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

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

• 
  Asim Bakhshi

  This is perhaps the only form of history that is valid for disentangling the multitude of conflicting narratives surrounding the events of 1971 and their aftermath. Anam Zakaria masterfully sifts through and shares the experiences, memories, and perspectives of individuals spanning two different generations of various ethnicities involved in the conflict. By doing so, she sheds light on the lived realities that have often been overshadowed by the state-sponsored narratives of all three conjoined triplets stuck in the historical tunnel of subcontinental tri-partition.
  
  Zakaria's meticulous research and empathetic storytelling make this book a remarkable contribution to the understanding of a pivotal period in South Asian history. Through the personal accounts and collective voices she presents, the reader gains a comprehensive view of the complex socio-political landscape of the time. This inclusive approach serves as a powerful antidote to the dominant narratives that have shaped historical understanding so far in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
  
  This should serve as an essential read for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the events and their lasting impact on the region. By bridging the gaps between the narratives of different communities, Zakaria offers a path toward reconciliation and healing.
  
  Furthermore, this book raises important questions about the way history is taught in Pakistani, Indian, and Bangladeshi schools. It underscores the urgent need for reforming these syllabi, which often perpetuates a one-sided version of events. By incorporating such books into the curriculum, students can gain a more nuanced and inclusive understanding of their country's past, fostering empathy, critical thinking, and a broader perspective.
• 
  Imaduddin Ahmed

  This is the best book written in English by a Pakistani or about South Asia that I've read. Having said that, do not expect the book to go beyond its scope, i.e. beyond the partition of Pakistan and the creation of Bangladesh. If you seek to understand what led to Independence from British rule and the Partition of India in the way that it happened, look to Ayesha Jalal, Sugata Bose, Maria Mishra, Maya Tudor. If you seek a political vision of Pakistan, look to Aitzaz Ahsan. If you seek to understand the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan's support of it, look to Ahmed Rasheed, and the interaction with the Cold War, Mahmood Mamdani and Saadia Toor. You'll do no better than Farahnaz Ispahani to understand the state of affairs for Pakistan's religious minorities. For India's political ideology in scholastic terms, look to Pradeep Chhibber and in lay terms, Arundhati Roy. If you want florid semi-historical accounts of Mughal dynasties, look to William Dalrymple.
  
  Anam Zakaria masterfully weaves together a thoroughly researched history of military, diplomatic and judicial affairs with interviews of people in Pakistan and Bangladesh to understand the various truths and lived experiences as events on the ground unravelled. She digs deep to unearth the nuance that is almost always lost in accounts of history, my own included, which dealt only with atrocities of the Pakistan army and not of Mukti Bahini (since I was writing as a Pakistani to influence a Pakistani audience - she also makes mention of my initiative to crowd-source an apology to Bangladeshis). How in Bangladesh, Bengalis claim the trauma of violence as an exclusive experience, i.e. exclude Biharis and pro-Pakistan Bengalis.
  
  She unpacks the internal political tensions between Sheikh Mujibar Rehman, who, like Mohammad Ali Jinnah before him, advocated a weak federal centre, and secessionists, and how Rehman's popularity would likely have fizzled had the outcome of the 1971 election been respected. She takes a look at the textbook accounts of history in Pakistan and compares and contrasts what is taught in state versus private schools. She interviews children in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh to illuminate their understanding.
  
  Unlike most books that cover weighty topics, Zakaria has made this emininently readable, and targeted the lay reader, as one would expect from an empathetic teacher. This in part is facilitated by her use of the first person since the interaction with her respondents provides context to what they say. Her use of first person is never indulgent. What's surprising is how well structured and narrated this is for one who doesn't write for newspapers, work in consulting or come from academia.
  
  Having guided the reader through the worst parts of 1971, illuminated the Pakistan state's facile takeaway from 1971 that it was India's doing and not its own, and also illuminated the problematic divisions that exist in Bangladesh's politics today, Zakaria leaves us with the ongoing hardships of those whom have been left stateless in Karachi and at Geneva Camp in Bangladesh.
• 
  Parvati Mohan

  This book is necessary reading to cement our understanding of a fact that we all need to remember in our personal and public lives—in a conflict, no one side is fully in the right or fully in the wrong.
  
