To preserve and showcase all the documents of the country’s Liberation War electronically, a web archive titled “Ekattor Bangladesh” [www.71bangladesh.com] was launched at the Bangladesh Liberation War Museum yesterday.
Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman inaugurated the web archive at a programme in the capital.
Information and documents on the war will be available in 12 main categories and 70 sub categories in the archive.
The titles of the main sections are Father of the Nation Bangabandhu, Preparation Period of the Liberation War, Liberation War, Freedom Fighters, Genocide, Martyred Freedom Fighters, Killers of 71, Liberation War in the Media, Letters and Pictures of the Liberation War, Publications on the Liberation War, After Liberation War Period, and the New Generation and Liberation.
With the help of some young people, Dr Anwar Hossain, former vice-chancellor of Jahangirnagar University, created the archive.
Addressing the launching ceremony, the archive’s authorities said the ethos of democracy, nationalism, secularism and socialism will be the inspiration of the initiative.
The archive will be a bridge among the generation of the Liberation War and the post-Liberation War generations, they said. All the information and documents will be objective, authentic and interview-based. Anyone can avail the information and documents free of cost, they said.
Dr Anwar said many people and organisations are conducting researches on the country’s Liberation War in keeping with their individual capacities.
“But, we want to make a bridge so that all the documents on the Liberation War could be upheld,” he said.
“We want to publish the contributions of women, general public, labourers and others to the Liberation War. Many of them are still unknown to us,” he added.
Mofidul Haque, trustee of the Liberation War Museum, said it is an important initiative to keep the present generation informed about the war of liberation.
Atiur Rahman, governor of Bangladesh Bank, said that innumerable people had extended their support to the freedom fighters. The contribution of the people and freedom fighters should be upheld before the country’s young generation.
Dr MA Hasan, a researcher on the Liberation War, he said all the data, information and artifacts of Liberation War would be presented at the archive through a rigorous verification process by a special committee.
The archive’s General Secretary Dr Ashfaq Hussain, Retired Major Ziauddin Ahmed were also present on the occasion.