2 projects on air at present are giving mind-blowing Netflix-level content – Jo Bichar Gaye and Khaab Toot Jaate Hain.
Join us as one writer contemplates History, 1971 and if nations should be built on the premise of Religion or Language.
Nations must learn from History, and living in Europe, I have seen that you don’t have to love your neighbors, but you can make peace with them, grow with them for the sake of humanity, economics, & civilization, and move ahead, taking them along. I wish my country and its neighbors could do the same.
For anyone interested in the 1971 narrative, both are equivalent to a riveting Netflix Watch!
However, … I find myself questioning the perspective.
We need apologies, not excuses. We need sympathy for both sides, we need to know why things came to a head.
Using former Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto as a scapegoat is only part of the story. We must recognize that although he was reluctant in handing over power, he was, subsequently (according to History records) surrendered to the idea of power sharing.
2 Prime Ministers – one for East Pakistan & one for West, was an option, as suggested through bilateral talks between ZAB and Sheikh Mujeebur Rehman. President ZAB and Prime Minister Mujeebur Rehman was also a possibility, especially since Awami League did not win a single seat in West Pakistan.
But who didn’t let that happen? What conspiracies were afoot in West Pakistan?
Incomplete narrative yet standout performances from Talha Chahour, Wahaj Ali, Maya Ali, Ehteshamuddin, Kulsoom Aftab, Nadia Jameel (a breath of fresh air), Adnan Jaffer, Rana Majid, the entire cast in fact, &the people at the helm of affairs, Haissam Hussain, Ali Moeen, Mehreen Alam, Bilal Ashraf and Amjad Islam Amjad – the entire team from both projects!
The projects are supported by Behive Transmedia and Geo and HUM TVs. Both dramas gave us phenomenally heart touching OSTS from Sami Khan and Sibte Hassan.
They deliver a spellbinding watch & make me go back and read what the narratives will not, or cannot say!
Well done Team Jo Bichar Gaye, & Khaab Toot Jaate Hain despite my reservations, you have given us 2 masterpieces and endeavored to retell an event buried in History! There is much to learn from the mistakes of the past.
One must comprehend a possible future when reading about the past
Contemplate this: If East Pakistan would have formed a government, perhaps there would have been a constant power struggle as the East and West wings of Pakistan struggled to commit to one leadership. East Pakistan had won minimal if any support in the West, and vice versa. There were of course, many solutions to that, including the 6 point plan forwarded by Mujib and the move to a more autonomous East and West Political and Economic structure.
But perhaps the most heartwarming silver lining was that we learnt that not all Bengalis wanted to break up Pakistan and not all West Pakistanis supported the disregard for East Pakistan’s rightful place in power corridors (after winning an outright majority in the elections) and … not all in the Pakistan Army supported Army action in East Pakistan. These are the fine details we can recall as saving grace that humanity was not lost upon us, even in times when we were in dire need of it. There will always be those who will fight for peace and reconciliation in times of war, as did VC Syed Sajjad Hussain – tragically, they served as collateral damage for a war that was not theirs to begin with. And there will also always be those who support a militant wing in our country, (so beware – we must pull together as a nation in order to cancel their agenda).
In 1971, we failed.
Should We Own Up To Our History?
Should we have shown events leading up to 1971? In order to throw light on the tensions that built up to lead to the bloodshed & revolt of the times, the how and the why? But that means opening our hearts to admitting where we might have gone wrong. From disregarding a people’s language, literature, Art & identity to how our constitution needed to support 2 independent governments, to prejudiced economic policies … can we, will we be able to do that?
A question raised by the VC of Dhaka University at the time – Professor Dr. Syed Sajjad Hussain (a learned man, whose writings mark the narrative of Khaab Toot Jaate Hain), he pondered if nations should be built on the basis of religion or language? He gravitated towards religion being a reason to create a separate homeland (India, Pakistan) and not language (Bangladesh, Pakistan).
The truth is, religion has always been exploited in History. From the moment Machiavelli’s The Prince made headlines in the power corridors of Monarchs, the people were exploited, and nations fed extremist notions of achieving redemption through unwavering commitment to a politics of religion – hence leading to bloodshed & wars.
But that was then. this is now. Leaders can employ Language in the same way. It can be color, race, or ethnicity too. In East Pakistan, it was a disregard and denial of the cultural ethos, Arts and language defining a people’s identity that played havoc with the future of Pakistan. You cannot hold down an entire nation forever, be it on the color of their skin, their language, culture or any other distinctive identity that should be celebrated, and not dismissed as less superior.
Eventually, they will rise. and rise in rebellion they did.
The point of the matter is, discrimination can happen across any form of diversity, we must, instead, learn to live together and make our country’s laws so fool proof that no people are persecuted or discriminated against. The term marginalized communities should be erased from our dictionary – because, no one should be marginalized. Every one should have access to their basic rights and everyone should be equal – Only a robust legislative and executive will help support this near ideal world. Full stop.
That is what developed nations have transitioned into. That is why we see more personal liberties, the ability to practice your Faith, speak your language, be represented in decision making government roles and honor your heroes without feeling persecuted as a civil right of every individual. Where this fabric breaks down, we will witness revolt.
Unfortunately, both projects based on 1971 might have been hindered in terms of what they could, or could not reveal. But that in itself, is reason enough to read up on what remains unsaid in both narratives – and perhaps that is where they have won!
Jo Bichar Gaye and Khaab Toot Jaate Hain have done their job. They have created a hunger for knowledge, a curiosity to know what REALLY happened, but not from the perspectives of Pakistan or Bangladesh, or even India.
There is a poignant moment when Sajjad Hussain’s daughter asks her mother, “Mama sach kya hai” (What is the truth). This is when her father was tortured & subsequently imprisoned for allowing Army action in the University.
Her answer, in saying nothing, said everything.
“Hum jis zamaane mein reh raha hai, kal us par buhat likha jayega,
Jab tum bara hoga, khud parh lena”
VC Dhaka University’s wife’s reply to her daughter in 1971.
Ironically, the VC Syed Sajjad Hussain (her father) went on to write a book in prison – his personal narration on the times in 1971 –The Wastes Of Times: Reflections On The Decline & Fall Of East Pakistan
Get to know your History, lest you repeat it. The consequences can be fatal.
Resources Used: Remembering The War of 1971, Britannica
