DECEMBER 1971: It was thrilling to be alive
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Splash
    • Videos
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Friday
August 12, 2022

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Splash
    • Videos
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 2022
DECEMBER 1971: It was thrilling to be alive

Thoughts

Syed Badrul Ahsan
16 December, 2019, 10:55 am
Last modified: 16 December, 2019, 10:59 am

Related News

  • PM for judging faith in Liberation War spirit to promote military officers 
  • Replica of Indian ship that helped liberate Bangladesh displayed in Mumbai
  • ‘JK 1971’ teaser revealed
  • Nation got inspiration from Nazrul during Liberation War: Speakers
  • 'Beerer Mukhe Birottogatha’ - a book on 25 eminent freedom fighters of Armed Forces unveiled

DECEMBER 1971: It was thrilling to be alive

In our devastated land, we went about the beautiful task of weaving the many-splendoured dreams of building a secular society, of constructing an edifice of unfettered democracy, of ensuring rule of law and political accountability.

Syed Badrul Ahsan
16 December, 2019, 10:55 am
Last modified: 16 December, 2019, 10:59 am
Photo: Courtesy
Photo: Courtesy

Rifle shots piercing a late afternoon. Clear blue skies, with little sign of any allied aircraft dropping any more leaflets asking the Pakistani military command to surrender without conditions. Suddenly the cheerful and loud sounds of Joi

Bangla all around. People rushing through the streets and alleys screaming in happy abandon news of the capitulation of the soldiers who had oppressed the nation for nine tortuous months.

What had begun as our annus horribilis was drawing to an end as our annus mirabilis. The country, as we realized to our happy surprise on the afternoon of 16 December 1971, was now free, a sovereign entity among nations. The radio station at Shahbagh crackled to life, with a rendition of aaj srishti shukher ullashe. Creation had acquired a newer meaning in this land. It was a land that was coming back home, to us, to its people.

Abdul Jabbar's melody-draped voice said it all on that afternoon of renewal. Hajar bochhor pore / abar eshechhi phire / Banglar buuke achhi dnarhiye was the song which wafted across the country in the initial minutes of liberation. We were free at last. Niazi and his men had bitten the dust. Having killed and raped and pillaged, the 'brave fighting force' of Pakistan had fallen silent. Niazi had walked, flanked by Jagjit Singh Aurora and our very own ATM Haider, to the nondescript table at the Race Course where lay the document he would soon affix his signature to. In minutes, it was all over. 93,000 soldiers, along with civilians brought over from Rawalpindi to ensure that Bengalis remained in subjugation, were now themselves in a state of necessary subjugation. 'East Pakistan' was detritus in the bin of history.

On that afternoon of triumph, we had little idea of the tragedy which had come to scores of Bengali intellectuals earlier marched off to their deaths by the local collaborators of the occupation army. On the morning after the afternoon of Pakistani capitulation, the corpses of two Pakistani soldiers lay yards away from President's House (which would soon be transformed into Ganobhaban). At the gates of President's House --- home to Ayub Khan and Yahya Khan on their visits to East Pakistan, home to Queen Elizabeth II on her 1961 visit, the spot where the junta and its co-conspirators had engaged in deceitful negotiations with the Awami League in the weeks before Operation Searchlight --- Bengalis cheered the Indian troops guarding the place. A properly emotional Bengali hugged a Sikh officer, grateful to him and his nation for saving his country from all those treacherous Punjabis. He was stupefied, and then happy, to be told by the Sikh that not all Punjabis were bad. 'See, I am also a Punjabi!' The Bengali hugged the Sikh again.

At the gates of Governor's House, in a bunker of which the collaborationist governor A.M. Malek, his hands trembling, had a couple of days earlier scribbled his resignation on the inside of a cigarette packet, cheering Bengalis wanted to be let in. The place was in a shambles, explained a Bengali soldier standing sentinel. It is now our house, he told the crowd. Let it be restored, after all the bombing that has gone on, and then we will all see it. The crowd moved on, powered by slogans of Joi Bangla. On the streets, posters bearing images of the incarcerated Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in sunglasses and Indira Gandhi were being lapped up by people. It was a moment in history, a moment when history was being made, and everyone wished to be part of it. And history was being made at Mohsin Hall of Dhaka University, where the young fell to collecting splinters from Indian bombs, happy that they could show them to their families back home. Before Hotel Intercontinental, earlier decreed a neutral zone under UN supervision and where Malek, his ministers and scores of Pakistani officials and their families had found refuge, crowds rent the air with Joi Bangla slogans. It was the same place where, in March, Bengalis had displayed shoes at Zulfikar Ali Bhutto every time he emerged from and went back to it during the eventually abortive political negotiations.

All across Dhaka, Razakars were busy trying to escape the wrath of the masses. Some tried to find refuge with relatives but were immediately shown the door. Near the graves of the martyrs Faruk and Iqbal at Mouchak in Malibagh, a man in white suit and black tie, with dark glasses to boot, was on a rickshaw. Suddenly, a group of young men forced the rickshaw to a stop, pulled the man down and gave him a good beating. As it turned out, he was a Razakar who had apparently been a little too collaborative with the Pakistan army, crime that people remembered. Away in Gulistan, men of the Mukti Bahini did not lose time pouncing on an academic guilty of disseminating lies abroad on behalf of the junta, leaving him for dead. A collaborator politician, caught by the freedom fighters, had justice meted out to him. All across town, in old as well as new Dhaka, freedom fighters --- bearded and long-haired, with guns slung on their shoulders --- were returning home. Spontaneity of love was in the air as they were endlessly hugged and kissed by a grateful citizenry.

No newspapers appeared on 16 and 17 December. On 18 December, a few made an appearance, with all the news of the Pakistani surrender and bearing images of Bangabandhu. A terse announcement conveyed a significant decision made by the provisional Bangladesh government: four political parties --- the Jamaat-e-Islami, Muslim League, Nezam-e-Islam, Pakistan Democratic Party --- had been proscribed in light of their collaboration with the occupation army.

Thus it was on 16 December 1971. Away in New York, Bhutto stormed out of the UN Security Council after ripping a copy of a proposed UN ceasefire resolution to shreds. In Rawalpindi, an inebriated Yahya Khan would not comprehend, until the following day, that half of his country was gone. In the evening, Pakistani television showed footage of the army surrender in Dhaka before the military clamped down on it. It did not help, for Pakistanis in Peshawar, Lahore, Karachi and elsewhere had already been stung by the images and had begun demanding that the heads of the junta roll.

On 22 December, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman would be moved out of solitary confinement in Mianwali and into house arrest outside Rawalpindi. On the same day, the Mujibnagar government would come home to Dhaka, the free capital of a free country.

In our devastated land, we went about the beautiful task of weaving the many-splendoured dreams of building a secular society, of constructing an edifice of unfettered democracy, of ensuring rule of law and political accountability. We were finally people inhabiting our very own People's Republic of Bangladesh. We looked to the future. 

It was thrilling to be alive. It was wonderful being witness to history.

Top News

Birth of a Nation / Liberation War / Victory Day

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Infographic: TBS
    Fuel sales drop by 34% following price adjustment
  • Default loans jump Tk22,000cr in six months
    Default loans jump Tk22,000cr in six months
  • The fuel price hike is triggering a chain effect on the whole economy on top of making lives costlier - and for many unaffordable - for the masses. Photo: Rajib Dhar/TBS
    BPC says it can’t afford any more losses. Not everyone is convinced

MOST VIEWED

  • Can a country go bankrupt?
    Can a country go bankrupt?
  • Are we fighting a losing climate battle?
    Are we fighting a losing climate battle?
  • Therese Raphael. Sketch: TBS
    Why British conservatives went cold on Rishi Sunak
  • Rakib Al Hasan. Sketch: TBS
    The overlooked link between foreign currency reserve crisis and money laundering
  • Why superpower crises are a good thing
    Why superpower crises are a good thing
  • Pharma companies: A safe haven for investors in this bear market
    Pharma companies: A safe haven for investors in this bear market

Related News

  • PM for judging faith in Liberation War spirit to promote military officers 
  • Replica of Indian ship that helped liberate Bangladesh displayed in Mumbai
  • ‘JK 1971’ teaser revealed
  • Nation got inspiration from Nazrul during Liberation War: Speakers
  • 'Beerer Mukhe Birottogatha’ - a book on 25 eminent freedom fighters of Armed Forces unveiled

Features

Some species of mantises resemble flowers, with just one exception — they hunt. Photo: Collected

Mantis memoir: A master predator

1h | Earth
Bye bye! Photographer: Michael Zarrilli/Getty Images North America via Bloomberg

Three major takeaways from the FBI search on Trump’s home

21h | Panorama
Photo: Noor A Alam/TBS

Big dreams in small rooms: The aspiring nurses of Geneva Camp

1d | Panorama
Illustration: TBS

How to deal with toxic people at work

1d | Pursuit

More Videos from TBS

What's next after searching Trump's house

What's next after searching Trump's house

2h | Videos
Dollar rate increasing in open market despite various initiatives by central bank

Dollar rate increasing in open market despite various initiatives by central bank

2h | Videos
Salimullah Khan on Joddopi Amar Guru

Salimullah Khan on Joddopi Amar Guru

2h | Videos
US wants to turn Taiwan into Ukraine, says China

US wants to turn Taiwan into Ukraine, says China

2h | Videos

Most Read

1
Dollar crisis: BB orders removal of 6 banks’ treasury chiefs 
Banking

Dollar crisis: BB orders removal of 6 banks’ treasury chiefs 

2
Diesel price hiked by Tk34 per litre, Octane by Tk46
Energy

Diesel price hiked by Tk34 per litre, Octane by Tk46

3
Photo: Collected
Transport

Will Tokyo’s traffic model solve Dhaka’s gridlocks?

4
Arrest warrant against Habib Group chairman, 4 others 
Crime

Arrest warrant against Habib Group chairman, 4 others 

5
File Photo: State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid
Energy

All factories to remain closed once a week under rationing system

6
Anwar Group looks beyond slowdown – invests Tk5,000cr
Economy

Anwar Group looks beyond slowdown – invests Tk5,000cr

EMAIL US
[email protected]
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2022
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - [email protected]

For advertisement- [email protected]