1971, Anam Zakaria
1971, Anam Zakaria
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1971
A People’s History of Bangladesh, India and Pakistan

Author: Anam Zakaria

Narrator: Meher Acharia Dar

Unabridged: 15 hr 42 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/13/2024

Synopsis

The year 1971 exists everywhere in Bangladesh-on its roads, in sculptures, in its museums and oral history projects, in its curriculum, in people's homes and their stories, and in political discourse. It marks the birth of the nation, it's liberation. More than 1000 miles away, in Pakistan too, 1971 marks a watershed moment, its memories sitting uncomfortably in public imagination. It is remembered as the 'Fall of Dacca', the dismemberment of Pakistan or the third Indo-Pak war. In India, 1971 represents something else-the story of humanitarian intervention, of triumph and valour that paved the way for India's rise as a military power, the beginning of its journey to becoming a regional superpower. Navigating the widely varied terrain that is 1971 across Pakistan, Bangladesh and India, Anam Zakaria sifts through three distinct state narratives, and studies the institutionalization of the memory of the year and its events. Through a personal journey, she juxtaposes state narratives with people's history on the ground, bringing forth the nuanced experiences of those who lived through the war. Using intergenerational interviews, textbook analyses, visits to schools and travels to museums and sites commemorating 1971, Zakaria explores the ways in which 1971 is remembered and forgotten across countries, generations and communities.

About The Author

Anam Zakaria is an oral historian and the author of Between the Great Divide: A Journey into Pakistan-Administered Kashmir and The Footprints of Partition: Narratives of Four Generations of Pakistanis and Indians, which won her the 2017 KLF German Peace Prize. She works as a development professional and cultural facilitator, and writes frequently on issues of conflict and peace in South Asia. Her work has appeared in Dawn, Wire, Scroll and Al Jazeera. Born and raised in Lahore, Anam currently lives in Toronto. 1971 is her third book.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Asim on June 22, 2023

This is perhaps the only form of history that is valid for disentangling the multitude of conflicting narratives surrounding the events of 1971 and their aftermath. Anam Zakaria masterfully sifts through and shares the experiences, memories, and perspectives of individuals spanning two different gen......more

Goodreads review by Imaduddin on December 05, 2021

This is the best book written in English by a Pakistani or about South Asia that I've read. Having said that, do not expect the book to go beyond its scope, i.e. beyond the partition of Pakistan and the creation of Bangladesh. If you seek to understand what led to Independence from British rule and......more

Goodreads review by Parvati on October 06, 2021

This book is necessary reading to cement our understanding of a fact that we all need to remember in our personal and public lives—in a conflict, no one side is fully in the right or fully in the wrong. The author's objectivity is commendable, seeing as she is Pakistani but brought forth a variety of......more

Goodreads review by Dipesh on October 14, 2020

Each nation needs its own myth to survive. On 3 June 1947, four men informed from the broadcasting station of All India Radio to the mass of four hundred million the plan to divide the crowned jewel of the British Empire into two new nation states – India and Pakistan. Over the course of several yea......more

Goodreads review by Fawad on June 02, 2021

It's a really well-written book and it takes you in from the moment go. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in 1971 and its aftermath, especially to the Pakistanis who've no idea how Bangladesh came into being. It's not a book that is there to tell you what the newly discovered "facts"......more

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