The government yesterday revealed a list of 41 war heroines, better known as Birangonas, who from now on will be living with the status of Freedom Fighters and be entitled to all the associated facilities and benefits.
These women, all of whom were raped during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971 either by Pakistani soldiers or their local collaborators, have been demanding this state recognition for decades.
A gazette notification was issued regarding the publication of the list on September 16, the Liberation War Affairs Ministry made the list public yesterday.
This list, however, will remain separate and will not be merged with the existing list of Freedom Fighters.
According to the ministry, around 200,000 women and girls were abused during the Liberation War, but independent sources put the number at 400,000. Estimates of the War Crimes Fact Finding Committee shows that around 468,000 women and girls were abused in 1971.
On January 29, the Jatiya Sangshad accepted a proposal through voice vote for giving the status to the Birangonas.
It follows a January 27, 2014 High Court ruling that asked the government to explain why the female victims of torture and abuse during the Liberation War of 1971 should not be recognised by the state.
Among the 41, the highest 13 are from Sirajganj district; 11 from Chapainawabganj, six from Thakurgaon, four each from Kushtia and Mymensingh, and one each from Rangpur, Sylhet and Habiganj districts.
“There is no one to look after my poverty-stricken family. I have fought for the nation, but have remained deprived of recognition. I do not know why [that has happened]. Maybe it is my bad luck,” said Rahela Khatun, now a gazetted Birangona from Sirajganj.
There are a total of 22 locally recognised Birangonas in Sirajganj district. Among them, four have died, 13 have got recognition and five are waiting for their turn.
“I have been knocking at the doors of government offices seeking recognition, but have always been rejected. But now I am happy that the government has finally given us recognition, although it took 44 years,” said Surjo Begum, another gazetted Birangona from Sirajganj.
“The gazetted Birangonas will enjoy all government benefits that regular Freedom Fighters do with effect from July this year,” Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
A Freedom Fighter gets honorarium, ration and medical services. They, their children and grandchildren enjoy reserved quotas in public recruitment and enrollment in educational institutions.
The monthly allowances for a freedom fighter aged over 65 is Tk10,000. The war-wounded gazetted freedom fighters also gets tax exemption for annual income of up to Tk4.25 lakh.
The minister also said that the list will be updated gradually in future; around 500 applications are currently going through the inquiry and scrutiny stages.
This list has been prepared on the basis of names and information collected by the upazila executive officers and approved and verified by the national freedom fighters’ council (Jatio Muktijuddha Council).
Generally, an upazila executive officer leads the data collection – if she is a female person – in association with three other female officials from upazila administration. In upazilas where the executive officer is not a female person, the woman who holds the highest post in that area’s administration leads the effort.
They do a primary scrutiny of the applications filed by the Birangonas, but the final verification is done by the freedom fighters’ council who use its local commands to collect more information on the applicants.
“All the Birangonas will be recognised in due course of time. We have received a total of 124 applications, among which, 80 were recommended to the ministry for providing with freedom fighter status,” Jatio Muktijuddha Council Director General Mahfuzar Rahman Sarker told the Dhaka Tribune.
MA Hasan, convener of the War Crimes Fact Finding Committee, hailed the initiative, but said it should not be limited to giving them recognition only as trauma, councelling, and rehabilitation are also equally important.
“The process is very complex as a large number of war heroines were raped and killed during the Liberation War.
“In addition, many Hindu victims went to India during the war and have never come back. Moreover, many victims from upper, middle and lower class families do not want to disclose their identities because of social taboo,” he said.
Minister Mozammel Haque said: “We are in a discomfort as many of them do not want to publish their names due to social reasons.
“However, the list will be updated regularly and their names will be published 30 years later so that they do not have to deal with social taboo,” the minister said.
