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Bangladesh War: Report from Ground Zero
The Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, also known as the Muktijuddho, was a result of the total alienation of the Bengalis of East Pakistan from the non-Bengalis of the West, setting off a violent political upheaval in the eastern unit of the country, ultimately leading to the formation of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.
This riveting first-hand account of the Liberation War has been written by a former journalist of The Statesman. In fact, the author, then a mere cub reporter, had predicted the coming of the war as early as in January 1971 by writing an article in the Sunday Statesman titled ‘When Brother meets Brother’. When the conflict started, he was one of the very few Indian journalists who covered the epochal event from the very beginning until the final surrender by the Pakistan military in Khulna on 17 December.
The highlight of this book is how Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, impelled by the ruling military junta’s highly exploitative and discriminatory policies pursued towards the Bengali population, evolved the Bengali mindset for waging a Muktijuddho for their independence with Indian help. Having gone deep inside East Pakistan to cover the liberation war and being on good terms with sector commanders of the Mukti Bahini and senior Awami League leaders, the author provides many hitherto unknown facts which add a different dimension to this book.
This riveting first-hand account of the Liberation War has been written by a former journalist of The Statesman. In fact, the author, then a mere cub reporter, had predicted the coming of the war as early as in January 1971 by writing an article in the Sunday Statesman titled ‘When Brother meets Brother’. When the conflict started, he was one of the very few Indian journalists who covered the epochal event from the very beginning until the final surrender by the Pakistan military in Khulna on 17 December.
The highlight of this book is how Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, impelled by the ruling military junta’s highly exploitative and discriminatory policies pursued towards the Bengali population, evolved the Bengali mindset for waging a Muktijuddho for their independence with Indian help. Having gone deep inside East Pakistan to cover the liberation war and being on good terms with sector commanders of the Mukti Bahini and senior Awami League leaders, the author provides many hitherto unknown facts which add a different dimension to this book.
220 pages, Hardcover
Published December 1, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 16, 2022
I have always found reading about war stories a very difficult task because it always leaves me heartbroken to know about the sufferings of people.
Manash Ghosh’s account of the Bangladesh Liberation War not only covers the entire episode from the very beginning till the very end but also brings into light facts unknown to the world, because of him being one of the journalists to have first-hand experience of the same.
I appreciated the straight-cut and no-nonsense style of writing of the author and his unbiased presentation of the facts and the incidents. There was an unexplainable pull in the way of the author’s writing which has the ability to impact and make one curious, it has the ability to stir emotions.
Reading this book made me realize again how the common people are the worst sufferers in the fight for power. No matter which side you are on in the war, no one is able to break free from the clutches of its effect. Even if the war may be for their betterment, the outcome is and can never be justified or favorable, keeping in mind the destruction.
I would suggest this book to you if you are wanting to know more about or get a first-hand account of the Bangladesh Liberation War.
Manash Ghosh’s account of the Bangladesh Liberation War not only covers the entire episode from the very beginning till the very end but also brings into light facts unknown to the world, because of him being one of the journalists to have first-hand experience of the same.
I appreciated the straight-cut and no-nonsense style of writing of the author and his unbiased presentation of the facts and the incidents. There was an unexplainable pull in the way of the author’s writing which has the ability to impact and make one curious, it has the ability to stir emotions.
Reading this book made me realize again how the common people are the worst sufferers in the fight for power. No matter which side you are on in the war, no one is able to break free from the clutches of its effect. Even if the war may be for their betterment, the outcome is and can never be justified or favorable, keeping in mind the destruction.
I would suggest this book to you if you are wanting to know more about or get a first-hand account of the Bangladesh Liberation War.
October 18, 2022
My earliest memory of the Bangladesh Liberation War - if it can be called memory of war at all - was a clay model in front of the Durga Puja pandal in my para. A clay model of a woman shot through the chest. Tears rolling down from her still-open eyes. And her toddler playing near her, blissfully unaware that maa will not play with her ever again.
The year must be the Puja of 1971. I counted - if I did count, that is - my age in single digit. The pain was so vivid that the image has stayed with me all these decades later. It was this historical time that Manash Ghosh has chronicled in this highly readable book.
The young Manash-babu was a "cub reporter" at the time who covered the 9-month struggle as the war correspondent of The Statesman, Calcutta (now Kolkata). He later went on to become the Dacca correspondent of the newspaper, resident editor of the Delhi edition of The Statesman, and finally becoming the founding-editor of the Dainik Statesman, the group's Bengali daily.
Why did it take Shri Ghosh fifty years (the book was published in 2021) to put down to paper the events he witnessed first hand, often at considerable risk to his life? Manash-babu has not provided the answer.
