to face war. That liberation war was at the same time a tale of great sacrifices, of unbelievable courage and valour, and the chronicle of a huge accomplishment. When a person comes to know the history of that sacrifice, heroism and achievement, then he would not only feel great affection for the country, his chest would swell with pride. He would not then require inspiration from outside to build this country, rather he would feel that urge from within.

We can feel the liberation war anew with the heralding of each Victory Day; our new generation will also have to comprehend that. They will have to know that the complete history of the liberation war is not confined to merely nine months of armed struggle in 1971. It started with the struggle against communalism and religious fanaticism after the partition of the sub-continent in 1947. The Bengalee nation started to get its self-identity from the language movement of 1952. Bangabandhu’s 6-point movement during the decade of 1960s had united the whole country. We are still thrilled by the memory of the 1969 mass upsurge, the incredible election of 1970, the tyranny of the Pakistanis and the non-cooperation movement led by Bangabandhu. Can we ever forget that historic speech of Bangabandhu, which he delivered by ignoring the raised weapons of the Pakistani military?

All these combined to give shape to the history of our liberation war. Not only the past – our future should also be a part of it. When we succeed in ridding ourselves of a stigma by holding the trial of the war-criminals, when we take the country to the doorsteps of a land of our dreams, only then will our history assume a complete shape.

We are waiting for that cherished motherland of our dreams on this Victory Day.