Bangladesh 1971: Dreadful ExperiencesRashid HaiderShahitya PrakashHow horrific were the nine months of our Liberation War?In the beginning of 1972, a video taken during the war was aired onAmerican television. It was a video of the killings at Jagannath Hall, a dormitory of Dhaka University on 26 March, 1971. It was recorded secretly by Dr. Nurul Ula (read the first story in this book) . The video had a disclaimer: “Children and the faint-hearted should not watch this.”The next day after it was aired, the newspapers reported that many people, even the brave ones, either fainted or fell ill after watching the video featuring the deliberate and brutal massacre.Why would the video evoke such strong reaction from people who are used to see killing, torture, and rape every day in movies? The answer is easy—in the movies, killing or death is enacted; not so in reality.In this collection, we have tried to put the accounts of some of the eyewitnesses of our Liberation War in writing. We have read about the terrible tortures by the Nazis during the Second World War; and also seen it in many movies. But we never imagined that we would have to suffer similarly. The writings of the witnesses describe the brutal and ingenious ways the PakistaniArmy and their allies—the members of Razakar, AlBadr, Peace Committee, etc.—tortured the people of then East Pakistan who were hungry for their independence. There are so many other stories beyond this collection, some perhaps more horrific. We know our limits: we cannot possibly portray the atrocities that transpired in just one book. However, this is our humble effort to capture some of the horror stories.These days, many define the Liberation War as ‘trouble’-time or too quickly-achieved’, and many consciously distort the historical facts.This is definitely a matter for concern. Who does not know that from March till December of 1971, Bangladesh was like a prison? Everyone still alive there was facing death at every moment, with terrible uncertainty about the future. It cannot be denied that those inside the confinement of this country were the worst sufferers. This collection is their eye-witness accounts.When I asked somebody to write his/her narrative, I had a special request: the story had to be witnessed by the person himself or herself, not something heard from someone else. Experiences heard from others are prone to distortion; that in turn distorts history. Since all the articles published here specifically mention places and dates, the reader can verify the authenticity with little effort.The narrations are organized chronologically, from March till December. We did not give any extra value to the writer’s age, qualification, or social position.Some authors have mentioned the pre-war history and noncooperation movement in their writings. Although the topics are related, I edited these parts out to jump right into the event. I beg pardon for taking advantage of editor’s freedomon those articles.I am deeply grateful to those who have helped by writing and providing links. Many authors have directed me towards other potential authors. I have to mention a few names: Professor Anisuzzaman, Asad Chowdhury, Asaduzzaman Noor, Gazi Salahuddin, Firoz Mohammad, Shamsul Arefin, Somrojit Pal, Lt. Col. Muniruzzaman, Motahar Ahmed, Rabiul Hussain, Kazi Shamsuzzoha, Meera Singh, Akhtaruzzaman Ilias, Mofabeja Khan, Heera Alam, Mahbubul Huq, Mohammad Sirajuddin, Muhammad Mujadded, Jatin Sarkar, Zahid Haider, Shoeb Shahriar, and Shikhan Touhid. A special thanks to writer Subrata Barua for translating an article written in English to Bangla.Publisher and friend Mofidul Hoque didn’t spare a moment to agree to publish the book when I contacted himthrough an expatriate friend.The staff at the publishing house has helped me all the way. Artist QayyumChowdhury was enthusiastic fromthe beginning. My humble respect to all these people.I shall consider my effort a success if this collection helps somewhat to save the true history of the Liberation War.- Rashid Haider