The Daily Star (TDS): What was the situation like on the eve of the 1971 war?

The Daily Star (TDS): What sparked your interest in researching the events of 1971 in Bangladesh, particularly the connection to Australia, which had largely remained obscure before your investigation?

The entire month of March in 1971 stands etched as a profound turning point in the birth of Bangladesh. The harrowing events of March 25th in Dhaka bore witness to a deliberate onslaught by the Pakistani army upon unarmed civilians, leaving an indelible mark of trauma upon the collective consciousness.

The War of Liberation in 1971 commenced late on the night of March 25th, as the Pakistani army initiated a genocidal campaign from all its cantonments, aiming to seize control of cities amidst the growing resistance movement.

We were returning via Fazlul Haque Avenue. Islamabad had three roads named after A.K. Fazlul Haque, Khwaja Nazimuddin, and Suhrawardy.

In the wake of the ‘Mountbatten Plan’ on June 3, 1947, which set the date of independence for August 14 of the same year, British India was slated to be divided into two dominions: Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan.

Over the last four decades, commemorative writings about the liberation war have established themselves as a separate genre of writing in the literary scene in Bangladesh.