Grameenphone to create videos of Liberation War stories

The aim of the initiative is to capture and spread stories of the Liberation War in the voices of freedom fighters themselves. Grameenphone, with assistance from Ministry of Liberation War Affairs, has taken upon the task in order to keep the inspiring tales of 1971 alive among generations that are to come. The initiative was announced on Tuesday at a programme, held at The Westin Hotel in Dhaka's Gulshan 2. Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Huq was present as the chief guest at the event. Liberation War Affairs Secretary MA Hannan, Grameenphone CEO Petter B Furberg and CMO Yasir Azman were also present at the programme among other officials of the mobile network operator and the government. Speaking at the programme, AKM Mozammel Huq said: “We received shelter, arms and training from India but the ones who remained in the country were most vulnerable as they faced the military attack.” He said the verification of freedom fighters will begin on January 7 throughout the country and after its completion it would be posted in the ministry's website. He also said historical places related with the Liberation War would be preserved keeping the original architecture. “We were also planning to initiate such a project but many thanks to Grameenphone for taking the initiative to create this video library. I hope others will also come forward like Grameenphone to uphold the spirit of Liberation War,” Mozammel Huq added. Through this initiative freedom fighters will be located nationwide with the help of the ministry and a youth community deployed to capture the stories. The intent is to create a visual documentary of each freedom fighter’s story on their participation in the Liberation War. Grameenphone will compile the collected stories from the battlegrounds and the freedom fighters’ dreams of an independent nation to create an online video repository. Twenty teams will travel across 64 districts across the country to collect stories directly from the freedom fighters and interview them through preselected questions. People will also be able to post information about a freedom fighter they know on the website (www.ekattorerkotha.com) which has been launched in this regard. The initiative titled “Ekattorer Kotha” has started nationwide from yesterday and will continue for three months. On March 26, Independence Day, Grameenphone will hand over the video repository with thousands of interviews to the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs. The repository will be available online and accessible to everyone. Freedom fighter Lt Col (retd) Quazi Sajjad Ali Zahir Bir Protik said: “We were victorious but could not write it properly. Repressed people of the country are the real hero of our country.” The organisers noted that in the 45 years since Bangladesh became an independent nation, the country has lost many brave souls who fought valiantly to free the country. “As the number of the freedom fighters decline with each passing day, it is high time for us to record their stories for the up and coming generations. The initiative will keep the stories alive, and instil the spirit of the Liberation War in the hearts of the future nation builders. As a nation we are grateful to the founding fathers of Bangladesh, and if their stories go untold it will be an immense loss for our future generations as well as today’s youngsters,” said Petter B Furberg.