Thank You, Pakistan

About the Book

Yes, I want to thank Pakistan for being so brutal with us since its birth in 1947 until the birth of Bangladesh in 1971. If Pakistan (then West Pakistan) hadn’t been so brutal and unfair, the history of our country Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) and the world would have been quite different. We would not have Bongobondhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, our Father of the Nation. The world would not have observed February 21st as International Mother Language Day. Liberation War of 1971 would not have occurred - no Independence Day, Victory Day or a new country Bangladesh. We also would not have so many Bengali poets, writers and leaders. Our music is so sweet – we would have lost that too. If Pakistan had not attempted to forcefully replace our mother tongue Bangla (Bengali) with Urdu, things might have been very different. Their atrocities against our language, culture, people and freedom made us love our language and country much more. It made us loving Nazrul Geeti, Rabindra Sangeet, Lalon Geeti, Hason Rajar Gaan and all other Bengali literal music, songs and folklores even more. Pakistan did not succeed in making us forget or abandon such beautiful melodies, songs and poetries, but made us love them even more. Pakistan unintentionally helped us love our country Bangladesh more, love our language Bangla more, love our culture and heritage more; and that made me thankful to Pakistan.

About the Author

Sylvia Pandit grew up in a historical town in Dhaka, Bangladesh. At the tender age of just 4 years old, Sylvia experienced what few have – the atrocities of war and the deep suffering that ensued afterwards. She has since then, dedicated her life to telling the stories of those involved in the conflict and aspires to find resolve in sharing her memories of those dark months.