Bangladesh was born out of a brutal nine-month war. Many fought the war. Some fell in battle. A lot more suffered. But everyone became sovereigns of a free country. They have managed to forge ahead. And Bangladesh marches on, perhaps falteringly at times, but it has certainly moved ahead in the last 40 years.
bdnews24.com looks back at a time when mothers joined the war with their infants in their arms, when kindred spirits of distant lands joined the efforts of 70 million Bengalis.
"The War and the Foreign Friends" photo album.
Khurshid Jahan spends her days in a small house in Khulna’s Tutpara with her two sons and their families. Other than her resolute posture, there is little that belies the former banker’s fiery past.
She was caring for the labourers working at her house when bdnews24.com’s Abu Sufiyan reached her house on the morning of Dec 10. Khurshid Jahan was one of the thousands that joined the war effort
during the war. But perhaps not many were like her. She joined the war with a five-month infant in her arms who had perhaps still not weaned off its mother’s milk. This is her story.
The ultimate victory had come to them after nine long months of struggle. They laughed, they wept, some were left crying tears of joy. Some went wild with delight; some fell on their knees and thanked the heavens.
Some of them were on the frontlines, some in Dhaka, some others in Kolkata. 40 years on, as the nation celebrates the landmark occasion, bdnews24.com asked some Freedom Fighters about that precious moment. Only to find out that it is still warm in their memories.
