1971: A People's History from Bangladesh, Pakistan and India

The year 1971 exists everywhere in Bangladesh-on its roads, in sculptures, in its museums and oral history projects, in its curriculum, in people's homes and their stories, and in political discourse. It marks the birth of the nation, its liberation. More than 1000 miles away, in Pakistan too, 1971 marks a watershed moment, its memories sitting uncomfortably in public imagination. It is remembered as the 'Fall of Dacca', the dismemberment of Pakistan or the third Indo-Pak war. In India, 1971 represents something else-the story of humanitarian intervention, of triumph and valour that paved the way for India's rise as a military power, the beginning of its journey to becoming a regional superpower.

Navigating the widely varied terrain that is 1971 across Pakistan, Bangladesh and India, Anam Zakaria sifts through three distinct state narratives, and studies the institutionalization of the memory of the year and its events. Through a personal journey, she juxtaposes state narratives with people's history on the ground, bringing forth the nuanced experiences of those who lived through the war. Using intergenerational interviews, textbook analyses, visits to schools and travels to museums and sites commemorating 1971, Zakaria explores the ways in which the year is remembered and forgotten across countries, generations and communities.

1140374075
1971: A People's History from Bangladesh, Pakistan and India

The year 1971 exists everywhere in Bangladesh-on its roads, in sculptures, in its museums and oral history projects, in its curriculum, in people's homes and their stories, and in political discourse. It marks the birth of the nation, its liberation. More than 1000 miles away, in Pakistan too, 1971 marks a watershed moment, its memories sitting uncomfortably in public imagination. It is remembered as the 'Fall of Dacca', the dismemberment of Pakistan or the third Indo-Pak war. In India, 1971 represents something else-the story of humanitarian intervention, of triumph and valour that paved the way for India's rise as a military power, the beginning of its journey to becoming a regional superpower.

Navigating the widely varied terrain that is 1971 across Pakistan, Bangladesh and India, Anam Zakaria sifts through three distinct state narratives, and studies the institutionalization of the memory of the year and its events. Through a personal journey, she juxtaposes state narratives with people's history on the ground, bringing forth the nuanced experiences of those who lived through the war. Using intergenerational interviews, textbook analyses, visits to schools and travels to museums and sites commemorating 1971, Zakaria explores the ways in which the year is remembered and forgotten across countries, generations and communities.

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1971: A People's History from Bangladesh, Pakistan and India

1971: A People's History from Bangladesh, Pakistan and India

by Anam Zakaria
1971: A People's History from Bangladesh, Pakistan and India

1971: A People's History from Bangladesh, Pakistan and India

by Anam Zakaria

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Overview

The year 1971 exists everywhere in Bangladesh-on its roads, in sculptures, in its museums and oral history projects, in its curriculum, in people's homes and their stories, and in political discourse. It marks the birth of the nation, its liberation. More than 1000 miles away, in Pakistan too, 1971 marks a watershed moment, its memories sitting uncomfortably in public imagination. It is remembered as the 'Fall of Dacca', the dismemberment of Pakistan or the third Indo-Pak war. In India, 1971 represents something else-the story of humanitarian intervention, of triumph and valour that paved the way for India's rise as a military power, the beginning of its journey to becoming a regional superpower.

Navigating the widely varied terrain that is 1971 across Pakistan, Bangladesh and India, Anam Zakaria sifts through three distinct state narratives, and studies the institutionalization of the memory of the year and its events. Through a personal journey, she juxtaposes state narratives with people's history on the ground, bringing forth the nuanced experiences of those who lived through the war. Using intergenerational interviews, textbook analyses, visits to schools and travels to museums and sites commemorating 1971, Zakaria explores the ways in which the year is remembered and forgotten across countries, generations and communities.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780143454038
Publisher: Penguin Random House India Pvt. Ltd
Publication date: 11/01/2021
Pages: 402
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Anam Zakaria is an oral historian and the author of Between the Great Divide: A Journey into Pakistan-Administered Kashmir and The Footprints of Partition: Narratives of Four Generations of Pakistanis and Indians, which won her the 2017 KLF German Peace Prize. She writes frequently on issues of conflict and peace in South Asia. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Al Jazeera, the Hill Times, Dawn, the Wire and Scroll. Born and raised in Lahore, Anam currently lives in Toronto. 1971 is her third book.

Table of Contents

Preface xi

Part I Journeys: Past and Present

1 Selective Silences, Selective Remembrances 3

2 The Enemy 21

3 Remembering 1947 34

Part II 1947-1971: The Seeds of Unrest

4 When Language Becomes Dissent 63

5 Disillusionment 79

6 A West Pakistani in East Pakistan 115

Part III 1971: The Year That Was

7 Bangladesh's War 143

8 India's War 176

9 Pakistan's War 201

Part IV Institutionalizing the Memory of the War

10 My Truth, Your Truth 269

11 The Loyalty Card 323

Acknowledgements 349

Notes 353

Index 393

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