Speakers said that rivers played an important role in Bangladesh’s winning the war

Rivers were integral to Bangladesh’s victory against Pakistan in the Liberation War of 1971, green activists said at an event on Thursday.

They made the remarks at an event titled “The Role of Rivers in the Liberation War”, organized by Waterkeepers Bangladesh Consortium on the banks of Balu River in Dhaka’s Khilgaon.

Bangladesh Environment Network Convener and Freedom Fighter Kamrul Ahsan Khan said: “We used the rivers when the Pakistanis attacked us. The rivers are drying up today. There is development but the rivers are unprotected.”

He added that development could not come at the cost of the country’s rivers.

“The rivers must be protected to implement the spirit of the Liberation War,” he added.

River and Delta Research Centre Chairman Mohammad Azaz said that the 11 sectors during the Liberation War had largely been divided according to the location of the rivers.

“Sector 10 was mainly centered around the sea and river ports and we started succeeding in the war when the naval commandos began operations,” he said.

He added that during the war, naval commandos carried out 78 operations and 231 bridge operations were carried out over the rivers.

“Rivers are our assets and we are destroying them,” said Waterkeepers Bangladesh Consortium Convener Sharif Jamil.

He added that people living on the river banks must be involved in protecting the rivers.

Writer and journalist Faisal Ahmed noted that rivers are an integral part of our life and it was because the Pakistanis were unfamiliar with rivers that Bangladesh was able to win the war.

News link: ‘Rivers were integral to the Liberation War’ (dhakatribune.com)