  The author's objectivity is commendable, seeing as she is Pakistani but brought forth a variety of Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Indian points of view without judgement. Definitely recommended for people of the subcontinent.
• 
  Dipesh Mittal

  Each nation needs its own myth to survive. On 3 June 1947, four men informed from the broadcasting station of All India Radio to the mass of four hundred million the plan to divide the crowned jewel of the British Empire into two new nation states – India and Pakistan. Over the course of several years since the announcement, close to 2 million people died and 14 million were displaced. The two nation states gained their Independence from the British Raj amidst the blood bath and mayhem of millions of people. In 1971 after a prolonged war, Pakistan was further bifurcated and erstwhile East Pakistan became Bangladesh. Anam Zakaria’s book, 1971: A People’s History from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India, is an inquiry into the people’s memory. There exists an underlying tension between the state-sponsored narrative and people’s memory, often the former influencing the latter through silence, selective remembrance, and half-truths. This book examines the conflict and helps making sense of ourselves.
  
  History is a deeply contested political terrain. To argue otherwise would be to live in the fool’s paradise. As government changes, so do history books taught at schools. History textbooks in India end at 1947, with little to no information about what happened after, as if the march of history stopped there. While in Bangladesh, the government has changed textbooks more than twice over the years including graphic details of violence that occurred during the liberation war and the contested legacy of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. In Pakistan, the textbooks at government-run schools are aimed at constructing the enemy, often they are Indians, minorities, and kafirs. A school serves as the first political background wherein the next generation of citizens are given ideological training by the State. The construction of an outside enemy helps the nation to ignore its own failing. The modern post-colonial nation states depend on the narrative of othering to carve their own identity. They need ‘otherness’ to justify their own hegemonic rule and most of the time this comes at the cost of disfranchising their own citizens socially, politically, and economically.
  
  The year 1971 has different meanings to the countries in the subcontinent. For Pakistan, it is the year, when disloyal Bengalis under the influence of Hindu infidels and with the help of Indians rebelled against the Pakistan state, leaving them little choice, but to fight the enemy both within and outside. For Bangladesh, it is the year, when it gained Independence through prolonged struggle and ‘genocide’ caused by Pakistan. For India, it is the year, when it dismembered Pakistan and successfully proved the failure of two-nation theory to the world. Amidst all these state versions of that particular year, Zakaria’s book captures the left out people’s tale of suffering, pain, courage, and grief. These tales make the distinction between the political and private sphere appear superfluous. This book is a rallying cry against the over-simplification of history, as it tries to bring a nuanced understanding through people’s personal history. Over time people’s memory also get entangled with the state narratives and taints one’s opinion. The author conducts several interviews with the people directly affected during the liberation war of 1971 across the three countries. Some of the people interviewed affirm multiple identities – a Bangladeshi Bihari, a Bangladeshi Punjabi, and a Pakistani Bengali, all of the identity in conflict with one another in the present geopolitics of the subcontinent. Looking at the subcontinent through these people’s stories, the Radcliff line gets blurred and the division makes little sense. The book provides a detailed account of present Bangladeshi political discourse, the fractures within the Bangladeshi nationalism and Bengali nationalism, and most specifically the people left out of those discourses.
  
  Zakaria also captures the reactions of the second and third generation from the subcontinent, when they meet her for the first time as a ‘Pakistani’. Most of the younger generation people only grew up listening to the tales of war from popular media and personal histories, often constructing the other as enemy. Her fun exercise as a cultural facilitator, connecting Indian and Pakistan students virtually, and asking them, what is the first image, thought, feeling that comes to their mind, when she says Pakistan-India-Bangladesh, gives us a great insight into how identities are constructed through popular mass media and the author’s own sense of identity. Most of the time, these identities are not as rigid as they are portrayed to be and in the present political environment this becomes the cause of friction. While listening to victim’s story of 1971, the author doesn’t try to disown her country’s past or play blame game. Rather, through people’s stories, she tries to understand it. This at times becomes therapeutical to the people narrating stories of grief and loss, in some cases even unacknowledged by the State.
  
