Stand with Sovereignty: Exposing the Lies That Threaten Bangladesh's Independence

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Our Independence Is Not Up For Negotiation

A Social Media Campaign to Defend 1971 and Bangabandhu from Deliberate Lies

There is a dangerous project underway:

to erase Bangladesh’s people’s war and replace it with a cheap story of “India’s war”,

to smear Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as a “traitor” instead of the elected voice of the Bengali majority.

These are not harmless opinions. They are attacks on Bangladesh’s sovereignty itself.

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1. What the Liars Are Saying – and Why It Matters

Two core falsehoods keep repeating:

1. “Bangabandhu was a traitor.”

2. “1971 was only India vs Pakistan – not our war.”

If those two lies are accepted, then:

• Our elected mandate in 1970 disappeared.

• The genocide of 1971 becomes “just another Indo-Pak war”.

• Pakistan’s refusal to apologise looks “reasonable”.

• Local collaborators and war criminals suddenly look like “victims of history”.

In other words: accepting these lies means accepting that Bangladesh has no independent moral right to exist.

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2. The Mandate: Mujib Was the People’s Choice, Not India’s Agent

Fact: In Pakistan’s first general election in 1970, the Awami League under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman won a clear and overwhelming majority:

• Awami League won 167 out of 169 East Pakistan seats in the National Assembly.

• In East Pakistan, the Awami League received about 75% of the popular vote, and it held the largest bloc of seats in all of Pakistan – more than any West Pakistani party. (Wikipedia)

This means:

When Mujib spoke, he spoke with the democratic mandate of the entire Bengali nation – not as an “Indian puppet”.

The military regime in West Pakistan refused to hand over power to the elected majority and instead prepared for a military crackdown.(Liberation War Museum)

Calling Mujib a “traitor” today is simply recycling the same language used by the unelected military junta that cancelled an election result, launched a genocide, and tried to crush the majority by force.(Banglapedia)

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3. The War: A People’s Liberation Struggle, With Indian Support – Not Ownership

3.1 The Genocide That Forced Independence

On the night of 25 March 1971, the Pakistan Army launched Operation Searchlight in Dhaka – a coordinated attack on university halls, police lines, paramilitary forces, and civilian areas – to “teach Bengalis a lesson” and crush the autonomy movement.(Wikipedia)

Over the next nine months:

• An estimated 3 million Bengalis were killed, according to Bangladesh government and multiple historical accounts.(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

• Between 200,000 and 400,000 women and girls were raped in a systematic campaign of genocidal sexual violence.(Wikipedia)

• Around 10 million refugees fled to India.(Wikipedia)

This was not a “border skirmish” between two states. It was a genocide and a people’s uprising.

Throughout 1971, Mukti Bahini – formed from defected soldiers, paramilitary forces, students, farmers, and ordinary citizens – fought, organised, and resisted inside occupied Bangladesh.(Encyclopedia Britannica)

3.2 India’s Role: Critical Ally, Not Owner of Our War

India did three crucial things:

1. Sheltered millions of refugees.

2. Trained and armed Mukti Bahini.

3. Entered the war militarily in December 1971 after Pakistan attacked Indian air bases, creating an allied command that, together with Mukti Bahini, defeated Pakistan’s army and forced their surrender.(ddnews.gov.in)

Even India’s own official and media narratives acknowledge that Mukti Bahini were the real anchors of the liberation struggle, with India playing a decisive supporting role in the final phase.(irpj.euclid.int)

So the truth is simple:

It was Bangladesh’s people’s war, with Indian support – not India’s private war with Pakistan.

When some politicians or media in India casually describe 1971 only as an “India–Pakistan war”, erasing the Bengali people’s role, Bangladeshis have rightly pushed back and demanded correction.(Dhaka Tribune)

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4. Today’s Attacks on 1971: From Ordinances to Bulldozers

These debates are not academic. In 2024–25, we are seeing active efforts to distort or erase the Liberation War’s legacy.

4.1 Official Confusion and Downgrading

• A 2025 ordinance amending the National Freedom Fighters’ Council Act created new “associate” categories and removed the title “Father of the Nation” from the preamble, prompting outrage from veterans and raising questions about Bangabandhu’s formal status in the law.(The Times of India)

• Government advisers later had to clarify that Bangabandhu’s recognition as a freedom fighter remains, but the confusion itself has fuelled social-media claims that his credentials are being quietly downgraded.

At the same time, Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has had to issue a public statement titled “Facts in History”, explicitly rejecting attempts to portray the victory of 1971 as anything other than a prolonged popular struggle and a nine-month brutal war that created a sovereign Bangladesh.(The Business Standard)

4.2 Demolition of Memory: Dhanmondi 32

On 5 February 2025, protesters occupied and demolished the historic Dhanmondi 32 residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Dhaka – a site converted to the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum in the 1990s.(Wikipedia)

• The building was looted and torn down using heavy machinery after online calls to destroy the “shrine of fascism”.

