The Bangladesh War of Liberation was fought in several fronts by people in all walks of life. While the main war is largely known by the battles fought by brave freedom fighters both inside and outside the borders of then East Pakistan, much of the war’s success depended on the resistance and random acts of bravery by people in all nooks and corners of the country. The ranks of these unknown and forgotten fighters for liberty were filled by students, farmers, small shop keepers, and village wives. They are the unsung heroes of the war of liberation who people may not remember. The author of this book spent much of the dark nine-month period as a young chief of civil administration two sub-districts (called sub-divisions) of the then Dhaka district- Munshiganj and Manikganj. Like the vast majority of his civil service colleagues working in the country that time he served under the watchful eyes of a malevolent army dictatorship, helplessly watching the atrocities as they continued to occur during those terrible months. Like all Bengali government officers working in the country that time he was a suspect in the eyes of the occupation forces and was subject to surveillance. While working through the difficult times the author also had the occasions to hear and witness some courageous acts of our people that in their own way registered a protest against the atrocities, and even frustrated the cruel agents of Pakistan Government. The articles in this book are the author’s personal accounts of events and occurrences in the most turbulent period of the national history of Bangladesh. Some of these are simply narrations of some dire events, some are stories of chicanery and treachery, and some are stories of bravery of people in the villages who suffered the tumultuous time. The book is an assembly of these articles around a common theme, and a message that 1971 was essentially a people’s war, a war we all fought to rid us of an evil that had descended on us, and had launched a wanton act of aggression and mayhem. The recollections are expected to help our new generation to realize that our freedom did not come cheap; and that the harrowing experience of their previous generation and the murderous sufferings they endured knew no gender or religious boundaries. All of the articles were published earlier in Dailies and Magazines in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh did not exist as an independent state until 1971. Willem van Schendel's state-of-the-art history navigates the extraordinary twists and turns that created modern Bangladesh through ecological disaster, colonialism, partition, a war of independence and cultural renewal. In this revised and updated edition, Van Schendel offers a fascinating and highly readable account of life in Bangladesh over the last two millennia. Based on the latest academic research and covering the numerous historical developments of the 2010s, he provides an eloquent introduction to a fascinating country and its resilient and inventive people. A perfect survey for travellers, expats, students and scholars alike.

This ground-breaking book chronicles the 1971 war in South Asia by reconstituting the memories of those on opposing sides of the conflict. 1971 was marked by a bitter civil war within Pakistan and war between India and Pakistan, backed respectively by the Soviet Union and the United States. It was fought over the territory of East Pakistan, which seceded to become Bangladesh. Through a detailed investigation of events on the ground, Sarmila Bose contextualises and humanises the war while analysing what the events reveal about the nature of the conflict itself. The story of 1971 has so far been dominated by the narrative of the victorious side. All parties to the war are still largely imprisoned by wartime partisan mythologies. Bose reconstructs events via interviews conducted in Bangladesh and Pakistan, published and unpublished reminiscences in Bengali and English of participants on all sides, official documents, foreign media reports and other sources. Her book challenges assumptions about the nature of the conflict, and exposes the ways in which the 1971 war is still playing out in the region.

Bangladeshi women recall the sexualized violence of the war of 1971, fought between India and what was then East and West Pakistan.

In Asia the "Age of Extremes" witnessed many forms of mass violence and genocide, related to the rise and fall of the Japanese Empire, the proxy wars of the Cold War, and the anti-colonial nation building processes that often led to new conflicts and civil wars. The present volume is considered an introductory reader that deals with different forms of mass violence and genocide in Asia, discusses the perspectives of victims and perpetrators alike.

This book critically examines the politico-military strategy of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971. What began as a power struggle and cultural conflict between West and East Pakistan, later compelled India to intervene—an intervention that decisively shaped and influenced the geo-politics of the region and the global order. This volume is a systematic study of the situation of events, operational art and tactics, cold war politics, international reactions, and their impact on the formulation of the national grand strategy of all three nations. The book discusses various key themes such as the creation of Pakistan and events leading to its secession, the military geography of East Pakistan, state of armed forces of India and Pakistan and India’s humanitarian intervention, the role of Mukti Bahini, and the ambiguous stance of the United Nations in the war. The book offers an appraisal of the performances of the opposing forces and reflects on the inevitability of war and its outcome. It also gives an overview of the state formation of the three nations, encompassing the defining moments of the modern history of these South Asian countries and highlighting the socio-economic progress they have made half a century after the liberation war. A compelling treatise in the history of politico-military strategy, this book will be of interest to scholars and researchers of politics and international relations, partition studies, modern history, military history, South Asian studies, international security, defence and strategic studies, language politics, Islamic history, and refugee and diaspora studies. It will also appeal to general readers interested in the histories of Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India.