The Blind World!
This is a girl's school bag from the Iranian school that became targeted in today's attacks on Iran, with a death toll of 80 innocent girls. I found it randomly on the internet by my Facebook friend, though there are more severely irritating images, but I am not going to talk about that. Earlier, around 400+ deaths occurred in a collision in Pakistan-Afghanistan tensions. Iran has attacked the Gulf countries, and so many casualties are on the way in this region. I think you can not be safe if you set fire to your neighbour's house, and the world is now like a village, and we can not deny our neighbourhood!
Articles written by Hassan, the most handsome man in the Indian subcontinent, always pique my interest!
Steve, who lives in the Rockies, kindly advised me that it would be helpful for me to meet people from the Indian subcontinent.
I am always grateful for his kind advice!
Female volunteers of the Bangladeshi Mukti Bahini (Freedom Force) .1971 (image source: Reddit)
Revisiting the Past of the Bangladesh Genocide of 1971
Nearing the end of the British Period in 1947 was the partition of the Asian subcontinent into India, West Pakistan, and East Pakistan (modern day Bangladesh). West Pakistan was deemed to be the more predominant, governing side. Accordingly, East Pakistan was exploited for resources, money, and labor to support West Pakistan.
Unwilling to endure such subjugation, East Pakistan called for separation. With the newly elected Awami League leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, civilians were empowered to take on the mission of claiming independence for their country: Bangladesh.
The president of West Pakistan, Yahya Khan, a former Pakistani army officer and the serving Chief Martial Law Administrator, was alarmed by their resistance. Cooperating with the then United States President, Richard Nixon, he turned to authoritarian military tactics. The initiation of Operation Searchlight on March 25, 1971 marked the start of genocide in Bangladesh. Started as a mission to maintain autocratic Pakistani governance over the self-determination driven Bangladeshis, the operation intended to capture activists, intellectuals, and troopers. However, they were not the only victims. Humanitarian crisis broke loose as millions of civilians endured the violent realities of displacement, financial instability, trauma, and death.
Pakistan’s leaders also aimed to enforce Islamic unification of the west and the east. Due to differences between Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities, intolerance spread from a multitude of aspects. Pakistan was predominantly an Islamic, Urdu speaking region; meanwhile, Bangladesh was both a Hindu and Islamic, Bangla speaking region. As the Pakistani leaders, or the then Muslim League, determined, these apparent differences made Bangladeshis undesirable and inferior, especially given the Pakistani agenda to create an Islamic nation. Consequently, the Bangla language—which relates more to Hinduism and Sanskrit—was deemed undesirable, and those who were Hindu were the primary targets. Fearing the dangers of war, over 10 million Bangladeshis fled.
Meanwhile, there were some civilians, protestors, leaders, and freedom fighters who remained, enduring the full brutality of the search and destroy mission. Pakistani forces used brutal methods to ensure the massacre of men. Women were not spared; over 200,000 were raped and assaulted by Pakistani forces. Destroying villages also became part of the strategy to ensure civilians could not escape oppression. Consul General Archer Kent Blood wrote to the State Department and the White House of the United States in opposition of US involvement, specifically in military aid to Pakistan. In support of the indicated “likely losers”, authorities ignored his warnings of “moral bankruptcy”, “repressive measures and bloodshed”.
Nonetheless, Blood’s prediction of the “good will of the Awami League” held to be true. Even at the face of genocide, Bangladeshi civilians still managed to lead with pride, mobilize movements, and obstruct Pakistani progress.
By the start of December, 1971, Pakistani forces began retaliation, killing approximately 1,000 intellectual and influential Bangladeshis. However, on December 16, 1971, West Pakistan’s military forces abruptly surrendered when tensions between India and West Pakistan reached a breaking point.
Genocide: Unforgotten, Reoccurring, and Unacceptable
The past cannot only be remembered by Bangladeshis while the rest of the world forgets its occurrence. There have been multiple attempts for the United Nations to recognize the genocide of Bangladeshis. In Geneva, Sanchita Haque, the Deputy Permanent Representative, recently demanded recognition of the Bangladesh Genocide of 1971, an attempt to hold the Pakistani Army accountable for its past cruelties and casualties. As the United Nations (UN) is in charge of both the prevention and the punishment of genocidal crime, the UN could take actions to address Haque’s concerns. This would not only account for one of history’s most tragic events, but would also reaffirm tolerance of differences amongst peoples as the past has yet to leave us.
Although no longer fueled by Pakistan, intracountry religious genocide of Hindus persists as the population of Hindu Bangladeshis continues to decline dramatically. While the percentage was approximately 20 in 1971, only 8.9 percent of the current Bangladeshi population consists of Hindus according to the India Times. Perpetrators are those who endorse Islamic extremism, many of whom even engage in domestic terrorism.
