The word "Birangana" is used in the dictionary to mean "brave woman". Women who have found a place in the pages of history as heroic fighters are called heroines. The great architect of independence, the martyred President Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman gave the title of Birangana to the mothers and sisters who were sexually abused by the Pakistani army during the great liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971.
Bangabandhu was on his way to inaugurate the renovated dam in Pabna district on 26 February 1972. Some abused women came to tell their tragic stories and miserable conditions. Bangabandhu nodded to them and said, "Well mother, I will look into the matter." On the stage, Bangabandhu said, "From today, the tortured women by Pak army are not ordinary women, they are heroines from now on. Their contribution in the liberation war is not less but a few steps higher."
So they have to be given the status of heroines and shown respect. And for those fathers and husbands, I say that you are blessed too. Because such a noble and selfless woman has become her husband or father. Hi heroine! You are our mother.
Bangabandhu formed a "Women's Rehabilitation Board" for helpless women. The issue of women has been given a special place in the five-year plan. But, Bangabandhu's noble dream regarding Biranganashas not yet been realized.
We go to meet the freedom fighters, listen to their stories but have we ever gone to hear the story of Birangana? Those who have heard it must have seen that Birangana did not tell her story but avoided her own story. People suffer and then try to normalize themselves by sharing it with others. But the story of my heroine mothers-sisters is such that it is not possible to share it to others. Ah! What a terrible story! What a sad story!
When we read the book written by SurmaZahid about the touching story of 361 heroines, we see that as a result of rape in Sreepur of Gazipur, one heroine was mutilated in such a way thatthe treatment she received was not enough.
A young heroine from Comilla had been picked up and tortured so badly in a Pakistani camp that her waist bone was broken. Later she got married but the family did not last after learning about the incident. A heroine has been diagnosed with cancer in Thakurgaon but she too passed away due to lack of treatment.
In Khagrachari, a tribal heroine has been tortured for months. Later, her family did not accept Birangana. She lived alone in the remote mountains.
Many of the heroines have committed suicide, many have left the country for domestic work. Numerous heroines died trying to get abortions by untrained midwives. There is disagreement about the number of heroines in today's Bangladesh, many say the number of heroines is three lakhs, some say ten lakhs, historian MuntasirMamun said in his research, this number is not less than six lakhs.
Daily Bangla Bani reports that this number is not less than four lakhs. According to the report of Aussie doctor GOP Davis, who served the women who were tortured in the liberation war, the number of pregnant women alone is two lakh. About one lakh seventy thousand have had abortions, the rest have often committed suicide.
But it is a pity that in the fifty years since the victory of this huge number of heroines, only four hundred and thirty eight heroines have been recognized by the Ministry of Liberation War. We could not sacrifice the victory at the feet of the heroines. We did not give them social status. We do not feel that it is easy to give life but it is not easy to give dignity.
During the war and even after independence, in our social system, heroines are seen as raped. Society is avoiding them, indirectly boycotting them. They fall victims to traditional social prejudices. They have also been neglected in family, social and political ways.
We could not respect the heroines in the way we respected the freedom fighters. Many of the heroines of 1971 have died financially. To a large extent their basic and human rights have not been guaranteed.
Those who got the independent sovereign country in return for the highest sacrifice, got the open sky. Even if they get independent land, they will not be able to move freely and normally in that land. The burning of hunger, the pain of losing respect, notoriety, boycott, sorrow, suffering, irritation, suffering have made their lives miserable.
Those who are reluctant to give dignity to heroines and even give more dignity to others than heroines are really cowards. Birangana means Bangladesh. It is our moral duty to respect and ensure the dignity of the brave women who are an integral part of independent Bangladesh. Otherwise we will be considered as illegitimate children of Bengali mothers.
The government of our country, all the non-governmental organizations including the parliament based on the liberation war should be active about the heroines. Recognition of all heroines must be ensured.
Their dignity, security and family must be guaranteed. The dead have to be recognized posthumously. Only then can I identify myself as the real child of a Bengali mother. We will be proud. I can say out loud, we are the children of Bengali Birangana mother.
Easin Taha, Human Rights
Activist and columnist
