FACTS AND FACTORS: Full facts of Bangladesh genocide has not come out even after about thirty years. We only have partial view of what had happened. We must find out full facts about who did what, when and how. However, I am mindful of the fact that all facts, in its minute details, will never be known. But then again, there are others, which we ought to have known but do not.
The government has caused volumes of documents on liberation to be published, a worthwhile project indeed. But these volumes raise more questions than those answer.
The government should disclose all documents it had, relating to planning and execution of the genocidal plans after the Pakistani army surrendered. In a number of articles, It should also release dossiers about the war criminals.
From international archives, informations are leaking out. One such notable contribution has been the research work carried out by Professor Rahim at Nixon Library, where he discovered new documents including other documents revealing extent of US knowledge, and roles of some leaders like Mushtaque Ahmed. His findings were serialised by the Daily Independent.
Victim's stories, on the other hand, have not come out in numbers and in ways to make a difference. Many have not concentrated on factual bits, necessary for building the blocks of history. Others are in a nature, not greatly helpful for any prosecution, where standards of evidences are rather high.
The first regret we have, is the fact, that the new government of Bangladesh did not seriously form any committee to investigate facts relating to genocide. On the other hand, in Pakistan, though a committee was set-up under Hamoodur Rahman, yet the report was not made public. From General Niazi's book, we guess, the Committee had limited reference, and thus he was blamed.
In an ironical way, Niazi has called for setting up of a new investigation commission to determine real reasons of fall of Dhaka. He said, "History has been deliberately distorted and needs to be corrected, and people should be informed about historical truth". He challenged that he was ready to face a tribunal and speak the truth.
If the whole facts are not known, or at least as much facts as possible are available, then it would never be possible to decide how best to approach the genocide and trial issue.
COLLECTION AND PRESERVATION: What almost unavailable, are the documents on genocide, and successive governments have also failed to establish a national archive on genocide. The Liberation War Museum has tried to do the job. Whereas, a mere visit to National Museum in Dhaka exposes how inadequate the collections are.
In absence of a national archive, the government also did not even encourage universities and other institutions to preserve the records.
When the National People's Enquiry Commission conducted investigation against the named war criminals, "it discovered a great deal of document dating to the genocide period had been destroyed". Although the Enquiry Commission failed to mention the nature or kinds of documents so destroyed, but those papers in government offices are believed to have been destroyed either deliberately or negligently.
Moreover, local history and documents should be preserved locally, and a central mechanism should be devised at National level to preserve evidences of genocide in totality.
DOCUMENTATION AND ACCESSIBILITY: A number of organisations have been working on oral history of 1971 genocidal period. They are documenting the history and the evidences. Even the National People's Enquiry Commission relied heavily on "the information gathered from documents of war period, authoritative books written on the war and genocide, newspaper reports of the period, and written statements sent by witnesses".
Bangladesh genocide can be called as one of the most undocumented genocide of this century,and that has given rise to concoction and denial. For example, only major documentation is the one that published in 1988 on whereabouts of killers and collaborators.
Thus, the need of the hour is a massive effort to document Bangladesh genocide and to preserve those for the generation to come. Documents should also be made accessible to generalpublic. In this matter, information technology, if used,it is hoped, will greatly help to document history of Bangladesh genocide. American archives are gradually opening up, and the two other most important sources are yet to open; archives of India and Pakistan. India has no reason not to open up its archive, and in case of Pakistan, the pressure has to come from within.
EDUCATING AND ENLIGHTENING: One of the major contradictions we find is absence of genocide studies in Bangladesh educational curriculum. After so many years of the genocide, neither the government nor the universities have even attempted to study Bangladesh genocide systematically and scientifically. The universities are yet to be on board in the study of Bangladesh genocide. Dhaka University, only recently, announced to open a new discipline,- Liberation War Studies.
The present generation must be enlightened about Bangladesh genocide and the responsibility of that rests on the government, on the educational authorities, and on the participants of the liberation war and also those witnessed the genocide.
IDENTIFICATION AND RECONSTRUCTION: The Liberation War Museum has exhumed numerous skulls and other human remains recently. Neither the Museum nor others have any clue about number of other mass graves scattered all over the country. The Museum is busy in identifying the exhumed remains. This will, undoubtedly, be a huge and difficult task. However, this must be done.
Science now has progressed tremendously and it is possible to reconstruct the skull and medical artists can almost recreate facial structure of the victim. This kind of reconstruction should be done to enable the members of the family to positively identify the victim, and it might lead to figure out the perpetrator.