8. 16 December is celebrated as Victory Day in Bangladesh to commemorate the triumph of the Allied Forces over the Pakistani forces in the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971.
9. ‘Amar bhaier rokte rangano ekushe February, ami ki bhulite pari’ is a song sung during International Mother Language Day celebrations on 21 February in Bangladesh—it roughly translates as ‘How can I forget 21 February, coloured by the blood of my brothers’.
10. Abul Barkat, Rafiq Uddin Ahmed and Abdus Salam were demonstrators who died during the Bengali Language Movement demonstrations in erstwhile East Bengal (now Bangladesh) in 1952. On 21 February 1952, students in Dhaka defied the Section 144 curfew and organized rallies demanding the induction of Bengali as the state language. The processions were joined by other members of the public besides students and the police fired on the gathered crowds, killing a number of protesters and wounding numerous others. They are considered martyrs in the history of modern Bangladesh.
11. Jatin Sarkar is a Bengali intellectual, researcher and biographer of Bangladesh, and a renowned Marxist intellectual who was awarded the prestigious Bangla Academy Award in 2008 for his ‘research and essays’.
12. Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra was the radio broadcasting centre of Bengali nationalist forces during the Bangladesh Liberation War. The station played a vital role in the war, later broadcasting the declaration of independence too. In 1971 radio was the only media reaching the farthest ends of Bangladesh and it ran a propaganda campaign throughout the duration of the war to boost morale.
13. ‘Shahid Noor Hossain Day Being Observed, Prothom Alo, 10 November 2017, http://en.prothom-alo.com/bangladesh/news/165951/Shaheed-Noor-Hossain-Day-being-observed and ‘What Does Democracy Mean to Bangladeshis?’, Daily Star, 6 December 2016, http://www.thedailystar.net/op-ed/what-does-democracy-mean-bangladeshis-1325527.
14. The Urdu word ‘dozakh’ is translated as hell.
15. The Urdu word ‘hawiya’ is translated as the deepest pit of hell.
16. ‘Shokal’ is the Bengali word for morning.
17. Gollachhut is a Bangladeshi variation of tag played between two teams comprising an equal number of players, with the ‘king’s team’ running to cross over to the other side of the playing field, without being tagged by the opponents trying to prevent them.
18. Baticharchari is a quintessential part of everyday Bengali cuisine, made of vegetables, or in some variants even fish and prawns, cooked in a little oil and minimal spices.
19. The Muslim League formed its government in East Bengal immediately after the partition. Problems in East Pakistan for the League began following the adoption of the constitution of Pakistan in 1956. Furthermore, the Bhasa Andolan (Language Movement) proved to be the last straw, causing the Muslim League to lose its mandate. It remained a minor party in East Pakistan but participated with full rigour during the general elections again in 1970.
20. The Razakar was an anti-Bangladesh paramilitary force organized by the Pakistani army in Bangladesh during the Bangladesh Liberation War. Since then it has become a pejorative term (implying traitor) in Bangladesh due to the numerous atrocities committed by the Razakars during the war. The Razakar force was composed of mostly anti-Bangladesh and pro-Pakistan Bengalis and Urdu-speaking migrants who lived in Bangladesh at the time.
21. The Shanti Committee was one of several committees formed in East Pakistan in 1971 by the Pakistani army to aid its efforts in crushing the rebellion for independence. Nurul Amin, as a leader of the Pakistan Democratic Party, led the formation of the Shanti Committee to thwart the Mukti Bahini, the force behind the Liberation War.
22. TSC, or the Teacher–Student Centre, University of Dhaka, was where many historically important political meetings and discussions were held during the Liberation War. Many academic and social events are still held here.
23. Purabi Basu is a Bangladeshi short story writer, pharmacologist and activist who won the Bangla Academy Literary Award in 2013.
24. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University is essentially an upgrade of the Institute of Postgraduate Medicine and Research (IPGMR), popularly referred to as PG.
25. Hazrat Maulana Hashmatullah Faridpuri, widely known as Atroshi Pir, started his spiritual career at a very early age. Founder of the Naqshbandya-Mujaddidia brotherhood, his hermitage at Atroshi in Faridpur was a large institution attracting numerous followers from all over the country. The growth of the Atroshi Pir’s stature is explained lucidly in Embodying Charisma: Modernity, Locality and the Performance of Emotion in Sufi Cults by Helene Basu and Pnina Werbner, eds (Kentucky: Routledge, 1998).
26. ‘Shahid Noor Hossain Day Being Observed’, Prothom Alo, 10 November 2017, http://en.prothom-alo.com/bangladesh/news/165951/Shaheed-Noor-Hossain-Day-being-observed and ‘Daughter’s Fight for a Hero’s Due’, Daily Star, 28 February 2017, http://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/daughters-fight-heros-due-1368457.
27. President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of Bangladesh was assassinated at his residence in Dhaka, along with his wife, three of his sons, two daughters-in-law and his brother, and twelve other people during a coup d’état led by Major Syed Faruque Rahman. The original six conspirators, all military officers, had met on 6 August and the decision was made to act before 1 September, when the nation’s district governors would be given control over the police and armed forces. Nearly thirty-five years later, on 28 January 2010, five of the coup leaders were hanged after their convictions in 1998, including Syed Faruque, and the man who actually shot President Mujib, Major Bazlul Huda.
28. The Buriganga (old Ganges) is a river that flows past the southwest outskirts of Dhaka.
29. The electoral symbol of the Awami League is a boat.
30. Naznin Tithi, ‘Gano Adalot’, Daily Star, 23 January 2016, http://www.thedailystar.net/in-focus/gano-adalot-205765.
31. Basanta Utsab is the Bengali cognate of Holi.
32. ‘Bangal’ refers to the people of erstwhile East Bengal, marked by the distinct accent of Dhaka and Barisal, who migrated to West Bengal during the partition. By contrast ‘ghoti’ was the term used to describe the Bengalis already living in West Bengal during and before that time. Primarily used now as social subgroups, the ghoti–bangal antagonism has been a defining feature of the Bengali socio-cultural milieu in West Bengal post independence.
33. Perhaps the most well-known and oft-sung song of the Basanta Utsab, the Rabindrasangeet is a call to the householders to throw open their gates and come out to play with colours during Holi in Santiniketan.
34. A tax on agricultural land and its produce according to Islamic law that was first levied on non-Muslims by their conquering Muslim rulers.
35. Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal or National Socialist Party, shortened to JSD or JASAD, is a left-wing political party in Bangladesh.
36. ‘Malaun’, translated as ‘accursed’ or ‘deprived of God’s mercy’, is an ethnic slur used against the Hindu minority in Bangladesh.
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ISBN: 978-0-670-09018-1
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