A project worth Rs. 50 crore initiated by the former Sheikh Hasina government to document Bangladesh’s Liberation War of 1971, involving video interviews of around 15,000 participants, will now be abandoned. The current administration in Dhaka has decided against preserving these interviews, with the project agency set to go unpaid, as per a report in Prothom Alo.
Officials mentioned that the recorded interviews were deemed inaccurate in depicting the history of the Liberation War, citing inconsistencies in the video content. Concerns were raised that the experiences of freedom fighters were not adequately portrayed, potentially leading to a negative perception of the war among future generations, prompting the decision to discard the videos.
The project, titled ‘Birer Kante Bir Gatha (Heroes Voice Heroic Tales),’ was launched in 2022 by the Awami League government to allow 1971 Liberation War participants to share their stories with later generations. It was estimated to cost Rs. 49.57 crore (Bangladesh) and was set to include 80,000 documentaries, 80,000 YouTube videos, and 16 documentaries, with a completion target of December 2024.
Following the ousting of the Awami League government in August amid a student uprising, the project was finalized in May 2023, with the Ministry of Liberation War at that time partnering with a company named Management and Training International Limited (MTI). The agreement involved interviewees responding to 19 questions related to their roles in the war, locations, injuries, and other aspects.
A reviewing committee, formed to assess 14,640 videos, recommended against accepting the content due to poor video quality and the failure to accurately depict the history of the Liberation War. The decision to halt the project was made based on these findings, with concerns that preserving the videos could misrepresent the war to future generations.
Management and Training International Limited (MTI) expressed dissatisfaction with the decision, suggesting it was intentional and questioning the quality disparity between previous and current interviews. The company’s deputy program manager labeled the move as vindictive by the interim government.
