The nation celebrates the 45th Victory Day today with patriotic fervor and a fresh vow to achieve the ideals the Shaheeds of the glorious War of Liberation – who made possible the victory through their supreme sacrifices – cherished. The people once again recall the horrors let loose of the Pakistani occupation army and their collaborators on unarmed people whose only desire was freedom from shackles of dictatorship and economic exploitation perpetrated for long 23 years since the partition of 1947. Instead of handing over power to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who in lieu of the charismatic leadership and matchless popularity won absolute majority in the then national assembly in the 1970 elections, and the right to become prime minister of Pakistan. Unnerved by this glorious political victory of Bangabadhu, the military junta of Pakistan hatched a new conspiracy to foil electoral victory and put the people of this land to another era of deprivation and subjugation.But this time the people had rock-solid unity under the undisputed leadership of Bangabandhu, were determined and fought back with whatever they had in their hands to snatch the liberation of Bangladesh through the people’s war. People of all strata of the society, except a few collaborators who worked as henchmen of the occupation forces, were on the side of the war either taking part in direct fights, or lending support of the valiant freedom fighters who found the entire country, except the cities, a vast liberated area where they could take shelter and launch attacks on the occupation forces disrupting their movement, supply lines and communication. The freedom fighters launched many attacks even on Dhaka destroying the morale of the occupation army. ‘Mukti Bahini’ was a dreadful force to them not only because of their courageous fights but also as the people were clearly on their side. As many as 10 million people had taken shelter in the neighbouring states of India to escape atrocities. The freedom fighters primarily used the refugee shelters as their base camps from where they planned and launched guerilla as well as conventional warfare.
The fight however was not easy. Occupation forces and their collaborators attacked homes of freedom fighters, killed or injured their family members and burned down dwelling houses. Of particular target were the young people, students of colleges and universities, farmers, fishermen, artisans, who comprised the bulk of the freedom fighters. At the fag end of the war eminent intellectuals were their targets and many of them were brutally murdered only a couple of days before the red victory sun dawned on the horizon. Members of the Army, Navy and Air Force, the then East Pakistan Rifles, and the police force deserted their regular units under the command of Pakistani forces and joined the war. Their participation helped form the Bangladesh Armed Forces during the war of liberation, and they fought the most ferocious battles along with the Allied Forced which joined direct battles during the final part of the war. The nation bows in homage the martyrs who snatched victory on this day in 1971 at the cost of a sea of blood and assures them of all efforts to nourish democracy and bring economic emancipation to all that they cherished.
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