Bangladesh not mentioned in "16th December Victory Day" News in Indian Media Mondar M. M. A. NOVO (Che)

Bangladesh not mentioned in "16th December Victory Day" News in Indian Media

Mondar M. M. A. NOVO (Che)

Published on December 21, 2006

Indian media and news recalled the glorious 16th December today. They remembered it as THEIR victory day against Pakistan. They call it their victory in the "Indo-Pak War" and there is no mention of Bangladesh at all! No mention of the enormous struggle and sacrifice -- no mention of the Pakistani genocide or the valiant 9 month liberation war that the people of Bangla had waged against the Jihadi Pakistanis!

On one NEWS channel in India they showed the original footage from Bangladesh with the original revolutionary flag of Bangladesh flying but why do you think they did not even mention Bangladesh?

WHY IS THE INDIAN MEDIA TRYING TO HIDE THE TRUTH? Is it because they don't have the same glory -- because they did not have to earn their independence at such a high price as Bangladesh! The British may have GIVEN India independence but Bangladesh had to EARN it! Bangalis fought and the Vietnamese fought against militarily superior enemies and they earned their victories. India did not have to do the same. Are they jealous or is it part of a larger scheme?

Most Indian Subcontinentals may have forgotten but Mukto-Monas should remember that, in fact, it was the Bangalis who fought for Indian independence too before the polite British handed over power to their friends and cut up the Bangla country and divvied it up between India and Pakistan! What are the Indians trying to hide -- glory of Bangla lest the deculturized Bangalis of both Bengals and elsewhere suddenly wake up and realize they are one nation and recall their glorious roots? Already most Bangalis have forgotten past glory... Do they want Bangalis forget their most recent history too? Do they want to destroy further the nationhood of Bangla?

Now here is a bit of history that I am sure many will be unaware of and will be react against. Mukto-Monas should know the following if they are truly Mukto-Monas.

According to de-classified files of the US, the Indian ambassador, Singh, had met a US official before India entered into the war. There both had agreed that Bangladesh's independence was a mere eventuality but Bangladesh would be under the control of forces not under their control -- meaning the leftists. Singh had said that they wanted Awami League in power and Mujib was optional. Then India entered the war directly (only in December, a fortnight before victory)... So were their intentions so honourable? According to both the US and India and Ataul Goni Osmani and other real leaders of the liberation war, independence was inevitable even before India entered the war. Why then do you think India entered the war?

And then why do you think Pakistan was not made to surrender to the valiant Bangalis who had fought so hard and was poised for victory without the Indians? Now do not repeat that story of a high ranking officer! The Pakistanis were surrendering -- why should they dictate conditions?

More History that is forgotten: Indians avoided clashing with the Pakistani forces and were guided safely to Dhaka by freedom fighters. They had one major battle with the Pakistanis and 14000 Indian troops died in total. Compare that to the 3 million Bangalis who died! It is very criminal of India to hog all credit for victory.

According to Ataul Goni Osmani, the supreme commander of the pro- Awami + allies Muktibahini, Bangladesh was close to victory before the Indians had arrived and that his guerrillas were already entering Dhaka. There were other Mukti guerrilla groups also entering Dhaka at the time. Pakistan was on the defensive by then.

AND when the Pakistanis surrendered India MADE SURE that they surrender to the Indians and not the Bangladeshis. Osmani said in an interview that he was kept in the dark about the imminent surrender of Pakistan and was deliberately kept away from Dhaka by the Indians. AND HERE IS SOMETHING that not many know: There was an attempt on Osmani's life on the 16th December! AND NO, Osmani does not suspect the Pakistanis for this attempt!

There was a conspiracy... Open your eyes and don't cheat yourselves by rejecting this as another conspiracy theory! Bangladeshis have been lied to long enough.

The world does injustice to Bangladesh's glorious war and Pakistan's henious Jihadi genocide. Go to India and the rest of the world. Their history of Bangladesh's independence avoids recording the liberation war and the genocide. They record it mostly as a war between India and Pakistan and that India gave Bangladesh the gift of independence... that is how the world knows Bangladesh's 1971! The blood and sacrifice of millions won Bangladesh's independence, it was not not a beggarly gift from anyone!

dam diye kinechhi bangla

karo dane pawa noy

dam diechhe lokkho koti

jana achhe jogotmoy

The lines above are from a song. They say that Bangla (independence of country) was earned by lives of millions not by someone's charity and that this fact is known worldwide. Unfortunately it is not known much beyond the borders of Bangladesh. Even in West Bengal the glory of 1971 is devalued by their belief that India GAVE Bangladesh her independence.

Resist this cultural war against Bangla! The people of the world should be made aware -- Bangalis should be made aware! It is not ignorance or jealousy of India. It is a bid to make Bangalis of East and West Bangla and other Indian states like Tripura, Sikim etc. ignorant of their nationhood

Responses:

Does India media spare enough space for Bangladesh in Vijay Dibas ?