  In the subcontinent, the idea of citizenship has been deeply contested in the present times. Citizenship, as the right to have rights, is closely linked with one’s identity vis-à-vis the nation’s self. The recent Citizenship Amendment Act passed by the Indian Parliament makes an attempt to make our identity rigid and stiff and this will only cause more friction, given the complex colonial history. 1971: A People’s History from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India serves as a testimony to our shared past, at a time when crossing boundaries is becoming more and more difficult. Zakaria’s answer to our respective government’s project, to paint us all in a single colour, is to see identities in all its different hues and colours. However, the book leaves out narratives of other minority communities who have often suffered colossally in the project of nation-states. For instance, the author does not interview anyone from the Chakma community, who has their own story to tell about the war of liberation. Nonetheless, this book is an important contribution to the literature coming out of the subcontinent. To understand our history better, we need a cross-boundary study of history, wherein historians from the subcontinent can engage and exchange ideas. In the present political environment, one can only hope for that.
  
  published here:
  
  
  https://cafedissensuseveryday.com/202...
• 
  Robin Kim

  This is possibly the most eye-opening piece of history I have ever read about. That to this day, Bangladesh claims the systematic genocide of 3 million Bengali people by the Pakistan Army and Pakistan admits a number no greater than 30,000 is deeply troubling. Wherever the true number lies, conflicting narratives of the war have been taught and continue to be taught to generations of people in each country. And these unresolved tensions directly contribute to the political hostilities between the three countries today. It is hard to envision a peaceful future for the tripartite without a shared acknowledgement of the legitimacy of Bangladeshi sovereignty, Pakistani violence against Bengalis, Bengali violence against Punjabis, and India's role in inciting violence between them.
  
  I highly recommend this book to anyone who is as ignorant of South Asian history in the last century as I was. It's a great foundation to understanding the contemporary social and political relations between these three countries. The 1971 liberation war is the bloodiest event in recent history, and it makes for national identities that are much more personal than we might realize from the outside.
  
  My only criticism is that the book might have benefited from some tighter editing. It was slightly repetitive at times and probably could have been cut down by about 50 pages. For just a high level history, I think reading Part 1 is sufficient. I thought the events between 1947 and 1971 were very adequately explained.
• 
  Fawad Khan

  It's a really well-written book and it takes you in from the moment go. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in 1971 and its aftermath, especially to the Pakistanis who've no idea how Bangladesh came into being.
  It's not a book that is there to tell you what the newly discovered "facts" are or what the "real story" is of 1971. In fact it's a story of multiple stories. Anam is more interested in people's experience of the war; each individual experience is important. And she keeps comparing it to the state narrative and the history books taught in schools and shows how some stories are highlighted by the state and some erased; and how at times the state narrative affects the individual narrative, how at times individual narrative is in reaction to the state narrative or dominant narrative. It's also an easy read. No pretensions of writing something "academic and hard to fathom" and yet it's a very carefully researched book. Excited to read more of Anam's work.
  
• 
  Haris Niazi

  1971: A People's History from Bangladesh, Pakistan and India is a gripping book in the sense that it hits you hard with stories of people who were actually there and had to suffer pain and grief. As I finished this book, I am feeling an emptiness inside; feels like I want more stories from either side. However, the book is an excellent work of collecting people's stories across three nation states. First of all, it gives an account of how much resentment the Bangladeshis hold against Pakistan. As the case was at the time of the events taking place, Pakistanis are still distant from the truth of what actually was happening in East Pakistan around 1971.
  As a person having a punjabi background, this book is a real eye opener for me. The people of Bangladesh saw Pakistan Army as representative of punjabis' control over East and West Wings of Pakistan. This fact is also seconded by 'Dead Reckoning' by Sarmilla Bose wherein she mentions that Bangalis had bitter memories of and suffered maltreatment at the hands of punjabi soldiers only.
  The book also mentions that each nation i.e. Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, have their own notion of what was the truth behind the events that led to events of 1971. Each nation believes that they were on the right side of history; each one a victim of circumstances and how each one was pushed to do things, they didn't want to do.
  Also, religion remains a recurring theme and keeps on impacting and molding the national psyche of the three nations. Despite the claim by Ms. Indira Gandhi of India that after the establishment of Bangladesh, the two nation theory had sank, a number of people still draw boundaries when it comes to religion in Bangladesh and Pakistan.
  Summing up, the book is an excellent read and every Pakistani needs to read it. This could be the first step in accepting the actual truth about the events of 1971 instead of each nation having its own version of truth.
• 
  Abu Syed sajib