As a result, Bangladesh was finally liberated. বিজয় দিবস, or Bijoy Dibosh, is now the day of celebration for Bangladesh independence and victory. It’s also a day to recognize the suffering and deaths of millions: the cost of freedom.
I spoke with Hassan about the Bangladesh War of Independence.
For East Asian historians like me, I believe Bangladesh's war of independence was the most significant on the Indian subcontinent!
For over 2,000 years, Bangladesh has been remembered by East Asians as the most prosperous and advanced region on the Indian subcontinent!
Text of the visit of Jibin by Hyech'o: he reports that the Turk King, Queen and dignitaries practice Buddhism (三寶, "Triratna"). 726 CE.[15][16]
Hyech'o (Korean: 혜초; Hanja: 慧超; 704–787) was a Silla Buddhist monk and traveller active during Korea's Three Kingdoms period. He is primarily remembered for his account of his travels in medieval India, the Wang Ocheonchukguk Jeon.
In the 2017 work Hyecho's Journey: The World of Buddhism, with support from other (art) historians, scholar Donald S. Lopez Jr. uses his story to introduce the range of Buddhist traditions of the period.
Hyech'o (Korean: 혜초; Hanja: 慧超; 704–787) was a Korean Buddhist monk who visited Bangladesh and left a record.
Hyech'o (Korean: 혜초; Hanja: 慧超; 704–787) claimed that Bangladesh was very rich and developed.
The Bangladeshis were very kind to Hyech'o, providing him with free food, clothing and lodging.
East Asians were particularly interested in and attracted to women from the Indian subcontinent!
East Asian man and Bangladeshi woman
The women of the Indian subcontinent smiling at East Asian men were attractive!
East Asian men enjoyed expressing the beauty of the women of the Indian subcontinent through art!
Modern East Asian men believe that the women of the Indian subcontinent symbolize the civilization of the Indian subcontinent!
It was a huge shock to me that Bangladeshi women went out and fought as soldiers in the war against Pakistan!
This is a picture of Bengali Mukti Bahini women freedom fighters in training. Many of these women training camps were established in many places in Bangladesh before 25 March, 1971.
The situation was so dire that Bangladeshi women went out and fought in the war against Pakistan!
I assumed that Pakistan had plundered Bangladesh's abundant food and resources, and that the Bangladeshis were angry and went to war with Pakistan!
Clockwise from top left: Martyred Intellectuals Memorial; Bangladesh Forces howitzer; A. A. K. Niazi signs the Pakistani Instrument of Surrender to the joint forces in the presence of Jagjit Singh Aurora;[1] and the PNS Ghazi
The Bangladesh Liberation War[note 2] (Bengali: মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, pronounced [mukt̪iɟud̪d̪ʱo]), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which resulted in the independence of Bangladesh with the help of India. The war began when the Pakistani military junta based in West Pakistan—under the orders of Yahya Khan—launched Operation Searchlight against East Pakistanis on the night of 25 March 1971, initiating the Bangladesh genocide.[17]
The Indian woman in a saree on her wedding with her Korean husband in the Instagram video. (Instagram/@mylovefromkorea17)
Wedding videos are always a fun watch - be it for the bride and groom themselves or their families. In this case, a video on Instagram has gone all kinds of viral and is proof enough that this video was definitely enjoyed by several people on the Internet. It involves an Indian woman who got married to a Korean man and documented her wedding festivities.
The Indian woman in a saree on her wedding with her Korean husband in the Instagram video. (Instagram/@mylovefromkorea17)
The Indian woman in a saree on her wedding with her Korean husband in the Instagram video. (Instagram/@mylovefromkorea17)
The bride and the groom, who can be seen in this video, are named Neha and Jongsoo respectively. They are currently based in Seoul, the capital of South Korea and have a fan following of more than 1.4 lakh people on their Instagram page. The video that they have shared, shows how they make an entry to one of their wedding festivities wearing a saree and a suit.
Many people have taken to the comments section of this viral Instagram to congratulate Neha on her wedding and on sticking to her roots enough to wear a saree. “Wearing saree in my Korean marriage,” reads the text insert that comes along with this video. The full version of this video is available on the couple’s YouTube channel.
When I saw that Bangladeshi women went to war against Pakistan and fought, I realized that Bangladesh had fought in very dire circumstances!
Seeing the tragic fact that Bangladeshi women went to war and fought, I understood Hassan's sadness a little!
Disclaimer I hope my friends understand my awkward and rude English!