Unearthing uncomfortable truths

Like the histories of every other post-colonial, modern nation state, Bangladesh, too, has its blood-stained story of liberation struggle. Its history has also certain features that are unique and unlike the stories of other national liberation struggles. These unique characteristics of our national history consist in the fact that Bangladeshis celebrate two separate days to mark their independent nationhood: the Independence Day on March 26 and the Victory Day on December 16.  These two different dates to celebrate Bangladesh's emergence as a nation state has definitely added colour to our national history. But what is often passed as the history of a nation is not the whole truth. And history has proved time again that most proud histories of peoples and nations contain uncomfortable truths that no one wants to discuss. For instance, the strange fact that General M.A.G. Osmani, the supreme commander of the Mukti Bahini (liberation forces, or Bangladesh Freedom Fighters) was not present  when on  December 16, 1971 the Pakistani occupation  forces surrendered to the Joint Command of the Bangladesh Liberation Forces (Mukti Bahini) and the allied Indian Armed Forces at the Ramna Race Course, now Suhrawardy Uddyan in Dhaka. 

Seemingly, this glaring   anomaly at that important juncture of Bangladesh's national history did not matter to the post-war government of independent Bangladesh. In fact, except for some stray references in the write-ups of some post-liberation writers on the history of liberation war, no serious attempt was ever made to dig out the truth behind General Osmani's absence at the surrendering event of the occupation forces. Interestingly, General Osmani himself never raised the question or made any complaint about the issue. But General Osmani's silence does not mean that his unusual absence at the occasion does not bear any significance for the independent Bangladesh's history. There are also a lot of other unpleasant truths regarding our War of Independence that remain buried under tons of make-believe stories. But the role of a real historian is to uncover facts, not create stories. The question of, for instance, why a parallel force known as the Bangladesh Liberation Force (BLF) or what is also called Mujib Bahi, was created alongside the Mukti Bahini (Freedom Fighters) during the War of Independence was never answered. Neither was what actual role the BLF played during the independence war ever explained. The question was never raised seriously, nor was given any satisfactory answer in case it was asked by any well-meaning quarter. There are also questions about the actual number of people that the occupation forces killed or the number of women they molested. But did anyone ever question the origin of those important figures that are so frequently referred to in the post-war documents or during discussions at various forums on the independence war? 

How was it possible to know about those numbers immediately after the war without being supported by any study on the subject? In fact, it should have taken a long and arduous research to find out those numbers. Worse yet, some figures, phrases and terms were made so sacrosanct that no one ever dared question their source and genuineness. As a result, in place of real history, what the post-independence generation got  was emotion-packed narratives replete with hyperboles, but not facts.  Dispassionate studies and researches on these vital subjects were never encouraged, far less supported. But if we are to claim ourselves as a modern, democratic society, many sensitive and uncomfortable questions should not only be allowed, but also encouraged to ask by the political authorities in power.  

Perhaps, after the July upheaval of 2024, the opportunity has now been created to unearth many  unknown, essential  truths about the history of Bangladesh's war of independence. For no society or nation can move forward, if its history is made up of myths, not truths. The trail  of bloody events that followed immediately after independence has to do with the country's leaders and intellectuals playing hide and seek about the truth, the actual history of the new nation's birth. Truth must come out to end the endless cycle of political vendetta. 

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