-Biplab Pal 12/18/06

Before I started gulping my first coffee in the morning, I kind of stumbled into this article blaming India once again for not giving due recognition to the freedom fighters from Bangladesh on 16th December. This time allegation is blatant-Indian media never said the word Bangladesh in V day!

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/message/38295

Author writes:

They remembered it as THEIR victory day against Pakistan. They call it their victory in the "Indo-Pak War" and there is no mention of Bangladesh at all! No mention of the enormous struggle and sacrifice -- no mention of the Pakistani genocide or the valiant 9 month liberation war that the people of Bangla had waged against the Jihadi Pakistanis!

I am surprised that author diatribes such an allegation without any evidence. Truth is quite opposite and I am presenting counter evidence. I am living in US and therefore, I can not speak about TV media but Indian Newspapers always remember the victory day with full glory of new Bangladesh. I am giving this yearï¿½s coverage from rediff.com which is having by far the largest readership among Indian eNewspapers ( It is ranked at 69 in Alexa as the largest internet based newspaper in India claiming 4million readership a day-10 times more than Hindusthan Times in the net)

http://www.rediff.com/news/bangla06.html

Please see its coverage in the appendix- you would find it speaks the stories of both sides more comprehensively and truthfully than many of the Islamic media in Bangaldesh which even does not recognize Indiaï¿½s support during freedom fight of ï¿½71. Forget about that-too much to ask for from a nation plagued by Islamic existentialism, but how many times people of Bangladesh have seen the face of Mujib in TV on 16th Dec during Ershad and BNP rule?

Making such false allegation makes me sad and upset. More so because in my childhood I have seen during the time of Ershad, BTV [which I could access because I used to live close to Kustiya Border in those days ] never mentioned Indiaï¿½s name or for that matter Sheikh Mujib or Tajuddin or Awami Leagueï¿½s name on 16th Decemeber. What a shame for a country whose official media even can not honor the best sons of the soil ( forget about the friends) ! And now they came to blame India when India always published at least one photo of Sheikh Mujib on 16th ! Bangladesh media even didnï¿½t recognize him for a long time!! Instead of feeling grateful that we have honored their father of nation when the official Bangladesh media sent him out in oblivion, author is charging us back! And the truth is, it is the Government of Bangladesh that does not recognize the valiant effort of their freedom fighters because then people will know what kind of crimes can be committed by their Muslim brotherhood. Shame and more shame! Anyhow, I am not interested in this kind of discussion because truth always takes its own toll. Indeed, it is on roll for Bangaldesh-official media suppressed the history of Islam during the war and it has bitten it back badly. Thatï¿½s what will always happen if the media can not speak the truth fearing Islamic backlash.

Unless Bangladeshis get out of this mode of blaming and grousing against India for anything and everything and do not see how religion of Islam has captivated them from truth and prosperity, I see a very a little hope for Bangladesh.

Jahed Ahmed wrote:

Dear Biplab: While your potryal of BTV's apathetic attitude in not boradcasting/highlighting Sheikh Mujib during Zia-Ershad-Khaleda regime is very true; I, for one, cannot side with you in defense of Indian newspapers in that they highlight Bangladesh whenever talking or featuring 1971 liberation war. During my five years ('93 to '98) stay in India, I was an avid reader of Times of India, Deccan Herald, The Hindu, Indian Express. As I clearly remember, to almost all of those newspapers, 1971 liberatons war is just a "Indo-Pak war" that led to the brith of Bangladesh. All my friends who otherwise loved and enjoyed our stay in India were equally upset over this mentality shown by the Indian newspapers.

Jahed

Avijit Roy wrote:

Well, I would like to agree with Jahed here. To portray liberation war of 71 just as ï¿½Indo-Pak warï¿½ is just a distortion of facts propagated by Indian media. Now cable TV and internet are within our reach, its clearly visible that India wanted to see the episode as just their victory over Pakistan (by parting Bangladesh out of Pakistan).

Again, Bangladesh also failed to recognize the supreme sacrifice of the Indian armies who fought in our land. We failed to build any monument to show our respect and gratitude towards them. Letï¿½s not forget this.

Avijit

Amdad Choudhury wrote:

Avijit,

I agree it is a shame we do not honour india's contributions. It upsets me that we are closer to Pakistan now days than India. Personaliy I think we have so much in common with India while there is very little with Pakistan, most Bangladeshis do not even share Pakistan's version of Islam. I accept there are problems with India, and India should be more generous to its smaller brother.

I also regret the Islamisation of Bangladesh, I do not want Bangladesh to lose its Hindu heritage. It is part of my childhood, going to Puja the rituals etc...having fun...

Do you think if Bangladesh was invaded tomorrow by Pakistan they would still curse Bangladeshis for being too Hindu? To me that curse is a source of pride.

Regards,

Amdad.