THIRTY-three years have passed since the Liberation War of our country. But can we really claim to have an authentic history of the most momentous and precious time of the nation for the coming generations--the innumerable stories of the ordinary people all over Bangladesh? It seems it will be possible now as the Liberation War Museum begins its weeklong Victory Day celebration this year with the recital of true stories depicting the experiences of *71 collected by school children, which featured on December 10.
1971 brings back memories of the trepidation of war, horrors of brutal torture and the most ^ci-nous genocide by the ’Hanadars’. But at the same time, the memoirs of ’71 bestow the most wonderful experience for an oppressed peo-ple-the birth of an independent nation. The anecdotes of the brave hearted guerrilla fighters, Muktijoddhas and people from all walks of life taking part in the liberation War to free the country have always drawn incessant inspiration for the Bangalccs. But how can the post-71 generation relate with the same inspiration as misconceptions and controversies wreck the true history of our Uber-ationWar?
The only way to conserve the real history and to make the new generation aware of our past is to
involve them into the very process of restoring our history. Towards that aim the Liberation War Museum has started a project involving students of the secondary schools from all over the country to revive the unsung stories of 71. The museum seeks to establish a network among the schools for continuing the project and collecting the stories. The young boys and girls have gained insights through conversations with
elders well-informed about that period. The students have subsequently written the stories imbued with the spirit of humanity, peace and harmony. About 400 works by students of 42 schools in Jamalpur, Sherpur and Panchagar have been submitted through their nominated schoolteachers to the museum authority.
December 10 was the International Human Rights Day and the museum authority has decided to start the celebration of Victory Day each year from this day. UNESCO representative in Bangladesh Wolfgang Vollman was the chief guest of the programme. Kazi Ali Reza read UN Secretary-General Kofi Anna’s message on International Human Rights Day.
Sarwar Ali, one of the trustees of the museum, said, ’To educate the children about the human rights we have prepared 16 posters by cartoonist Rafiqun Nabi, depicting the rights to education, health, food, housing, marriage, freedom of speech and others.’ There is one more set of six posters drawn by Shlshir Bhattacharjee delineating the theme of tolerance, dialogues and respect for others. ’These post-
ers will soon be handed over to various schools of Bangladesh to educate our children about the fact of human rights,' Ali added. 'A 20-minute long documentary made by Tanvir Mokammel depicting the history of 1947-71 is a valuable addition to the display’, informed Mofidul Haque, another trustee of the museum.
The poignant moment of the evening occurred when Professor Anisuzzaman, litterateurs Syed Shamsul Haq and Rashid Haider recited the extracts from the stories collected by the school children. The reciters as well as the audience were overcome with emotion on hearing the tragic stories of our valiant freedom fighters, ordinary people, the sacrifice of our women expressed in simple language. Some of the stories are about the heroic freedom fighters, some delineate the brutality of the Pakistani soldiers and the Razakars while some others describe the participation of the masses in the war.
The dedication of these young children 'assures that someday the complete history of our Liberation War will be brought to light.