From: ahmed-shakil@CS.YALE.EDU (Shakil Waiz Ahmed)
Subject: Moving on from '71 (was Re: To Shakil)
Organization: Yale University, Department of Computer Science
Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1992 17:07:19 GMT


In article <11974@tamsun.tamu.edu>, a0h9342@zeus.tamu.edu (HAQUE, ANISUL) writes:
> It is interesting to see that the topic 'The war of '71-Moving On..' is the 
> only widely discussed topic during the last months in which Shakil hasn't 
> participated. I would like to know your views. I read in the net that you too 
> were raised in the west. Do you feel the same way as Runa feels?  


Damned if I post, damned if I don't...  I actually thought I would shut
up for once on a controversial topic, but here I am prompted for an
opinion...  My $0.02:

The '71 issue is a particularly sensitive topic which evokes many
strong emotions from Bangladeshis who have very painful memories of
the war.  I was not old enough in '71 to have any significant memories
of it, and as you note, I was raised in the "west", but that does not
mean that I do not share sentiments with the three million
Bangladeshis who paid for our freedom with their lives.  While I did
not experience war atrocities in person, I have consistently tried to
read up on the history of our country, and am well aware of the
genocide of '71.  

This topic originally came up when people expressed confusion about
whether to support England or Pakistan in the cricket World Cup
finals.  This was then extended to Pakistani celebrities and to
anything Pakistani.  I think I have expressed on the net before that I
firmly believe in the necessity of the Pakistani government to
acknowledge what happened in '71.  It is very disturbing to note that
most Pakistanis are blissfully unaware of the devastating massacre,
firmly believing that Bangladesh was an Indian creation, and the war
of '71 was a simple conflict between India and Pakistan.  As Zunaid
noted, the Germans have no qualms about admitting to their war crimes
of World War II.  The Jews have capitalized on that, and Germany is
one of the strongest supporters of Israel.  The plight of the three
million Bangladeshis, on the other hand, has gone largely unnoticed.

The main reason for studying history is to learn from it.  If the
history is not acknowledged in the first place, how can anyone
possibly hope to learn anything?  Pakistani history books are
completely void of any mention of the systematic annihilation that was
executed in '71.  In recent interviews, some of the army generals
responsible for the massacres expressed no guilt over the results,
choosing instead to point accusing fingers at India.  Such severe
distortion of history is extremely unhealthy, and from the perspective
of a Bangladeshi, plain unacceptable.

Not only has the Pakistani government never acknowledged their faults,
but to this day, they refuse to repatriate the Biharis who still
suffer in refugee camps, waiting for the day when they can return to
their beloved Utopia, Pakistan.  Even if one is inhumanly forgiving
and willing to forget all, how can one ignore the fact that the
present administration is *still* ignoring the Biharis?

Clearly, the current administration does bear responsibility, in more
ways than one.  Having said that, however, let us return to the
cricket team issue.  I personally feel there is a distinction between
the cricket team, and individual celebrities.  In the one case, we
have a team that represents Pakistan and all that it stands for.
While it may well be that the individuals on the team are in no way
responsible for their government's actions, they are ambassadors to
their country because they represent Pakistan.  I cannot deny that
somehow I did feel happy about the fact that they beat England in the
finals.  There are various reasons for that, and I think I would have
been happy if *any* South Asian team had won.  But I did not *support*
Pakistan and it would be difficult to justify supporting any team that
represented Pakistan.  I may admire the cricket they play, I might
consider some of their players masters of the sport, but I cannot
express support for the team when it is representing Pakistan.

When it comes to individual celebrities, the issue can be different.
If the character is representing Pakistan in any way, we have the same
problem.  But if the person is merely acting of his/her own accord,
and performing a particular function, the issue does not arise.  If a
famous singer performs and happens to be Pakistani, I don't see a
specific reason not to appreciate the performance or the artist.  This
extends to the issue of having Pakistanis as friends.  I have had and
still do have several Pakistani friends.  Indeed, I see it as my duty
to try and educate them and tell them all that their history books
failed to mention.  By rejecting them merely because they are
Pakistani, I would be guilty of several offenses.  Their ignorance on
the issue need not be due to any fault of their own.  After all, they
merely remember what they were taught.  That is why it is our duty to
make them aware of the truth.  While some will choose to blindly
defend Pakistan, there is enough evidence out there that all but the
most bigoted will learn from it.


-- Shakil Ahmed
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