War is one of the oldest forms of conflict in mankind, which seriously affects humanity and civilization. Though the birth of a person makes death inevitable and makes everybody accept natural death, everybody laments a premature or unnatural death of their dearest ones. Those who live with physical or mental trauma caused by war bear inexpressible sufferings - both physical and psychological. People who lay down their lives in war become a martyr for once, but the survivors turn into martyrs every day until their end.
Imposed by the Pakistani occupied force, the liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971 resulted in the death of three million people and the rape of approximately five-hundred thousand women. Thousands of babies grew up in and outside of Bangladesh, who were identified as "war babies" - a derogatory term used to describe babies born after wartime. Many of them were adopted and emigrated in various countries of the world. Again, many stayed in Bangladesh, grew up with societal rejection and forced to live an identity-less life full of abuse and indignity, resulting a never-ending struggle.
On this issue, I was discussing with Barrister Dr, Tureen Afroz - a meritorious prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) of Bangladesh. She was sharing her experience in prosecuting the local war criminals, a very tough job. The elements that made her job tough are something worth to be described for a better understanding of the issue.
There was a very short time lapse in between other war crimes occurrence that has been brought to justice right after those were committed. Most of the war crimes have been prosecuted within comparatively shorter time than that of Bangladesh, where the judicial process started forty years later. Due to the timely trials, none of the other war crime courts saw witness of any so-called "war babies," which instead we should call "victory children," according to Tureen.
Prosecutor Tureen had a chance to collect the testimony of a victory child. Luckily, she was appointed as a prosecutor of a case relating infamous war criminal Syed Md. Kaiser at the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), Bangladesh. According to Tureen, two indictments of rape were brought against Mr. Kaiser out of fourteen charges. Among them, one war heroine, Mazeda was allegedly raped by Mr. Kaiser and later gave birth to a victory child named Shamsun Nahar - who gave testimony against Mr. Kaiser in that particular case. It took a year-long effort for Tureen to find this witness. Finally, Tureen managed to convince Shamsun Nahar to give testimony before the court and with that, for the first time, the world heard the voice of a victory child!
Tureen incidentally found Shamsun Nahar on her way searching for a victory child, who grew up in the post-war Bangladesh. To unearth the harsh experiences and to symbolically represent the voice of a victory child, Tureen faced serious social and procedural difficulties which helped to open the doors of her inner thoughts. And for the first time, a passively affected survivor of the war opened herself, demanding justice for the crimes committed to herself and her mother.
While Shamsun Nahar went before the court, she then became a 42-year-old woman. Pale, grimy and tired, this woman grew up in the society with all of its worst negligence, rejection and abandonment. Imparity from the society, family and the nearest ones killed her inner-self long ago and she stood as the symbolic progeny of an invisible fetter.
During the liberation war in 1971, women who were raped by the Pakistani army and their local Para-militia forces, gave birth to children who were labeled as "war babies," resulting them to be called with other dishonoring terms like "unexpected babies," "bastard babies," and "illegitimate babies" out of inferiority. As Prosecutor Tureen describes,
The determination of claiming justice that Shamsun Nahar had in her eyes during the trial, can only be seen in the eyes of a victory child. And later this observation was echoed in the verdict of the court also.
After birth, Shamsun Nahar's mother was forced to abandon her to maternal grandfather's home and went to her husband. Her mother couldn't contact her till she was five. After being an adult, Shamsun Nahar got married to a person who later left her, when he came to know her background. Since then, Shamsun Nahar lived alone. After her testimony against the aforementioned war criminal, she could not live in her own home because of death threat which forced her continued fleeing for life. Now, she doesn't possess a shelter or even a decent social identity.
While presenting her argument in that case, Prosecutor Tureen Afroz said, "Shamsun Nahar was born in 1972. But unlike the other babies, she was deprived of a normal social life, as we treated her as an unwanted part of the society. Even she constrained to celebrate the pride that her mother achieved through her valiant sacrifice for the independence of the country. Seems like her birth became her biggest sin."
Men and women became brothers-in-arms in the war of 1971. Not only to achieve their sovereignty, had they also fought for saving their lives. But while men fought only for the core cause, the women also had to pick up another fight in order to save their 'honor'. And sometimes the fight to protect ones honor is much intense than other duties of war like protecting life and property. Victory of war is based through the loss of life, property and sometimes dignity of women. But still the state failed to properly recognize those, who were born out of an inhuman practice during war, let alone giving them a dignified social identity. Moreover, the society inhumanly segregates them, because they are "war-babies". Even we hesitate to assimilate with these children in our societies, because they were born out of the barbarous vengeance of the enemy! Rather we didn't hesitate to ungratefully label them with more dishonoring terms. In exchange of their saddened birth, we got our own identity, but we failed to give them some in return.
It is time to question ourselves, if we are ready to re-evaluate the price that we paid to achieve our independence or not. Shouldn't we consider their birth as a sacrifice and struggle right beside three million martyrs and the honor of five-hundred thousand women? Shamsun Nahar is a victory-baby, whose birth also contributed towards our freedom, our right to breathe the free air that we take in our liberated land.
The satiety of our victory and independence can be achieved only if we can echo and establish what Prosecutor Tureen Afroz expressed that, "They are not War-babies; they are Victory-child".