  History is a fickle thing. People have their own interpretation of history whether that's right or wrong. 1971's war is just like that.
  The writer did a great job of bringing up all the POVs.
  Writer's own prejudice came up during the story couple of times but that's natural for every human being.
• 
  Laavanya

  Over the past 12 years, Anam has done a wonderful job bridging the divide and tension between India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh through her books, as a panelist and cultural exchange between students of the three countries. She is also a gifted oral historian and has captured the tragedy and the pain of Partition and the Bangladeshi liberation war from people who went through it from all the countries. She has done her best to present the subject material in as objective of a manner as possible. I give her credit for attempting to unlearn and relearn what she was taught from the Pakistani state narrative. Most people will not do that.
  
  I have found some information gaps in her writing which includes this wonderful book. She goes on and on in her talks and books (this one too) about the role The Muslim League played in Partitioning India and that Congress contributed to it too. She also emphasized how much Indian Muslims wanted Pakistan and fought for it. Fine. But here is what irks me about her.
  
  Ms. Zakaria repeatedly brings up how there is little to no education in Indian school text books about the Pakistan movement (and South Asian Muslim nationalism that emerged in the 30s and 40s). In the same way, there also is nothing in Pakistani textbooks about the fact that there were many Indian Muslim freedom fighters who believed in composite nationalism and fought for India’s independence. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (Congress leader), Allah Bux Soomro (Governor of Sind) and Abdul Ghaffar Khan (Frontier Gandhi and Pathan from NWFP) are but a few names.
  
  Just as the meeting for the Lahore Resolution took place in 1940 demanding Pakistan, the All
  India Azad Muslim Conference (Indian Muslims who were against Partition) took place the same year in Delhi speaking out against Partition. One third of South Asia’s Muslims remained in India at the time of Partition, and many Indian Muslims of the upper class were neither eager nor interested in migrating to Pakistan.
  
  Why is this information absent in this book? Isn't it important for Pakistanis to know the above if Indians should know about the Pakistan movement? How about Bangladeshis? People should be presented the varied opinions and views that South Asia's Muslims had about Pakistan, Partition and the wrongdoing of the Pakistani state towards the Bengali Muslims of East Pakistani that led to Bangladesh.
  
• 
  Zain Bin Amjad

  Brilliant and at the same time one of the most horrifying books I've ever read. This book is the antidote to all those mindless war action films which glorify wars in the most unrealistic way possible. The reality is far more brutal. Pakistani's should be ashamed how they treated their fellow east Pakistanis and its a travesty that those mindsets are still prevalent in the country today in 2023. 52 years after the separation of eastern wing, instead of learning our lesson and treating all ethnicities equally, the security apparatus of the country has become more rabid. Now they are busy in suppressing Baloch's struggle for economic emancipation. We have clearly not learnt our lesson. The decision to not hand over power to Sheikh Mujib and the constant vilifying of Bengali culture and language proved to be disastrous.
  
  More horrifying was the decision to launch operation 'searchlight' and suppress the just movement the Bengali's were fighting for. The book shows how disastrous actions lead to disastrous consequences. So many innocent Bengali and Bihari men, women and children were slaughtered mercilessly by the Pakistani army and the Bengali freedom fighters. The seeds of discontent and hatred were sown by a handful of elite power-brokers who were intent on serving their selfish interests at the cost of blood.
  
