The Tortured and the Damned is the story of creation of Bangladesh .
Robert Payne begins the story brilliantly with the infamous attack on Dacca University in which a Prof and his two small children are caught. He then travels with this protagonist as scores of people migrate to the rural areas and the freedom struggle blossoms in the hinterland. Mukti Bahini builds its cadres, trains the masses and wages the battle.
The background is :
Robert Payne begins the story brilliantly with the infamous attack on Dacca University in which a Prof and his two small children are caught. He then travels with this protagonist as scores of people migrate to the rural areas and the freedom struggle blossoms in the hinterland. Mukti Bahini builds its cadres, trains the masses and wages the battle.
The background is :
It is 1971 and Sheikh Mujibur Rehman from East Pakistan has won the recent elections in undivided Pakistan. But West Pakistanis are averse to having him rule them. So they arrest him and cart him off to West Pakistan and let loose atrocities against East Pakistanis to suppress the movement which has started to resemble a revolt. West Pakistanis are Punjabi/ Pushtun speaking good looking mountain race with people in the beautiful Swat valley tracing their lineage to the Greeks, as Alexander the great entered India through Pakistan. The Bengali speaking East Pakistanis are water/sea people and are held in great contempt by their counterparts in West Pak. So this freedom struggle had a layer of racism also to contend with.
Robert Payne writes about how the intelligentsia was put behind bars to quell the struggle but it was too late. The masses had joined the struggle. We have Iskander a West Pakistani captain who is appalled at the brutalities unleashed by his army. There is Zulfikar Ali Bhutto holed up in Dacca and a comic scene where a Pak general holds court in the centre of Dacca saying they would send the Indians packing in D+10 days. Instead they are humiliated and thrown out. This is the reason why even today Pakistan has strong anti India policies. They lost half of their land due to India is their reasoning. It was their atrocities which started the whole thing, they forget this.
As millions of migrants crossed the porous border into India, Indira Gandhi sent the army into Dacca even as the world sat and watched. India has helped both covertly and overtly in the war. Finally Mujibur Rehman is released and returns to Dacca to a rousing welcome and he declares Independence.
Jinnah wanted an undivided Bengal, he didn't get it and his countrymen lost their half of Bengal as well.
Robert Payne writes about how the intelligentsia was put behind bars to quell the struggle but it was too late. The masses had joined the struggle. We have Iskander a West Pakistani captain who is appalled at the brutalities unleashed by his army. There is Zulfikar Ali Bhutto holed up in Dacca and a comic scene where a Pak general holds court in the centre of Dacca saying they would send the Indians packing in D+10 days. Instead they are humiliated and thrown out. This is the reason why even today Pakistan has strong anti India policies. They lost half of their land due to India is their reasoning. It was their atrocities which started the whole thing, they forget this.
As millions of migrants crossed the porous border into India, Indira Gandhi sent the army into Dacca even as the world sat and watched. India has helped both covertly and overtly in the war. Finally Mujibur Rehman is released and returns to Dacca to a rousing welcome and he declares Independence.
Jinnah wanted an undivided Bengal, he didn't get it and his countrymen lost their half of Bengal as well.
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