Dhaka, Dec 01 (V7N) – The month of great victory, December, has begun—marking the most glorious chapter in Bangladesh’s history. This victory was achieved at the cost of 3 million martyrs and the violation of the honor of 200,000 mothers and sisters, whose sacrifices paved the way for an independent nation.

The Great Liberation War of 1971 stands as the most significant political event in Bangladesh’s national history. Through the historic armed struggle, the centuries-old social, political and economic aspirations of the Bengali nation were realized in this very month.

The unforgettable and triumphant victory of the Liberation War came on December 16, when Bangladesh emerged as an independent state. The Bengalis earned their recognition as a sovereign nation, gaining their own homeland and a national flag bearing the red sun of freedom on a field of green.

The nationalism shaped around language and identity reached its fulfillment through this blood-soaked victory. Yet December is not only a month of pride but also a month of deep sorrow. The price of freedom was immense — countless fresh lives lost and the dignity of countless women shattered.

During this month in 1971, the Pakistani occupation forces, aided by their local collaborators Razakar, Al-Badr and Al-Shams, carried out a brutal massacre targeting the nation’s brightest minds. The systematic killing of intellectuals remains one of the most heinous atrocities in world history.

By early December, reports of the Pakistani forces’ defeat at the hands of the freedom fighters intensified across the country. Finally, on December 16, the occupation forces surrendered at the historic Race Course Maidan (now Suhrawardy Udyan) in Dhaka.

With this surrender, the nine-month-long bloody struggle for independence came to a victorious end. The nation earned the long-dreamed freedom that had lived in the hearts of Bengalis for generations.

END/SMA/AJ