The birth of Bangladesh

The History Hour

BBC

History, Society & Culture, Personal Journals

4.4 • 879 Ratings

🗓️ 18 December 2021

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A special edition on the Bangladesh War of Independence, which ended 50 years ago in December 1971. The conflict killed hundreds of thousands of people and redrew the political map of South Asia. The programme features first-hand accounts from leading activists and politicians, as well as the people caught up in the war - from a Pakistani soldier to one of the many Bangladeshi women who suffered appalling sexual violence.

There is expert analysis from Sabir Mustafa, the head of the BBC Bengali Service, and Witness History's Farhana Haider.

PHOTO: The flag of Bangladesh is raised at the Awami League headquarters in 1971. Credit: Getty Images.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to the History Hour Podcast from the BBC World Service with me Max Pearson.
0:10.0	This week personal recollections of the painful birth of Bangladesh 50 years ago.
0:15.0	In 1971 there were growing demands for independence in what had been East Pakistan.
0:20.0	Eventually troops from West Pakistan were sent in.
0:24.0	We were not safe from any side.
0:26.2	The military vehicle which was carrying the soldiers.
0:29.6	It ran over the mine at brew-off with the result of five casualties.
0:34.0	We'll hear about the terrible price paid by civilians as the conflict unfolded,
0:38.0	including the mass rape of Bangladeshi women.
0:41.0	They pointed at me and said, here is another one.
0:45.0	I saw many women being lined up.
0:47.0	They were tied up with ropes.
0:49.0	They took meat to a small bamboo hut.
0:52.0	And we'll relive the joy in Bangladesh when it finally became a new nation.
0:57.0	Nobody was asking about problems, the one was talking about what they had suffered.
1:00.0	They were just saying, you know, how wonderful it is to be in a free and independent country.
1:05.0	That's all coming up later in this podcast looking at the Bangladesh War of Independence,
1:10.0	which ended 50 years ago in December 1971.
1:13.4	The conflict killed hundreds of thousands of people
1:16.4	and redrew the political map of South Asia.
1:19.0	Before the painful birth pangs of Bangladesh,
1:21.7	there was East and West Pakistan created by the partition of India
	...

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