CHILDREN OF WAR !!!

An Urdu speaking Muslim person does not hate a Hindu person as much as they hate a Bengali speaking Muslim person. The East India Company or rather the British Government divided India in the name of Hinduism religion and Islam religion to sow the seeds of communalism. But communalism also exists among the people of the same religion too. West Pakistan was developing and the condition of East Pakistan was deteriorating day by day. In the year of 1971, the Awami League of East Pakistan under the leadership of Mujibar Rahman won majority of seats in East Pakistan. The Awami League wanted a separate administrative unit for East Pakistan to improve its socio-economic condition. The administration of West Pakistan regarded it as an unethical uprising by the Bengali Muslims of East Pakistan. The order from West Pakistan’s Yahya Khan was, ‘Kill 3 million of them and the rest will eat out of our hands.’ Bengali Muslims of East Pakistan declared independence of Bangladesh on 26^th March 1971. Why Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India commented, ‘The massacre began long before there was a single guerrilla’? Too many Bangladeshis were entering into the West Bengal State of India as refugees. Indira Gandhi, who was far better in International Politics than in Indian Politics decided to send in Indian Army  on 3^rd December 1971 to East Pakistan to help the Bengali Muslims to create their own new nation, Bangladesh.

‘JAI BANGLA’? The Pakistani Military General, Malik raped Fida in front of her husband, Aamir because Aamir was writing articles in newspapers about the freedom struggle of Bangladeshis. Have you heard the song of Kishore Kumar, ‘E ki holo, kano holo...ki je holo...?’ The Bangladeshi girls were kidnapped and taken to the Pakistani Military camps. The Bangladeshi girls who were not willing to speak in Urdu got killed. The Bangladeshi girls were kept as prisoners and used to get gang-raped everyday by the Pakistani Army Men. ‘Inh saari aurat o ko bacche paida karne hain, aur agar munkin ho toh ek se jyada. Aur joh nahi kar sakti, woh zinda raheka karegi kya?’ West Pakistanis applied the strategy to reproduce Pakistani babies from the womb of Bangladeshi women by raping them. On the other hand, West Pakistanis kept on killing the male Bengali Muslims of East Pakistan. ‘Moyla! Moyla!’ The conditions of the Bangladeshi girls inside the prisons were like a living dead body. The number of members in Mukti Bahini (a revolutionary group of Bangladesh) started increasing. Villages of Bangladesh became graveyards. Bangladeshi villagers started their journey in groups to go to India. Mojid, another freedom fighter of Bangladesh was of the opinion that offense is the best defence. ‘Duniya humein nazar andaz kar rahi hain kyon ki uski nazar mein hamari koi ehemiyad nahi hain. Inh zaalim o ke do char maar girayenge , tab hamari ehemiyad samajh mein aayegi.’

The journalist took up the gun as a freedom fighter. ‘Tum logon ne kya Islam ko theke pe le rakha hain; ya allah par sirf Pakistan ka haq hain?’ The Pakistani soldiers brutally killed the innocent Bangladeshi villagers in front of Rafiq. Rafiq managed to save his elder sister’s life from those bullets of Pakistani soldiers. ‘Unh berahemi o se kaat teh huye sarh o ke tapakte hoon ke cheekti hoton ke beech maine ek masoom ki masoomiyat ko loot teh huye dekha.’ Rafiq took up the gun to kill a Pakistani soldier. Rafiq and his elder sister Kausar started their journey again towards India. Bithika, a prisoner in Pakistani camp used to steal arms and ammunitions. She was a member of Dacca Guerrilla force. Landmine was installed on roads to kill the Pakistani soldiers. The jeep got destroyed in that landmine blast. Aamir showed the photo of Fida to Bithika. A mentally ill girl got killed inside the prison. ‘Daag uski jism par nahi, rooh par laage teh.’ Bithika told Fida that Aamir is still alive. Why Bithika got gang-raped inside the prison in front of all other prisoners? What happened to Malik? Did Rafiq succeed in crossing the Indo-Bangladesh border? Fida gave birth to a Pakistani boy or a Bangladeshi boy? In Bangladesh, within the period from 26^th March 1971 to 16^th December 1971, around 10 million Bengali Muslims migrated to India and another 30 million Bengali Muslims got killed by the Pakistani soldiers. Maybe, that’s why; some Bangladeshis are still regarded as “CHILDREN OF WAR”.