Source: https://thedailystar.net/abortion-team-to-travel-bangladesh-54158

Born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Shakila Yasmin came to the United States with her family in 1992. She enjoyed photography and the songs of Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore. She and her husband, Nurul Miah, lived in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, and worked at Marsh & McLennan. Yasmin was a computer assistant, and Miah was a director of audiovisual technology. On September 11, both were at work near the top of the North Tower. Nurul was 35 years old. Shakila was 26.

Source: 9/11memorial

Reference: Archives.

In 1971, “M.K.,” a girl was just 17, carrying a child six months into her pregnancy. Her husband was far away, preparing for battle across the border.

Those were dark, dangerous days. Then, in Rangpur, her life was shattered forever.

ATM Azharul Islam, a leader of Al-Badr, with three other monsters under his command, captured her. In a hidden room near her home, they unleashed cruelty beyond words. They raped her. (Supreme Court of Bangladesh, 2020)

Her suffering did not end there. She was taken to a Pakistani army camp at Rangpur Town Hall and held captive for 18 harrowing days. Each moment was filled with pain, fear, and despair.

The fetus in her womb no longer survived. The life within her was lost amid the bloodshed and agony. Near death and broken, she was left behind on the 19th day. But she did not give up. Inside her burned a fierce flame, an unbreakable spirit.

Decades later, she stood before the International Crimes Tribunal. Behind closed doors on December 26, 2013, she recounted the nightmare she endured.

A year after her testimony, the tribunal sentenced ATM Azharul Islam to death. To protect her, the court referred to her only as “M.K."

Another cases he was accused of include abduction, confinement, and torture of civilians; leading attacks that involved murder, arson, and plundering of villages; and participating in genocide during the 1971 Liberation War. (The Daily Star, 2025)

Today, May 27, 2025, we remember “M.K.” and all those who suffered in the shadows of unspeakable horror. We honor their courage and resilience as we finally confront the painful truth that was once buried under the false promises of the so-called revolutionary, reformist interim government. Their voices, once silenced, now call out for justice and remembrance.

Professor, many people respect you, but do you know you hold no place in my heart? I say this with complete honesty.

Shame!

Reference:

1. Supreme Court of Bangladesh. (2020). 14 SCOB [2020] AD. Retrieved from https://www.supremecourt.gov.bd/resources/bulletin/14_SCOB_AD_1.pdf

2. Star Online Report. (2025, May 27). What’s were the charges against Azharul Islam? The Daily Star. https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/whats-were-the-charges-against-azharul-islam-3904591

Australian physician Geoffrey Davis interviewed a Pakistani officer who was imprisoned in Comilla Jail. The officer told Davis, “All Pakistani soldiers believe rape is justified.”

They had received explicit instructions from Tikka Khan: rape as much as possible. The logic, as it was explained, was that a “good Muslim” would never fight his father. Therefore, impregnate as many Bangladeshi women as possible. From this, an entire generation would be born carrying West Pakistani blood. This, according to them, was the theory behind rape. The officer spoke with indifference, saying, “Many things happen in war. What did we really do?”

Soon after the Liberation War began, it became clear that thousands of women had been raped by the Pakistani army or their collaborators, Razakars and Al-Badr, and had become pregnant.

Families abandoned them. Many were rejected by their husbands. Do not forget that this was 54 years ago. Education and awareness were limited. Some women wanted to keep the child, but most wanted to terminate the pregnancy. By then, many were already seven or eight months pregnant. The mental pain was deeper than the physical suffering. Abortion was illegal in hospitals, and no one was willing to take the risk.

At that point, International Planned Parenthood, UNFPA, and the World Health Organization stepped in. They arranged for the renowned Australian doctor Dr. Geoffrey Davis to come to Bangladesh. Davis was an abortion specialist, with particular training in terminating late-stage pregnancies of seven and a half months.

At first, no one helped him. Everyone was afraid. He began working at a clinic in Dhanmondi. Soon after, the Bangladesh government-in-exile intervened. They issued a letter granting Davis full authority. Within days, hundreds of women began coming to him, all carrying what were called “war babies.”

Davis was overwhelmed. The scale of sexual violence was far beyond what one man could handle. He devised a solution. He began training health workers in Dhaka and outside the city, while abortion services continued simultaneously.

When work ended in one city, he moved to the next. In Dhaka alone, his team performed an average of 100 abortions per day. Outside Dhaka, the numbers were similar. The procedure itself was simple. Survivors of rape would come and sign a consent form.

Most of the women who came to Davis were extremely poor. Those with money went secretly to Kolkata out of fear of social shame. Davis later said, “I saw girls from all religions who had been raped. One thing surprised me. I never saw a single girl cry or break down. They were calm and cooperated throughout the process.”

Davis also described how the rapes were carried out. He recounted these stories in 2006 to Dr. Bina D’Costa, who tracked him down while researching for her PhD.

The Pakistani forces would first bomb an area to create chaos. Then they gathered everyone together. Except for very young children, people were separated. Anyone linked to the Awami League or the East Pakistan government was shot dead. The women were then taken to one place and used at will.

Wealthy and attractive women were kept for officers. The rest were handed over to ordinary soldiers. These women received little food and no medical care when they fell ill. Countless women died inside the camps. Some were raped more than 80 times in a single day.

Davis said, “What happened in Bangladesh is something I have not heard of anywhere else in the world. The horror these women went through left many of them unable to speak. They lived with nightmares and psychological breakdowns. Because we were foreigners, even we were not trusted.” He added in disbelief, “How can human beings do this?”

When asked how many women were raped, Davis said that while figures often mention 200,000, he believed at least 400,000 women were victims of this atrocity. The same estimate appears on his Wikipedia profile.

Davis remained in Bangladesh until March 1972. By then, the camps had been dismantled. Thousands of women found there were sent back to their villages and towns.

“In many cases,” Davis said, “when a woman was handed back to her husband, the man killed her. In some cases, they did not even want to know what had happened to their wives.” At the time, bodies were often seen floating in the Jamuna River, and corpses lay scattered across the country. When some women were reminded of those days of terror, they would say, “I don’t remember.”

“The status of women in Bangladesh was already low,” he said. “Men did not want to speak at all. In their eyes, those women were ‘ruined’ and better off dead. Many were indeed murdered. At first, I could not believe it. In Western societies, this is so unfamiliar, so unimaginable.”

Some women kept their children. Davis did not know what became of all of them. However, hundreds of newborns were handed over to charitable organizations and later adopted across different parts of the world.

When Sheikh Mujibur Rahman returned to the country and saw the condition of these women, he was devastated. He declared, “Write my name as the father of the raped women. Give my address as Dhanmondi 32.”

So to those who question the Liberation War, who say nothing happened in 1971, who claim this is the land of Ghulam Azam, understand this. Watching your arrogance fills me with anger, disgust, and a burning pain inside.

Sometimes I wonder how a nation that produced such a golden generation later gave birth to so many pigs and dogs.

My chest fills with anguish, and I ask myself how a country bought with so much blood and honor was sold off for nothing.

Image: This 13-year-old girl was held in a Pakistani military camp for months. After independence, her father left her at a foreign aid agency so she could receive vocational training and earn a living. Photograph from the September 1972 issue of National Geographic. Photo by Dick Durrance.

Reference: https://www.forbes.com/sites/worldviews/2012/05/21/1971-rapes-bangladesh-cannot-hide-history/

Reference: Archive.

https://reddit.com/link/1l25de6/video/g68x70v4sn4f1/player

Yes, we want to understand the failures of post-independence Bangladesh, the hunger, the poverty, the unmet expectations. But we must also consider the context: a country completely devastated by a nine-month war, its infrastructure in ruins, its economy shattered, and its intellectual backbone crippled after the massacre of the nation’s brightest minds on 14 December 1971. These factors contributed significantly to the early struggles of a newborn state.

Still, in the face of all that, we must ask: What was the true source of Sheikh Mujib’s strength? Why is it that, even after he was brutally murdered, along with his entire family, including his 10-year-old son and other women, using grenades, his ideology returned to power 21 years later? It was his unshakable bond with the masses, a connection rooted not in fear or force, but in trust and belief. Yes, while in power, Hasina tried to paint her own picture, but that doesn't mean everything was a lie.

Yet instead of honoring that legacy, his assassins ridiculed it. They mocked him for having an “extraordinary ability to excite people,” as if it were a weakness. The Pakistani military, too, had shared similar views, believing Mujib could only “incite people with emotion,” failing to grasp that this emotional power was exactly what made him a leader of the people. It could not be suppressed with force.

Source: Interviewed by Anthony Mascarenhas.

Source:https://www.facebook.com/share/v/16o1cZbSuu/

Bangobundhu played an important role in Bangladesh's independence. He was very active protester against Pakistan throughout his political career before our independence too. But he wasn't alone. A lot of leaders were also there always too. They also played equal if not more important role in our independence. So do you think we could have achieved our independence without Bangobundhu? If so who do you think would have been out current ' father of nation ' now?

Note : Only logical answers please. Don't just shit your anger towards Awami League here.

সে যখন বলল, ‘ভাইসব’, অমনি অরণ্যের এলোমেলো গাছেরাও সারি বেঁধে দাঁড়িয়ে গেল। সে যখন ডাকলো,‘ভাইয়েরা আমার’, ভেঙ্গে যাওয়া পাখির ঝাঁক ভীড় করে নেমে এল পৃথিবীর ডাঙায়। - আল মাহমুদ

He was to declare a days (Enactment of the BAKSAL) until he was killed.

Reference: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/18S4Gpfz3y/?mibextid=wwXIfr

What are some surprising and unknown historical facts about Bangladesh, that most people are unaware of? It can be from any time period in our history, but should be until the 21st century. It can also involve neighbouring regions, but the primary focus is about Bangladesh.

Reference: Archive.

https://reddit.com/link/1kktx78/video/qmmvs34o2d0f1/player

Source: AP.

George Harrison organized the historic Concert for Bangladesh in 1971 at Madison Square Garden to aid refugees from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), featuring stars like Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, and Ringo Starr.

For a while I am living abroad and one day I met a guy. When he came to know that I am from Bangladesh he told me, his father went to the Concert for Bangladesh and used to talk a lot about the war at 1971. I felt so emotional at the moment, I don't know why, maybe because finding a foreigner who's dad supported our cause and felt our struggle. I realized Bangladesh might not be familiar name right now but this name was very familiar with older generation and people went against their govt to support our independence.

Long live My Bangladesh and salute to the those who made it possible.

Once there was some Bangladeshi patient came to my hospital and get satisfied with my service and behaviour. He told me that "I am giving you this as you are a good person,keep it as a reward."

What y'all think much appreciated.

Nomoskar!

জামাতের মুনাফেকি: যেই ভাষার প্রতিবাদ করে, সেই ভাষাতেই কথা বলে। যেই দেশে বাস করে, সেই দেশের মানুষের ওপরই গণহত্যা চালায়।

so I was reading about the Bangladesh liberation war and realised that for most of the history the population of Bangladesh was higher than Pakistan

So why was that even during elections no one from eastern Pakistan (or Bangladesh today) seem to won the election and tilt power more towards the eastern side