Women, War, and the Making of Bangladesh

Women, War, and the Making of Bangladesh
Author: Yasmin Saikia
Publisher: Duke University Press
Total Pages: 334
Release: 2011-08-10
Genre: History
ISBN: 0822350386

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

Dead Reckoning

Dead Reckoning
Author: Sarmila Bose
Publisher: Hachette UK
Total Pages: 246
Release: 2012-08-07
Genre: History
ISBN: 9350094266

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 Bose reconstructs events via interviews conducted in Bangladesh and Pakistan, published and unpublished reminiscences in Bengali and English of participants on all sides, official documents, foreign media reports and other sources.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.

The Spectral Wound

The Spectral Wound
Author: Nayanika Mookherjee
Publisher: Duke University Press
Total Pages: 380
Release: 2015-10-23
Genre: History
ISBN: 0822375222

Following the 1971 Bangladesh War, the Bangladesh government publicly designated the thousands of women raped by the Pakistani military and their local collaborators as birangonas, ("brave women”). Nayanika Mookherjee demonstrates that while this celebration of birangonas as heroes keeps them in the public memory, they exist in the public consciousness as what Mookherjee calls a spectral wound. Dominant representations of birangonas as dehumanized victims with disheveled hair, a vacant look, and rejected by their communities create this wound, the effects of which flatten the diversity of their experiences through which birangonas have lived with the violence of wartime rape. In critically examining the pervasiveness of the birangona construction, Mookherjee opens the possibility for a more politico-economic, ethical, and nuanced inquiry into the sexuality of war.

Brass Buttons - Blue Coats

Brass Buttons - Blue Coats
Author: George E. Rutledge – Deputy Chief, Ret.
Publisher: Dorrance Publishing
Total Pages: 1120
Release: 2020-01-16
Genre: History
ISBN: 1644261553

Brass Buttons, Blue Coats “Remembering All Who Served 1871 to 1971” By: George E. Rutledge As a young police sergeant in 1976, George E. Rutledge met a veteran who told him, “I served 35 years in our police department and the day I retired was the very last time I ever heard from anyone in the police department. And the same thing will happen to you.” Rutledge has dedicated his life to making sure all who served in the Yonkers Police Department are remembered and honored. Brass Buttons – Blue Coats is a thorough documentation of all individuals who have served from the beginning of the Yonkers Police Department to 1971. Personal profiles and photographs create a lasting memorial of service. In 1866, still suffering from the turmoil of the Civil War, the town of Yonkers voted to hire fourteen Metropolitan Policemen from New York, creating the first Yonkers police force. From this humble beginning, the Yonkers police force has grown to over 600 dedicated men and women. From foot patrols to squad cars, notebooks to computers, the Yonkers police force has grown and adapted with the times. But the purpose has never wavered: to Serve and Protect. Civil War veterans, Vietnam veterans, rescue workers after 9/11, and Special Olympic volunteers – the Yonkers force is filled with people who have dedicated their lives to their country and their community. Rich with details of service and crimes over 100 years, Brass Buttons – Blue Coats is both a fitting tribute to brave men and women as well as a fascinating look at the history of Yonkers and the history of crime.

The Colonel Who Would Not Repent

The Colonel Who Would Not Repent
Author: Salil Tripathi
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 548
Release: 2016-04-26
Genre: History
ISBN: 0300221029

Bangladesh was once East Pakistan, the Muslim nation carved out of the Indian Subcontinent when it gained independence from Britain in 1947. As religion alone could not keep East Pakistan and West Pakistan together, Bengali-speaking East Pakistan fought for and achieved liberation in 1971. Coups and assassinations followed, and two decades later it completed its long, tumultuous transition to parliamentary government. Its history is complex and tragic—one of war, natural disaster, starvation, corruption, and political instability. First published in India by the Aleph Book Company, Salil Tripathi’s lyrical, beautifully wrought tale of the difficult birth and conflict-ridden politics of this haunted land has received international critical acclaim, and his reporting has been honored with a Mumbai Press Club Red Ink Award for Excellence in Journalism. The Colonel Who Would Not Repent is an insightful study of a nation struggling to survive and define itself.

