Table of Contents

Preface ix
Acknowledgments xv
Glossary of Terms xix
Part I. Introducing 1971
1. The Told and Untold Stories of 1971 3
2. Creating the History of 1971 34
Part II. Survivors Speak
3. Victims' Memories 109
4. Women's Services 158
5. Women's War 186
Part III. A New Beginning
Postscript: Lessons of Violence 215
Notes 279
References 243
Index 299

Promotional Information

Sheds new light on the relationship between nation, history, and gender in postcolonial South Asia

About the Author

Yasmin Saikia is the Hardt-Nickachos Chair in Peace Studies and Professor of History at Arizona State University. She is the author of Fragmented Memories: Struggling to Be Tai-Ahom in India, also published by Duke University Press.

Reviews

"From victims and perpetrators, women and men, Yasmin Saikia has gathered first-person accounts of the gendered violence of the 1971 Bangladesh war of independence. No one else has met this challenge, and few will be able to think about the future of South Asia without reference to her extraordinary account, which is at once bold and evocative, clearheaded and hopeful." Bruce Lawrence, co-editor of On Violence: A Reader "This outstanding book offers an entirely new perspective on the dynamics of the Bangladesh War of 1971, focusing on the memories of Bangladeshi women. Full of pathos, it is an indictment of societies indifferent to women's suffering, even when women become targets of violence. It will be welcomed by readers interested in genocide, women's issues, political violence, and especially by those South Asians who witnessed the horrors of 1971 firsthand." Rafiuddin Ahmed, author of Religion, Identity, and Politics: Essays on Bangladesh