Local resident Viktoria Makarova participates in a class at a self-defence course for civilians in Kharkiv, Ukraine on February 6, 2022. — Reuters
RUSSIAN troops have advanced into Ukraine. Their assault is on. Vladimir Putin’s forces are marching towards the Ukraine’s capital. The fall of Kiev seems to be just a matter of time. Ukraine has been left alone. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has been made into a scapegoat by his western allies. Both the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and the United States, Ukraine’s so-called friends, are yet again all thunders and no rain. Their responses to Russia’s invasion consist of nothing more than hollow words, fake promises and a plethora of economic sanctions. The United Nations also seems to be as ineffective as it is in the Rohingya crisis or the Palestine issue.
The strength of Ukrainian armed forces is nowhere close to the might of Russians. Putin’s forces are better equipped with training, ammunition, missiles and an arsenal full of nuclear weapons. Zelensky made phone calls to European leaders, asked the Indian prime minister Narendra Modi for help through Twitter and what not, but nothing worked out as in every instance all he received was rejection and lip service. China and India are busy protecting their own interests. The rest of the world, being torn between the US-Russia rivalry, has shifted to a so-called neutral ‘neither Russia nor Ukraine’ approach. However, president Zelensky is reluctant to give up. He rejected US president Joe Biden’s offer of evacuation by saying that he needs ammunition, ‘not a ride’. He is counting on the courage of his country’s citizens. He has requested civilians to take up arms and fortify the defence against Putin’s assault troops. Almost 18,000 Ukrainians have already taken up arms, with more and more volunteers waiting in long queues to collect rifles and ammunition.
Many Ukrainian women have also picked up arms in the face of the Russian invasion to protect their country and people, receiving massive appreciation on social media. Women irrespective of their economic class, social status, profession and family backgrounds are joining in the defence. Ukrainian mothers are ready to do anything to protect their children from Russian invaders. A video of the Ukrainian member of parliament Kira Rudik holding a Kalashnikov, an automatic rifle, has gone viral. Last month, when Russia-Ukraine tensions were coming to a head with Russian troops amassing at Ukrainian borders, international media hailed the efforts of Ukrainian women taking self-defence courses that offered them lessons on how to assemble and dissemble a gun, load ammunition and aim at a target.
Women taking up arms during wars or invasions is, however, nothing new in human history. The world witnessed the efforts of Russian women during World War II. They not only participated in auxiliary forces but were also involved at the fronts in various capacities including snipers, infantries, anti-aircraft gunners, machine gunners, tankers, engineers, etc. Women also actively participated in World War I, the Spanish Civil War and so on. The women of Bangladesh also took up arms during the liberation war of Bangladesh in1971.
Women’s war-time roles and contributions both in armed and auxiliary forces, however, remain less recognised. We rarely see the heroic presence of women in the pages of history. While the androcentric nature of history celebrates men as fighters, soldiers, liberators and commanders, it presents an essentialised representation of women predominantly as victims, sufferers and helpless mothers or wives who did nothing more than to wait for the return of a beloved son or husband. The truth, in reality, is that women do fight and contribute in wars in many different ways.
History is mostly a domain of men, where war is generally studied from a perspective that reflects overt male chauvinism and ego-centrism. One of the greatest shortcomings of the general perception of our independence struggle is the consistent failure to recognise the role of women in our liberation war. In fact, the role of women is largely ignored, denied and misconstrued in mainstream history. During the 1971 war, women willingly and actively participated in the fight for Bangladesh’s independence. Women of different religious, social and cultural backgrounds participated in the liberation war as well as both Bengali women and women from ethnic minorities.
Bangladeshi women took part in the activities of the Mujibnagar government in exile which had its headquarter in Kolkata, formerly Calcutta. Others hid weapons in the wells of their home and delivered weapons to nearby freedom fighters by boat during the night. Bangladeshi women were guerrilla fighters, nurses, informants, spies and so much more. They fought, spied, smuggled weapons, trained and also assaulted the enemies on occasions — acts that are traditionally attributed to men. The sufferings of Bangladeshi women during the war in 1971 were manifold, and so were their achievements and contributions.
During the 1971 war, a training camp named Gobra Camp was established in Calcutta where about 400 freedom fighters participated in training, including a number of women who went from different districts of Bangladesh. Three more camps were set up in Assam, Tripura and Meghalaya for women fighters. Kakon Bibi, Shirin Banu Mitil, Ashalata, Rawshan Ara, Bithika Bishwas, Meherunnesa and many other women fought at the fronts for the country. Karuna Begum from Barishal commanded a group of five women and 10 men who attacked the Pakistan army’s camp.
Forkan Begum also led a group of freedom fighters including eight women. Begum Jahanara from Barishal served as the president and political commissioner of front area one. She motivated women fighters to join the front lines. At the beginning of the war, a number of women students of Dhaka University took part in the preparations. Roshnara Begum, a student of the history department, was one of the brave souls who tied a mine to her body to kill a platoon of the Pakistan army on the night of Operation Search Light, but she was never recognised as a martyr. While over one million women directly or indirectly participated in the war, only 273 women had been acknowledged as freedom fighters. Out of the total 676 gallantry awards, only two women were awarded the title of ‘Bir Protik’ — Taramon Bibi and Dr Sitara Begum Rahman.
Taramon Bibi fought against the Pakistanis in sector 11. She directly encountered the enemies on many occasions. For her courageous role in resisting the Pakistani occupation forces with weapons, she was honoured with the ‘Bir Protik’ title in 1973. However, there was no trace of her whereabouts after independence. In 1995, a researcher found her and she was brought to Dhaka. Her story of bravery was soon published. Taramon Bibi, however, complained that she never received any kind of financial aid from any government. She felt that she was ignored because she was a woman and thought that people did not take women freedom fighters seriously.
Most of the women who participated in the liberation war were from the lower class; many of them were poor and/or illiterate. In many cases, the heroic deeds of such women did not receive as much recognition and attention they deserved after the war. How many names of such women do we know? How many of their stories do we ever hear? Most importantly, do we even try to know their names? Do we really try to hear their stories, their voices and their narratives? No, we do not. Our patriarchal society is still disinclined towards recognising the bravery and sacrifices of women during the liberation war. The scholars and researchers who have written articles and books on the liberation war till now are mostly men. They only magnified the glory of male freedom fighters in their writings.
Also, because the role of women often remains under- or misrepresented in war dramas and films, a perception has been constructed in our minds, especially with regard to the young generations, that only men fought for the country during the struggle for independence. Besides, the textbooks published by the National Curriculum and Textbook Board predominantly represent only men as freedom fighters, which could lead future generations to internalise the limited or non-participation of women in the liberation war.
One thing is clear: no war can be fought without the active participation and contribution of women in combat forces as women constitute half of the total population of the world. The history of any war, therefore, remains incomplete without the recognition of the active role of women in it. The time has now come to rewrite history and acknowledge the contributions, bravery and glory of women.
Tasnim Nowshin Fariha studies women and gender studies at the University of Dhaka.
(Note: This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed. PriyaSaha.Com Staff may not have modified or edited the content body. Please visit the Source Website that deserves the credit and responsibility for creating this content.)
