Bangladesh, a book on Christians in the war of independence from Pakistan
Dhaka (AsiaNews) - A new book reveals new aspects of the war that led to Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan, in particular the role played by Christians during the conflict. It is titled "I saw the war of Independence in 1971" and is the first work by Alex Rozario, a Bangladeshi Catholic who lives in France. The book was presented at the book fair in February, which ended yesterday. February is an important month, because it is dedicated to the Bengali language, whose movement - born in 1952 - was the first sign of conflict with Pakistan.
To gather material for his book, Alex Rozario returned to Bangladesh several times. "It's a volume on the history of the liberation war - he tells AsiaNews - which tells the stories of the Christians who fought for independence. My purpose was to inform the younger generation about what I saw of the war. It is only fair that people know that Christians participated and contributed". Those who have already been able to read the work, like Pintu Gomes, describe it as "a good history book. I discovered many new things".
According to famous Catholic
writer Khokon Vincent
Corraya, "we Christian authors should write
more. We have many talents that are never expressed. We should invest time and
research in literature".
On
February 21, the world celebrates the International Day of native languages,
and the people of Bangladesh bring gifts to the tombs of the martyrs and
organizes events to commemorate them. On
this day in 1952 a number of Bangladeshi university students were killed at the
hands of the Pakistani police while protesting in honor of the Bengali language.
The
Movement for the Bengali language found its political representation in the Awami League and its president, Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman.
In
1971, after nine months of war, Bangladesh declared independence from Pakistan,
becoming a parliamentary democracy.
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