Not all post-war generations carry Liberation War ideals, says freedom fighter Linu Haque

She says bdnews24.com’s initiative is undoubtedly brave at a time when the Liberation War is treated like a “prohibited signboard”

Freedom fighter Linu Haque has said that not all generations born after Bangladesh’s Liberation War have carried forward the ideals of the struggle.

She made the remarks on Saturday night while speaking at the unveiling of the “Bangladesh, Penned in Blood: Volume 2” (Roktorekhay Bangladesh), a Liberation War-based compilation, at bdnews24.com’s head office Dhaka.

Addressing the contributors to the compilation, Linu said the Liberation War had embodied a set of ideals that her generation had fought to establish but ultimately failed to fully realise.

“The Liberation War was an ideal for us, but we could not establish that ideal,” she said.

“Those who are now creating rhythm through research and writing, breaking the chains of bloodlines with songs of resistance, are the true inheritors. ‘Bangladesh, Penned in Blood’ is a reflection of that effort.”

She added that not all post-war generations could be described as inheritors of the Liberation War.

“I call many of them simply the post-war generation. But those who have taken up this work, I consider them the inheritor generation,” she said.

Published by bdnews24.com, the three-volume anthology curates selected writings tracing the Bengali people’s journey from the Language Movement to independence.

The series is edited by bdnews24.com Editor-in-Chief Toufique Imrose Khalidi.

Linu recalled her own role as a schoolgirl in Azimpur’s “Bichchhu Bahini”, distributing leaflets and threatening collaborators during the war.

“We were the generation that created rhythm out of destruction, ending colonial rule and giving birth to a flag on the world map,” she said.

Calling the publication of the compilation a courageous initiative, she said the war unfolded on a canvas too vast for three volumes, but the set would give the next generation a continuous, people-centred view.

“At a time when the Liberation War is treated like a ‘prohibited signboard’, bdnews24.com’s initiative is undoubtedly brave,” she said.

She stressed that the Liberation War was fundamentally a people’s war and that its history would remain incomplete until the stories of ordinary fighters were fully documented.

Recalling unnamed guerrillas and ordinary citizens, she shared stories of a rickshaw-puller who warned fighters to avoid capture, and a woman who threatened her boatman husband at knifepoint to help 15 freedom fighters escape a Pakistani military cordon.

“There are countless such stories across villages, towns and highways,” she said. “They must be woven into our history of glory, pain and roots.”

Linu also emphasised the need to document women’s contributions to the war more comprehensively.

“Women carried the country during the war like a pregnant mother carries her child,” she said.

“After independence, they saw the country and forgot their pain. They did not demand recognition, and that history has largely remained untold.”

She said a complete history of the Liberation War would only emerge when women’s stories are properly recorded.