Freedom debt being repaid

Buoyed up by the progress in war crimes trial being held to heal the wounds of the 1971 Liberation War, the nation yesterday pledged to make strides towards a prosperous future on its 45th Victory Day.

Dressed in red and green, the colours of the national flag, people from all walks of life poured on to the streets to celebrate the day.

On this day in 1971, the Pakistani Army had surrendered to the Allied Forces of Bangladesh and India at the Suhrawardy Udyan in the capital, after nine months of war that left three million people killed, two lakh women raped, and caused around 10 million people to take refuge in neighbouring India.

Sharforaz Newaz, an official of Brac Bank in Jatrabari, was in high spirits as he brought his 10-month-old daughter Tasmia Samrin Adrita at the celebration on Dhaka University campus.

Referring to the ongoing trial of war criminals, he said, "It is a very special Victory Day for us as some notorious razkars who had committed crimes against humanity in 1971 have already been hanged. Now it is time to go forward. And we expect a country without corruption."

Kalpona Akhtar Kona, an MBA student of Uttara University who came to the DU campus with her three-and-half-year old daughter Arisha, told The Daily Star, "Pakistan being the defeated country still stands against Bangladesh and cannot tolerate the trial of war criminals who had committed crimes against humanity during the Liberation War. "

She said the Bangladesh government should sever ties with Pakistan.

A number of street children dressed up as guerrilla freedom fighters by applying mud all over their bodies and using broken tree branches as rifles. They were performing in a mock play in front of the Udyan's Shikha Chironton.

One of them, Md Rafiqul Hasan, said, "We are feeling proud playing the roles of freedom fighters. If we were born before 1971 and took part in the Liberation War, we would kill all the razakars like Quader Mollah [war criminal Abdul Quader Mollah] and Mujaheed [Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed]."

Trial of 21 cases of crimes against humanity has been over at the International Crimes Tribunal, which was set up in 2010 to try the local collaborators who had assisted the Pakistani Army in committing crimes against humanity in 1971. Of the 24 accused, four were executed and two died while in prison. The rest are either fugitives or their trial is pending at the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.   

Underprivileged children took part in a photo exhibition and a drawing competition at Hakim Chattar of DU.

"I am drawing a boat carrying a national flag," said Kanta, a class I student who is also a domestic help. She did not know the significance of the Victory Day before she came here yesterday.

The day commenced with a 31-gun salute followed by tributes of President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the National Mausoleum in Savar in the early hours.

The Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad, the Chief Justice, ministers, the leader of the opposition, chiefs of the three services, members of parliament, freedom fighters, diplomats, and civil and military officials paid their homage to the martyrs afterwards.

Later, the president attended as the chief guest a colourful parade, which began at 10:30am at the National Parade Square in the capital.

This year 27 army personnel of the Indian Armed Forces, led by Lt Gen (Retd) Vishnu Kant Chaturvedi, joined the celebration. They had fought the war along with Bangladeshi forces in 1971.

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, accompanied by her party men, paid her respect to the martyrs at the mausoleum later in the day.

The day was a national holiday. Print media outlets brought out special supplements and electronic media aired special programmes on the occasion.