Published in bdnews24.com, September 2013.

 

The existence of thousands of women raped during the war was common knowledge as was the shameful contumely and neglect heaped upon them in our liberated nation. As a teenager, and later, the more I had read, the angrier I had grown. But that anger also contained shame — what could be done about them? What could I, or anyone, do?

 

Further relevant links:

• Rising from the Ashes: Women’s Narratives of 1971 (Editors: Shaheen Akther, Suraiya Begum, Meghna Guhathakurta, Hameeda Hossain, Sultana Kamal; Translator: Niaz Zaman. Publisher: The University Press Limited (UPL))
• Trailer: The Hidden History of the Birangona Women
• Komola Collective’s Project: Birangona: Brave Women