In his review of Sarmila Bose’s controversial book (Dead Reckoning) on Bangladesh’s War of Independence, Salil Tripathi questions whether her work is the unbiased re-evaluation of historical facts, which her supporters like to claim it is, or whether it is simply a rehash of old prejudices and glaring omissions.
Bangladeshis welcomed Bose warmly when she began her study, and many intellectuals, historians, academics and survivors told her their stories. She also went to Pakistan, and remarkably, was able to get the cooperation of many Pakistani commanders who participated in the war. Pakistan’s army is not entirely an accountable organization to begin with, and except for a judicial commission in 1971, which was set up to examine the narrow question of what led to Pakistani defeat in the war, there hasn’t been a serious attempt to understand what happened. Any effort to get Pakistani generals to talk is welcome, particularly since the war crimes trials, set to begin in Bangladesh soon, will not try Pakistani nationals, but only Bangladeshi perpetrators and collaborators.
The Islamicists want to reduce Islam to a heartless political ideology; the globalists want to turn it into a ‘licensed’ religion for use in pacifying, and ultimately secularizing, the populations of dar al-Islam. Under such damaging blows, young Muslims need to remember not just the Holy Book, but the man whose character was the perfect mirror of that Book.