• Two people were assaulted near the site for chanting “Joy Bangla” or expressing sympathy for the family.(Wikipedia)

You can oppose any government, any party, any leader – that is politics.

But attacking museums, memorials, and homes linked to the Liberation War is an attack on the history of independence itself.

4.3 International Denial: Pakistan Says the Genocide Issue Is “Settled”

As recently as 2025, Pakistani officials have claimed that the issue of the 1971 genocide is “settled”, arguing there is no need for any official apology—despite Bangladesh’s repeated calls for recognition of the atrocities committed by the Pakistan army.(The Times of India)

Every time we accept the narrative that 1971 was just “India vs Pakistan,” we help arguments like this. If there was no genocide, no people’s war, no mandate – then what exactly is Pakistan supposed to apologise for?

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5. Why These Lies Are a Direct Threat to Our Sovereignty

1. They erase our democratic mandate.
   If Mujib was a traitor, then the 1970 election – the only nationwide democratic mandate in united Pakistan – becomes meaningless. Our independence becomes a foreign project, not a people’s decision.(Wikipedia)

2. They downgrade genocide into a “regional conflict.”
   If 1971 is framed only as an Indo-Pak war, the mass killings, rapes, and refugee flows are reduced to “collateral damage” between two armies – not crimes against humanity. This makes it easier for perpetrators to avoid accountability.(Wikipedia)

3. They reopen the door for collaborators and extremist narratives.
   Once you say “it was India’s war,” it becomes simple to portray Razakars and other collaborators as “patriots who opposed Indian invasion” rather than local agents of a genocidal regime.

4. They weaken the shield of ‘Never Again’.
   A nation that forgets how state violence and hate propaganda looked in 1971 becomes more vulnerable to similar repression and hate campaigns in the present and future.

In short:

If we lose the truth about 1971, we weaken the very reason Bangladesh exists as an independent, sovereign state.

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6. Ready-to-Use Talking Points & Slogans for Social Media

You can lift these lines directly into your posts, threads, posters, and reels.

6.1 Short, Punchy Lines

• “Our war, our blood, our Bangladesh – not anyone else’s project.”

• “Mujib was elected by the majority; the junta called him a traitor. Whose side are you on?”

• “Debate today’s politics, but don’t deny yesterday’s genocide.”

• “Question governments, never question 1971.”

• “Bangladesh did not fall from the sky – it rose from a people’s war against genocide.”

6.2 Myth vs Fact: Social Post Templates

Myth 1: “Mujib broke Pakistan on India’s orders.”

Fact: Mujib’s Awami League won 167 of 169 East Pakistan seats and held a majority in Pakistan’s National Assembly. When the military refused to hand over power and launched a crackdown, independence became the only path left.(Wikipedia)

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Myth 2: “1971 was just an India–Pakistan war.”

Fact: Long before Indian troops crossed the border, Mukti Bahini and ordinary Bengalis were resisting a genocidal army, while millions fled as refugees. India’s intervention in December 1971 helped end a war that Pakistan had already unleashed on its own majority province.(Encyclopedia Britannica)

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Myth 3: “Destroying Dhanmondi 32 is just ‘anti-Awami politics’.”

Fact: The house was a national memorial, home of the founding leader and a museum of the Liberation War years. Its demolition is an attempt to erase physical memory of 1971, not just a protest against one political family.(Wikipedia)

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7. How to Turn This into a Live Campaign

Here are practical ways to use this narrative across platforms:

1. Carousel Posts / Threads

   • Slide 1: Big hook – “Who really owns 1971?”

   • Slide 2–3: 1970 election mandate.

   • Slide 4–5: Genocide facts & Mukti Bahini.

   • Slide 6: India’s role as ally, not owner.

   • Slide 7: Dhanmondi 32 demolition as symbol of memory under attack.

   • Slide 8: Call to action – “Share this if you refuse to let 1971 be rewritten.”

2. Short Reels / TikTok / YouTube Shorts (30–60 seconds)

   • Open with footage/photos of Mukti Bahini and refugees.

   • One clear line: “They say 1971 was India’s war. Show them the faces of those who died here.”

   • End with a slogan: “Our Independence Is Not For Sale.”

3. Hashtags (mix and rotate):

   • #Our1971 #OurWarOurBangladesh #DefendMujib

   • #FactsNotPropaganda #BangladeshGenocide1971

4. Offline to Online

   • Organise small youth circles or campus discussions. Take 1–2 quotes or facts from each session and post them as “Voices from 1971 Dialogues”.

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8. Final Message

Bangladesh is not a charity gift from any foreign power.

It is the outcome of a democratic mandate, a genocide, and a people’s armed struggle.

Those who brand Bangabandhu a traitor and call 1971 an “Indian war” are not just insulting one leader or one ally – they are attacking the very certificate of our independence.

Presented by:

Minhaz Samad Chowdhury
Independent Human Rights Defender – 🌐 www,hr-defender.blogspot.com
Focus: State Violence and Religious Minority Rights in Bangladesh