Re: 1971 Rapes: Bangladesh Cannot Hide History
Interesting fact: In 1971, while Pakistan was busy oppressing, raping, and killing Bengalis/Bangladeshis during the Bangladeshi Liberation war, Canada gave asylum to thousands of persecuted Bengalis. No doubt a commendable gesture of generosity on the part of the Canadian government and people.
Yeah, that could’ve happened as well.
I think those non-Bengalis were ultimately better off in Bangladesh than they would’ve been in Pakistan. How much worse can a refugee camp in BD be than an impoverished village in Sindh (or Balochistan) or the many slums that dot Karachi, which might have become the abode of those people? Initially the refugee camps in Bangladesh were managed by the Red Cross, supported by Western countries, so those camps perhaps weren’t all that bad after all. And those people went on to have kids so even if they were poor and stateless and confined to designated places, it was not like they were living in and enduring the brutalities of some concentration camp.
Besides, the Supreme Court of BD has ruled that those born after 1971 are eligible for voting rights and Bangladeshi citizenship, so I’m sure those people and their subsequent generations will have better life opportunities in BD than they would’ve in Pak. Bangladesh already beats Pakistan on most socio-economic indicators. Its economy has been growing at an average rate of 5-6% for the last two decades. Unlike Pak, BD doesn’t cultivate “strategic assets” or punch above its weight so it faces no risk of becoming a global pariah. And although, in a somewhat worrying development, of late obstructionists there too are paralyzing parts of the country with strikes and “protests” with increasing frequency, Bangladesh remains a vibrant country where female leaders still head the two major parties, alternatively becoming Prime Minsters, and where girls in all parts of the country go to schools without facing threats or harassment or worse.
Of course, as is usually the case with developing countries, there’s still a lot of poverty in Bangladesh but it has come a long way since its independence and it faces a much better future outlook than Pak. And as it continues to grow economically and develop, the lives of all of its people will improve.