Liberation War

After the initial conflict broke out, a new government was formed in exile on the Indian border, and the freedom fighters, taking the title Mukti Bahini, began a guerrilla war. Although the fighters were never a cohesive force that could actually stop the Pakistani rampage, they instead served to harass them at every turn. The fighters were also aided by small pockets of anonymous resistance that remained hidden among the general populace and achieved small victories, including cutting Dhaka’s power in a daring raid.

After so much blood was shed in the creation of Bangladesh, it is now promising to see that after almost four decades, the young political system has advanced and evolved, as its latest leaders have at least managed to finish their political terms without being assassinated. Indeed, the governance system of the country still has a long way to go.

~story by Mikey Leung~

Poet Allen Ginsberg was an American activist who penned many criticisms of his country’s military decisions, especially the Vietnam War. During his travels in India he spent a period in Kolkata during the time of the Bangladesh’s Liberation War and later wrote a poem describing the intense misery of refugees that he personally witnessed on a visit to the camps. Several million fled for Kolkata during the Liberation War. While the poem’s cadence strikes as little more than a nursery rhyme, its imagery still has intended effect of inducing nausea and sadness. This probably what Ginsberg wanted, although what is lesser known is that he had planned to make the poem a song.

Plus a Bengali interpretation of the poem sung by Moushimi Boumik: