On this day 48 years ago, a nation won its most cherished victory against a formidable foe. The tumultuous history of the Bangalee people is marked by many ups and downs. Ever since the defeat of Sirajudullah at Plassey, a stigma stuck with this people -that it is not gifted with enough valour to give a fight to the enemy. For nine months the freedom fighters proved this myth not only false but their guerrilla operations proved so effective that they could strike terror into the hearts of one of the most brutal armies in the world. True, the allied forces of India, when they launched combined attacks, precipitated the fall of then East Pakistan; but the Mukti Bahini, the synonym of freedom fighters, proved their valour all the same. It was duly recognised by the Indian troops fighting alongside.
In an unequal war like the one the freedom fighters fought, the casualty figure is likely to be high. This exactly happened here. As many as 3.0 million civilians and freedom fighters --only a small proportion of whom was defected regular forces including the police and ansars -laid down their lives to free the country from the occupying Pakistani forces. It was one of history's worst genocides the Pakistanis carried out on this soil. Howevermuch formidable their military strength was, their moral degeneration and barbarity weakened them from within. The freedom fighters fought for the liberation of their motherland and apart from a small band of collaborators, the entire civilian population was behind them. On that count, it was a mass participation by the people in a deadly war. It would have been a gross injustice if the people did not emerge victorious after so much sacrifice.
A victory of this order is always sweet and rejoicing. But there was hardly a family in this country that did not lose a member to the war. They are all martyrs. Also, on the eve of the surrender to the joint forces, the Pakistani marauders and their local collaborators delivered a most heinous and grievous blow under their programme of killing the best sons and daughters of the soil. The mission was to create an intellectual vacuum in the post-Liberation Bangladesh. University teachers, litterateurs, poets, doctors, filmmakers and progressive men and women were rounded up before their mass killing. There is hardly a precedent to such mayhem in human history.
So the victory achieved on this day could not be an occasion of unalloyed joy and celebration. The devils were not satisfied with nine month's massacre all over the country. Thus the victory came at a stupendous price and although there was exuberance all around, the heart-wrenching news of the nation's loss tempered the celebration to a large extent. Yes, the Bangalees did not want this war but once it was enforced on them they had to fight it out simply because of preserving their existence. Their emergence as a free nation has been more than justified because today the country boasts better social indicators almost on all counts than those of Pakistan.
