The past few weeks in Bangladesh have been interesting. I've started taking Bengali language classes, I've experienced borderline "cold" weather here in Dhaka, and I've experienced the national "Victory Day" celebration..
Unfortunately, my Bengali vocabulary has grown to include words like "butcher" and "noose" - not words I necessarily expected or planned on learning - due to the ongoing war crimes tribunal here in the country which is trying criminals from the war of independence in 1971. On the other hand, I can point rickshawwallas in the right direction, count to 15 and ask all the typical sorts of simple questions.
Yesterday was Victory Day here in Bangladesh, celebrating 42 years of independence when Bangladesh defeated the Pakistan army in December 1971. The day was a nice break from the typical strikes and political rhetoric surrounding the upcoming elections and one of the features of this fun day was a Guinness World Records' record setting of a flag made by the greatest number of people. Pakistan, appropriately, held this record until Bangladesh broke their record yesterday. Here is what that flag made up of over 27,000 people looked like:
Everyone has been selling flags and people have been getting the spirit of Victory Day; I watched a documentary made during the early 1970s that documented some of the student groups and other grass-root organizers who helped fight for Bangladesh's independence. India also commemorates this day, as they were part of the campaign trying to oust Pakistan from Bangladesh, then "East Pakistan".
Unfortunately, my Bengali vocabulary has grown to include words like "butcher" and "noose" - not words I necessarily expected or planned on learning - due to the ongoing war crimes tribunal here in the country which is trying criminals from the war of independence in 1971. On the other hand, I can point rickshawwallas in the right direction, count to 15 and ask all the typical sorts of simple questions.
Yesterday was Victory Day here in Bangladesh, celebrating 42 years of independence when Bangladesh defeated the Pakistan army in December 1971. The day was a nice break from the typical strikes and political rhetoric surrounding the upcoming elections and one of the features of this fun day was a Guinness World Records' record setting of a flag made by the greatest number of people. Pakistan, appropriately, held this record until Bangladesh broke their record yesterday. Here is what that flag made up of over 27,000 people looked like:
Everyone has been selling flags and people have been getting the spirit of Victory Day; I watched a documentary made during the early 1970s that documented some of the student groups and other grass-root organizers who helped fight for Bangladesh's independence. India also commemorates this day, as they were part of the campaign trying to oust Pakistan from Bangladesh, then "East Pakistan".
No comments:
Post a Comment