Bangladesh is a country that many know little about. Knee-jerk thoughts may include images of poverty and pollution and little else, but as always there is so much more. Every country has its story of pride and beginnings, every nation its forefathers and pioneers that helped forge an independent state for its citizens. More often than not, with independence comes heroic leadership and the blood of sacrifice – the proud nation of Bangladesh is no different. RELATIVITY OnLine’s newest contributor, Bangladeshi born Rezwan, comes to us from Indonesia’s capital city of Jakarta and this month takes us inside the origins of his beloved country. In doing so, he reminds us all there is always more than meets the eye and that the multiplicity of perspective, if we let it, will take us to places we’ve never been before.

On December 16^th, 1971 out of the crucible of blood and sacrifice, Bangladesh was born. This day is celebrated with glory and joy supplementary to the Independence Day, which is the 26th March. Actually Independence Day marks the declaration of our Independence and start of a bloody and glorious War of Liberation against the occupied forces of Pakistan. The govt. of Independent Bangladesh was formed in April 1971. On Victory Day, nine month later the Pakistani forces surrendered to the allied forces of Bangladesh and India. The people of Bangladesh chose to be their own masters rather then the remaining slaves, and achieved liberty. Bangladesh emerged as a sovereign independent country, like it never was before in the more than 3000 years of recorded history of the Bengali speaking people truly, completely independent at last. They were inspired by nationalism and patriotic spirit, which can be represented by one question of a Bengali poet “Who wants to live without freedom?”

We must recall the heroic deeds of the founder, father of the nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (Bangabandhu), Ziaur Rahman, the freedom fighters, the freedom loving general people of the country (of all race and religion), Ms. Indira Gandhi, and the people of our neighbor India for their support. Our prayers are for those numerous lives lost in this war and their families who endured the pogrom like genocide (almost 3 million casualties including 3000 Indian Soldiers), devastation and rape by the Pakistani Army and their collaborators.

I would like to recall the contribution of people all over the world who lend a hand in help of the numerous refugees who were living in appalling conditions in the camps in India.

The values of the liberation war were secularism, democracy, liberal outlook and modernism and no religious bias. But after the independence government of every hues have been in power and failed to uphold the values of the liberation war. They also reinstated the anti-liberation parties like Jamaat-e-Islami and others who were indicted as collaborators of Pakistan forces. The biggest mistake of the peace-loving nation was to forgive those traitors, who now threaten to put a knife on our back. This is why we always go back to 1971 to remember our heroic deeds so that we can fight for keeping ourselves in the path laid by the values.

*Rezwan is the regional editor for Global Voices Online South Asia region.

Born in Bangladesh in the port city of Chittagong and raised in the mega city of Dhaka, RELATIVITY OnLine’s newest contributor is simply known as Rezwan.  Growing up in an urban sprawl that reaches nearly thirteen million souls, the crowded, tough and dirty streets of Dhaka forged a man of principle and realism. He later left his home country for Europe, which included several years of study in Germany. He has since relocated once again, this time to Indonesia, where he now calls Jakarta home. A business executive who has worked with local conglomerates and multinational companies, Rezwan describes writing as the ultimate freedom of expression, which he in turn feels is a fundamental cog in the wheel of our own humanity. Like so many others, he sees the mainstream media as having lost much of its importance, especially in the foreign correspondent front, because citizen media is providing a much wider context and deeper perspectives. Rezwan is the current regional editor of Global Voices Online South Asia division and runs his own intriguing blog entitled The 3rd World View