Victory Day, observed in Bangladesh on 16 December, commemorates the glorious triumph against the oppressive rule of West Pakistan in 1971. This day recognizes Bangladesh’s valor spirit and the legitimacy of the events that led to the liberation war.
Journey to liberation war
Bangladesh’s quest for independence struck root through the language movement of 1952, when the students protested vehemently against the superimposition of Urdu and sought Bangla as the sole official language, including an autonomy. West Pakistan’s intervention and the negation of the unprecedented victory of the United Front in the 1954 election and declaration of martial law by Ayub Khan in 1958 to enslave the Bengali people sparked discontent resulting in the consolidation of the roots of independence.
The six-point movement, known as the Magna Carta of the Bengali nation in 1966 was originally an articulation of the aspiration of political and economic autonomy that led to a mass uprising against their consecutive injustice in 1969 and germinated the seed of independence. Awami League won an absolute majority in the 1970 elections after the fall of Ayub Khan’s military government in the face of strong protests.
The National Awami Party, led by Maulana Bhasani, withdrew from the election of 1970 because of his unwavering support for the common cause; otherwise, the Awami League’s majority in the election would have been threatened. However, the mentality of rejection by the West Pakistani ruling class of the Awami League, which won an absolute victory with the support of the people of the region, pushed the political attitudes of the two regions to extreme antagonism, resulting in a bloody war.
In response, the Bengali leaders declared independence and convened the Mujibnagar Government on April 10, 1971, paving the way for the Liberation War. Through nine months of bloody war, Bangladesh achieved its independence for 3 million martyrs on December 16, 1971, forcing 93 lakhs of Pakistani soldiers to surrender before force.
However, for unknown reasons, the surrender document of Pakistani forces is still in the Delhi Museum.
Pakistani atrocities in the liberation war
‘The dark chapter of the Liberation War in 1971 witnessed extreme brutality by the West Pakistani army. The genocidal campaign against innocent civilians, widespread atrocities, and the notorious “Operation Searchlight” showcased the depths of injustice inflicted upon the people of Bangladesh. On this dark night, the Pakistan army launched a brutal crackdown on the Bengali population, particularly targeting intellectuals, students, and political activists.
One of the primary objectives of the March 25 genocide was to shatter the aspirations of the Bengali population for autonomy and independence. In addition, the Pakistan army’s actions during that night and the subsequent days led to widespread destruction, loss of life, and a humanitarian crisis of startling proportions.
Yahya Khan infamously said, “Kill three million Bengalis, and the rest will eat out of our hands.” His predecessor, General Ayub Khan, categorized Bangalees as “conquered peoples, while the inhabitants of West Pakistan were the progeny of conquerors.”
Pakistan’s domination of its eastern wing was engrossed in racial prejudice and pre-partition communal rhetoric. The brutality during the whole nine months of the Liberation War was unparalleled—hellish killings, mass rapes, and the intentional targeting of intellectuals became the hallmarks of the raids of the West Pakistani army.
Women became the tragic victims of a systematic campaign of rape and abuse as a tool of war by the West Pakistani army. These all were the signs of the ‘moral bankruptcy’ of Yahya Khan’s government. The psychological traumas created by this brutality are haunting the survivors and their families to this day.
The military operation’s inhumanity left a chronic impression on Bangladesh’s collective memory.
The leadership of the independence movement
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Tajuddin Ahmed, Syed Nazrul Islam, Mawlana Bhashani etc, appeared as the charismatic leaders who spurred the nation. Their unwavering commitment to justice, malleability, and dedication became the driving force behind the independence movement.
Their political journey, characterized by an insensate personality throughout the Pakistani regime, reflected a constant worshiping of the rights, dignity, and distinct entity of the Bengali people. The historic speech on March 7, 1971, served as a joint scream for independence, kindling the flame of counteraction in the hearts of millions. All of them had a dream of a Bangladesh that would stand as a sovereign and self-supporting nation, free from the shackles of repression.
Role of foreign superpowers in the war of independence
Henry Kissinger, US national security adviser 1969-1975, supported Pakistani atrocities upon Bangladeshi people during the liberation war, which is later marked as ultrarealism and reshaping diplomacy to reflect American interests and condemned as having abandoned American values, particularly in the arena of human rights, if he accounted it served the nation’s purposes. Additionally, general empathy of the American people during our Liberation War offers instructive insights; independent politicians like Senator Edward Kennedy, events such as the Concert for Bangladesh in Madison Square, and the poetic protest against the horrors of war by Allen Ginsberg all influence the approval of US-American values, which are not solely shaped by political actors.
Though the suffering of Bangladesh was largely overlooked by numerous world leaders during its outset, this reversal represents a moral triumph for a nation. Both the US and China assumed our struggle for freedom—which took away millions of lives—merely as a civil war. Even India, while responding to the humanitarian crisis induced by Pakistan’s genocidal onslaught, in the beginning, considered it as the third India-Pakistan war and strategized to secure its eastern border beyond assistance for our country.
Aftermaths of the victory in the liberation war
Victory Day avails an opportunity for rethinking the consequences and aspirations of victory. The aspirations with which the country commenced had to encounter numerous challenges across its way. After 1971, various governments came to power, but the political culture of the country did not change; the real liberation and the guarantee of the rights of the people of this country remained elusive.
The movement against the dictator Ershad in 1990 and the anti-discrimination student movement against the fallen Hasina government in 2024 are a reflection of that.
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How we tasted Liberation!
After the Awami League was elected in the 2008 elections, they abolished the caretaker government system with the 13th amendment of the constitution. After that, it won three more consecutive nominal national elections. There were allegations of massive forgery and deprivation of people’s rights to vote in the national elections held in 2014, 2018, and 2024.
Meanwhile, except for the 2018 election, the remaining two elections were boycotted by most political parties of the country. During this time, the government carried out massive persecution and arrests on their opponents; the top leaders of the opposition parties were subjected to torture by sentencing them in various cases.
The Awami League-led government has also been alleged to be involved in the ‘Pilkhana Tragedy’ of 2009, including the ‘Shapla Chattwar event’ of May 5, 2013. At this time, publishing of information in all media in Bangladesh was strictly monitored, and freedom of public expression was strictly regulated through laws such as the Digital Security Act, 2018.
There were allegations of violence and repression in various campuses against Chhatra League, the students organisational body of Awami League, under the political shelter. In addition, the shortage of reserves, widespread corruption, large-scale money laundering from the country, and irregularities in loans of thousands of crores increased in the banking sector.
Due to this, the living cost of the common people has increased, and life is treating harshly day by day. For these reasons, people have distrust in the Awami government. That’s why they conducted a joint venture, namely ‘Student-People Uprising,’ in July, which claims more than 800 lives of students and others, resulting in the crashing fall of ex-PM Sheikh Hasina’s governance of 16 years long.
Here, people’s aspirations in the July Revolution are nothing different from the aspirations of the liberation war of 1971; rather, they have reconciled, claiming a similar agenda. The people of Bengal dream of enjoying their rights with rejoicing, breathing freely in the open air, and having two square meals a day.
All our endeavors are aimed at achieving this goal. Real victory will be achieved, and celebration of V-Day will be meaningful only when we can turn these desires into reality; otherwise, the word victory will be considered as a fancy word before then. Read also about The Future of Europe: Can Liberal Democracy Counteract the Far-Right Surge?