Solidarity Under Siege

Solidarity Under Siege
Author: Jeffrey L. Gould
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 281
Release: 2019-05-23
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1108419194

Depicts the rise and fall of the militant labor movement in modern El Salvador.

1971

1971
Author: Anam Zakaria
Publisher: Penguin Random House India Private Limited
Total Pages: 382
Release: 2019-12-16
Genre: Literary Collections
ISBN: 9353057213

The year 1971 exists everywhere in Bangladesh-on its roads, in sculptures, in its museums and oral history projects, in its curriculum, in people's homes and their stories, and in political discourse. It marks the birth of the nation, it's liberation. More than 1000 miles away, in Pakistan too, 1971 marks a watershed moment, its memories sitting uncomfortably in public imagination. It is remembered as the 'Fall of Dacca', the dismemberment of Pakistan or the third Indo-Pak war. In India, 1971 represents something else-the story of humanitarian intervention, of triumph and valour that paved the way for India's rise as a military power, the beginning of its journey to becoming a regional superpower. Navigating the widely varied terrain that is 1971 across Pakistan, Bangladesh and India, Anam Zakaria sifts through three distinct state narratives, and studies the institutionalization of the memory of the year and its events. Through a personal journey, she juxtaposes state narratives with people's history on the ground, bringing forth the nuanced experiences of those who lived through the war. Using intergenerational interviews, textbook analyses, visits to schools and travels to museums and sites commemorating 1971, Zakaria explores the ways in which 1971 is remembered and forgotten across countries, generations and communities.

Remembering Our Past

Remembering Our Past
Author: David C. Rubin
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 466
Release: 1999-02-13
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 9780521657235

This book reviews the latest research in the field of autobiographical memory.

Fifty Years of Bangladesh, 1971-2021

Fifty Years of Bangladesh, 1971-2021
Author: Taj Hashmi
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 398
Release: 2022-04-22
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3030971589

This book, the first historical sociology of its kind concerning Bangladesh, examines the country's what-went-wrong-syndrome during the first fifty years of its existence, 1971-2021. The work is an exception to the traditional studies on modern and contemporary Bangladesh. The study is also a post-history of united Pakistan. Busting several myths, it sheds light on many known and unknown facts about the history, politics, society, and culture of the country. Besides being a twice-born country – liberated twice, from the British in 1947 and from West Pakistanis in 1971 – it is also an artificial entity suffering from acute crises of culture, development, governance, and identity. Hashmi attributes the culture and identity crises to the demographic byproducts of bad governance. In addition to being overpopulated, Bangladesh is also resource-poor and has one of the most unskilled populations, largely lumpen elements and peasants. According to Marx, these people represent “the unchanging remnants of the past”. The second round of independence empowered these lumpen classes, who suffer from an identity crisis and never learn the art of governance. The proliferation of pseudo-history about liberation has further divided the polity between the two warring tribes who only glorify their respective idols, Mujib and Zia. Pre-political and pre-capitalist peasants’ / lumpen elements’ lack of mutual trust and respect have further plagued Bangladesh, turning it into one of the least governable, corrupt, and inefficient countries. It is essential to replace the pre-capitalist order of the country run by multiple lumpen classes with capitalist and inclusive institutions.

Soliloquy Of 1971

Soliloquy Of 1971
Author: Rezaul Islam
Publisher:
Total Pages: 109
Release: 2019-09-02
Genre:
ISBN: 9781689773089

Reviewed by Laszlo Czaban, former lecturer at Leeds University: "This book centers on the experiences of one extended family during the nine months of the Bangladesh Independence War. It describes ordinary events (not many violent ones, despite the war context) and ordinary and extraordinary situations, people, and communities.All these events are seen through the eyes of a young teenage boy, whose perceptions are about the people he knows, their roles in the family, their roles in the community.This book is a kind of a memoir, and not a diary. It is a collection of memories, sometimes more organized, sometimes more mosaic-like, but a set of memories that cover the year of the Independence War.Even the victory that comes at the end of the book is described through the return of the 15-year old freedom fighter, i.e., through the actions and behaviors of family and friends. Thus, the author's story-telling style is maintained throughout. This is a valuable addition to the limited first-hand accounts of the Bangladesh Independence War, written in a style that welcomes the reader to gain insight into family, broader relationships, and communities.