  The Pakistani government should 100% acknowledge the folly of their actions and apologize to Bangladesh. Although futile at this point, its the least we can do.
• 
  Ciaran

  What an amazing book! I loved how Zakaria juxtaposed contrasting narratives of 1971 to provide a more nuanced picture of events. The experiences of some survivors was hard-hitting and frankly shocking.
  
  My only critiques of 1971 would be at times the analysis could be repetitive. I would have like to hear more disparate voices (including more women and more ethno-religious minority groups from Bangladesh eg the Chakma people and Christians). Given the very limited timeframe Zakaria was given on her Bangladeshi visa and the difficulties of conducting these interviews as a Pakistani these limitations are completely understandable.
  
  I think it would have also strengthened the book if more Indian oral histories were included, although I appreciate that beyond Indian states bordering on Bangladesh, 1971 is often either collectively forgotten or reduced to a victory in the latest of a series of Indo-Pakistani conflicts.
• 
  Rajesh Mohta

  An amazing read on the cause and effect of 1971 on the three people who were once one.. the bosses of all three towards each other the official narrative by the respective states which only give their version of the conflict.. the left over people in states where they are forced to stay but are not welcome.. Makes me think of moments history if the community and polity could have been more magnanimous.. the story could have been different.. A Truely unbiased writing brings out the various nuances of the situation of those times and our current biases some due to history and some due to official narratives
• 
  Atul

  One of the very best books on contemporary history I have read in recent times.
  The book contains detailed accounts of people from the countries of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, through which the author has tried to shed light on events prior to, post and during 1971, the year of Bangladeshi independence.
  An interesting way to capture history, by focussing on people rather than events, which takes us on a journey across time and borders.
  On a lighter note, I had always wondered about the reasons for the immense support given to Pakistan by Bangladeshi fans during Indo-Pak cricket matches, which interestingly the author has also tried to address in her book.
  A must read for anyone interested in an account of these times.
• 
  Achalkgarg

  Liked the book. From history perspective it showed a new way of looking at it. From the learning’s through interacting with all the supposed parties. And within each parties meeting multiple players.
  
  Was interested in knowing how government narratives at different point of time will lead to lies (their version) through TV, books, news, etc.
  
  Also to understand how people’s who were left with nation of not their religion majority are being treated post their lives over the years.
  
• 
  M. Shaon

  One of the best reads of the year for me. The author objectively highlighted the experiences and perceptions of the people from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India on 1971. State narratives on war like 1971 has always been one sided, but the author explored all of the points of views without trying to find the "truth". Highly recommended!
• 
  Kevin McAvoy

  Listened to the audiobook from Audible.com
  Very good balanced account of the violent birth of Bangla Desh and the states role in creating their own historical narrative.
  As Zakaria writes "The truth IS contradictions.
  This book should be required reading in Bangla Desh high schools but it won't.
  I will definitely read more by Anam Zakaria.
  
  
• 
  megha

  this book was very informative in learning about the different first hand recollections and stories of the war in 1971. it’s a good intro to reading more about the history surrounding the conception of bangladesh and the violence that was involved
• 
  Sy Athar

  Reading this was a cathartic experience - highly recommended for anyone interested in the history of South Asia
• 
  Rahi

  Beautifully captures different perspectives to beat propaganda and bring an unbiased history infront of readers.
• 
  Shushrut Devadiga

  Though sometimes a bit repetitive, it is an important book to understand the different perspectives of not only the 1971 but how nationality affects perspectives and the fluidity of historical views.
• 
  Raza

  Very well researched, the interviews are especially interesting to read. This takes the nuances of 1971 to a whole different level.
• 
  saif

  3.75/5
  sheds light on a brutal war that was more nuanced than we were taught. sometimes repetitive.
• 
  Anish

  Good book and captures the stories from different sides of the border.
  
  It shows that history is not black and white, it is somewhere in between.
• 
  Anasuya

  Eye opening.
  
  We always know one side of the story - the side that we are fed. This book made me see that the narratives i thought were 100% correct are not always so. The author has, in a simple and candid manner, shown us the happenings of that fateful year through the tragic experiences.