But whatever may be his motivation, the book provides a riveting reading experience. His experience of travelling to war-ravaged towns. Seeing the formation of the Government-in-exile led by Tajuddin Ahmed. (Mujibur Rahman was incarcerated in a Karachi jail.) Power struggle within the Awami League that threatened to nearly derail the struggle. His visits to the refugee camps. Unbelievable as it may seem, hostility of the Indian Muslims to the liberation struggle as many of them believed that "Hindu" Indira Gandhi and her advisers were trying to break up the Muslim Pakistan. Declared antagonism of the USA and China and lukewarm response of most of the countries, except the USSR. Mrs Gandhi's - and India's - job was made infinitely harder by the pro-China, anti-India band of Communists who swore by Marxism-Leninism and considered "China's Chairman is our Chairman" and who unleashed a wanton bloodbath in Calcutta and rest of West Bengal called the Naxalite movement.
You may have disagreements with Indira Gandhi's politics and policies. I do. But it goes without saying that with the nucleared-powered USS Enterprise cruising up the Bay of Bengal and HMS Eagle up the Arabian Sea and with China breathing down in the north, it was the indomitable courage and the iron will Mrs Gandhi that helped re-write the history of South Asia.
In the space of just 200 pages Manash-babu has done an extremely good job of placing the birth of a nation in its unique historical perspective.
Over the last half-a-century a lot has been written about the Bangladesh Liberation War. Manash-babu's small narrative is a valuable addition to that corpus.
We will never know the agony of that child, whose little life got reflected in the clay model of the Durga Puja pandal of our para, but the blood-drenched birth of the nation called Bangladesh is worth reading about many times over.
The year must be the Puja of 1971. I counted - if I did count, that is - my age in single digit. The pain was so vivid that the image has stayed with me all these decades later. It was this historical time that Manash Ghosh has chronicled in this highly readable book.
The young Manash-babu was a "cub reporter" at the time who covered the 9-month struggle as the war correspondent of The Statesman, Calcutta (now Kolkata). He later went on to become the Dacca correspondent of the newspaper, resident editor of the Delhi edition of The Statesman, and finally becoming the founding-editor of the Dainik Statesman, the group's Bengali daily.
Why did it take Shri Ghosh fifty years (the book was published in 2021) to put down to paper the events he witnessed first hand, often at considerable risk to his life? Manash-babu has not provided the answer.
But whatever may be his motivation, the book provides a riveting reading experience. His experience of travelling to war-ravaged towns. Seeing the formation of the Government-in-exile led by Tajuddin Ahmed. (Mujibur Rahman was incarcerated in a Karachi jail.) Power struggle within the Awami League that threatened to nearly derail the struggle. His visits to the refugee camps. Unbelievable as it may seem, hostility of the Indian Muslims to the liberation struggle as many of them believed that "Hindu" Indira Gandhi and her advisers were trying to break up the Muslim Pakistan. Declared antagonism of the USA and China and lukewarm response of most of the countries, except the USSR. Mrs Gandhi's - and India's - job was made infinitely harder by the pro-China, anti-India band of Communists who swore by Marxism-Leninism and considered "China's Chairman is our Chairman" and who unleashed a wanton bloodbath in Calcutta and rest of West Bengal called the Naxalite movement.
You may have disagreements with Indira Gandhi's politics and policies. I do. But it goes without saying that with the nucleared-powered USS Enterprise cruising up the Bay of Bengal and HMS Eagle up the Arabian Sea and with China breathing down in the north, it was the indomitable courage and the iron will Mrs Gandhi that helped re-write the history of South Asia.
In the space of just 200 pages Manash-babu has done an extremely good job of placing the birth of a nation in its unique historical perspective.
Over the last half-a-century a lot has been written about the Bangladesh Liberation War. Manash-babu's small narrative is a valuable addition to that corpus.
We will never know the agony of that child, whose little life got reflected in the clay model of the Durga Puja pandal of our para, but the blood-drenched birth of the nation called Bangladesh is worth reading about many times over.
January 9, 2022
👉𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐊:-
📚ⓉⒾⓉⓁⒺ:- Bangladesh War
🖋️ⒶⓊⓉⒽⓄⓇ:- Manash Ghosh
🗞️ⓅⓊⒷⓁⒾⓈⒽⒺⓇ:- Niyogi Books
🔤ⓁⒶⓃⒼⓊⒶⒼⒺ:- English
📖ⒻⓄⓇⓂⒶⓉ:- Pdf
👉𝐒𝐘𝐍𝐎𝐏𝐒𝐈𝐒:-
1971, a year of recreation, new recognition to a new country.
.
There is very peculiar situation among the east Bengalis in Pakistan & non Bengalis of west.
.
We know many things about the war how it is initiated & what is it's result. But few often we are able to know about its ground zero reality.
.
The book is just like a journey you are going to live about the war , the reason, cause, the tactics, issues, jubilance, struggle, survival, bravery & many more in the book.
.
The spotlight of this book about Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's highly exploitative and discriminatory policies implemented on the Bengali population.
.
To know more about the intresting story grab it & give it a try.
👉𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐒 :-
🙂 Cover of the book is good with an interesting title that just matched to the main theme of the book.
