1971: A People's History from Bangladesh, Pakistan and India

The year 1971 exists everywhere in Bangladesh-on its roads in sculptures in its museums and oral history projects in its curriculum in people's homes and their stories and in political discourse. It marks the birth of the nation it's liberation. More than 1000 miles away in Pakistan too 1971 marks a watershed moment its memories sitting uncomfortably in public imagination. It is remembered as the 'Fall of Dacca' the dismemberment of Pakistan or the third Indo-Pak war. In India 1971 represents something else-the story of humanitarian intervention of triumph and valour that paved the way for India's rise as a military power the beginning of its journey to becoming a regional superpower. Navigating the widely varied terrain that is 1971 across Pakistan Bangladesh and India Anam Zakaria sifts through three distinct state narratives and studies the institutionalization of the memory of the year and its events. Through a personal journey she juxtaposes state narratives with people's history on the ground bringing forth the nuanced experiences of those who lived through the war. Using intergenerational interviews textbook analyses visits to schools and travels to museums and sites commemorating 1971 Zakaria explores the ways in which 1971 is remembered and forgotten across countries generations and communities. Review Narratives and their analysis in the backdrop of history form the scaffold of Zakaria's research enterprise. She is eclectic in selecting the respondents. Thus we have Bengali Muslims and Hindus from Bangladesh a Punjabi tea plantation manager who adopted a Christian name to make a clean escape Bengali informants from India and Pakistan Punjabis in Pakistan who served in former East Pakistan Biharis stranded in Bangladesh. This involves deep conversation with them on subjects as varied as livelihood experience loss of friends and members of family prejudices and stereotypes politics nationhood and national identity. -- Tanweer Fazal ―Biblio: A Review of Books Published On: 2020-04-01Zakaria goes beyond the politics over the 1971 war in all three countries whether it is silence (Pakistan) a sense of triumph (India) or a yardstick for nationalism (Bangladesh). She pits the people's history against the official history - that mostly becomes a victim of politics and state agenda especially in third-world countries where the truth often lies buried - to show how people remember the conflict and how states influence what people remember. -- Irfan Aslam ―Dawn Published On: 2020-01-05Zakaria's work recognises the limitations involved in relying on memories to understand historical truths and uses them to its advantage. At its core1971 begins with the premise that there is no all-embracing homogenous narrative on the events that led to the creation of Bangladesh. Therefore the war memories presented in the book may provide a single strand of a complex multifaceted history. -- Taha Kehar ―The News Published On: 2020-02-02In many ways Zakaria's book is an important act of solidarity on the part of a Pakistani. For many years Bangladeshis have been demanding that Pakistan should formally apologise for the atrocities of 1971 but such apologies are not easily given particularly not by states. Citizens however have that option. Many years ago in a women's meeting in Lahore Pakistani women's groups exercised this option when over a day of moving music and intense conversation they offered a formal apology to their Bangladeshi sisters. Zakaria's book follows this distinguished heritage. -- Urvashi Butalia ―The Hindu Published On: 2020-05-17Zakaria is a fine ambassador of Pakistani liberalism-sceptical defying norms polite a listener full of empathy. -- Salil Tripathi ―Mint Published On: 2020-02-22This is an important book that looks at the diverse and conflicting ways in which the making of Bangladesh is remembered in Pakistan Banglade