The war of 1971, fought between India and what was then East and West Pakistan, led to the creation of Bangladesh, where it is remembered as the War of Liberation. Pakistani and Indian soldiers and Bengali militiamen raped and tortured women on a mass scale. In Women, War, and the Making of Bangladesh survivors tell their stories, revealing the power of speaking that deemed unspeakable. They talk of victimization, of rape, loss of status and citizenship, and "war babies" born after 1971. The women also speak as agents of change, as social workers, caregivers, and wartime fighters.
In the conclusion, men who terrorized women during the war recollect their wartime brutality and their post-war efforts to achieve a sense of humanity. Women, War, and the Making of Bangladesh sheds new light on the relationship between nation, history, and gender in postcolonial South Asia.
