Thirty eight years ago on this day East Pakistan gained independence from the tyranny of West Pakistan’s feudal oligarchy and it’s clergy. Bengalis fought off the Punjab dominated military and state sponsored Jamat-e-Islami death squads Al-Shams and Al-Badr, and formed their secular state.
But the scars of its war with Pakistan remain. Al Jazeera’s Tony Birtley reports from Dhaka [18/04/09] about the thousands of women and girls who were raped by Pakistani soldiers and their collaborators during the war of liberation. Some victims of those attacks are finally starting to speak out about the trauma which, up until now, has been largely ignored.