🙂 Writing style of the book is wonderful. It's just making readers feel the reality of war with each passing pages.
🙂 Language used in the book is great. It's just mixing with author's emotions to connect the string with readers heart.
🙂 The raw style narration of author without creating any sort of unnecessary exaggerated scenes or incidents keeps you hooked up till the last page.
🙂 You can easily marked the amount of research author done before writing the book with his own experience that together gives a heartful reading experience.
🙂 The facts, incidents are perfectly written in the book which just keep you hooked up till the last page.
𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑:-🌟🌟🌟🌟
📚ⓉⒾⓉⓁⒺ:- Bangladesh War
🖋️ⒶⓊⓉⒽⓄⓇ:- Manash Ghosh
🗞️ⓅⓊⒷⓁⒾⓈⒽⒺⓇ:- Niyogi Books
🔤ⓁⒶⓃⒼⓊⒶⒼⒺ:- English
📖ⒻⓄⓇⓂⒶⓉ:- Pdf
👉𝐒𝐘𝐍𝐎𝐏𝐒𝐈𝐒:-
1971, a year of recreation, new recognition to a new country.
.
There is very peculiar situation among the east Bengalis in Pakistan & non Bengalis of west.
.
We know many things about the war how it is initiated & what is it's result. But few often we are able to know about its ground zero reality.
.
The book is just like a journey you are going to live about the war , the reason, cause, the tactics, issues, jubilance, struggle, survival, bravery & many more in the book.
.
The spotlight of this book about Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's highly exploitative and discriminatory policies implemented on the Bengali population.
.
To know more about the intresting story grab it & give it a try.
👉𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐒 :-
🙂 Cover of the book is good with an interesting title that just matched to the main theme of the book.
🙂 Writing style of the book is wonderful. It's just making readers feel the reality of war with each passing pages.
🙂 Language used in the book is great. It's just mixing with author's emotions to connect the string with readers heart.
🙂 The raw style narration of author without creating any sort of unnecessary exaggerated scenes or incidents keeps you hooked up till the last page.
🙂 You can easily marked the amount of research author done before writing the book with his own experience that together gives a heartful reading experience.
🙂 The facts, incidents are perfectly written in the book which just keep you hooked up till the last page.
𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑:-🌟🌟🌟🌟
March 19, 2022
Often when reading war stories, I try to imagine myself at the forefront, in the shoes of the people who are on the front line and try to comprehend what being it feels like to be in that position.
A position where there are only two ends, either brutal oppression or total annihilation. Even in my imaginations, the images manage to shake my very core.
To be able to read this book and actually be able to understand the inner workings of war and what it leaves behind is both an honor and a reality check that many people are in dire need of.
As the title suggests, the book is a thorough and comprehensive account of how the Bangladesh liberation war of 1971 started and how it ended.
Something that I appreciated in this book is the authors brutally honest narrative. In the face of such adversity, it'd have been expected from him to have his judgement be clouded by his own principles but that would've made him an unreliable narrator and in that way, he succeeds in being a great storyteller.
Because of the unbiased nature of his writing, it's easier for the readers to understand and connect with the people they're reading about and gives them the opportunity to do so with their own free will.
The book reveals some facts that a lot of people, including myself, were unaware of and gives a new perspective to one of the most crucial historical events of our country.
I'd definitely recommend it.
A position where there are only two ends, either brutal oppression or total annihilation. Even in my imaginations, the images manage to shake my very core.
To be able to read this book and actually be able to understand the inner workings of war and what it leaves behind is both an honor and a reality check that many people are in dire need of.
As the title suggests, the book is a thorough and comprehensive account of how the Bangladesh liberation war of 1971 started and how it ended.
Something that I appreciated in this book is the authors brutally honest narrative. In the face of such adversity, it'd have been expected from him to have his judgement be clouded by his own principles but that would've made him an unreliable narrator and in that way, he succeeds in being a great storyteller.
Because of the unbiased nature of his writing, it's easier for the readers to understand and connect with the people they're reading about and gives them the opportunity to do so with their own free will.
The book reveals some facts that a lot of people, including myself, were unaware of and gives a new perspective to one of the most crucial historical events of our country.
I'd definitely recommend it.
April 5, 2022
Filled with anecdotes and experiences, this is a capturing of memories and recollection of tumultuous events at a deeply visceral level. The author captures the spirit of regional identity trumping religion in a manner that is both distant and personal.
The book is a priceless addition to the documenting of a turning point in the geopolitical and sociopolitical history of the subcontinent. As one read the book five decades on from the events recollected and described, it was also a stark reminder of the shape shifting of international affairs and the causes that inspire revolutions. As they say, rebellion and revolution go hand in hand.
A must read.
The book is a priceless addition to the documenting of a turning point in the geopolitical and sociopolitical history of the subcontinent. As one read the book five decades on from the events recollected and described, it was also a stark reminder of the shape shifting of international affairs and the causes that inspire revolutions. As they say, rebellion and revolution go hand in hand.
A must read.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews