Beyond Bengali Hegemony in 1971
The forgotten history of Bangladesh’s non-Bengali freedom fighters who fought in the 1971 Liberation War.
Collection of photographs of some Adibashi and non-Bengali freedom fighters of Bangladesh.
Bangladesh emerged from a nine-month liberation war in 1971, fought against decades of political, economic, and cultural discrimination by the West Pakistani state. Although the new nation was founded on ideals of democracy, equality, and inclusion, public memory of the war gradually came to centre overwhelmingly on the experiences of the Bengali majority. Yet scattered across archives, newspapers, and family collections are traces of other lives that fought for the same dream of freedom: Adibashi fighters from the hills and plains, Urdu-speaking supporters of the Mukti Bahini, and members of other marginalized communities whose stories rarely entered official histories.
This collection revisits some of those forgotten presences through photographs, newspaper clippings, and archival fragments that survived the passage of time. In doing so, it also exposes the silences of the archive itself. While Bengali suffering and resistance understandably dominated wartime reporting in documents and local newspapers, the experiences of many Adibashi and non-Bengali participants remained largely undocumented. These gaps are not merely accidental; they reveal how some contributions to liberation were remembered, while others are allowed to fade to the margins of national memory.
This marginalisation did not emerge in a vacuum. Historian Mohiuddin Ahmed and investigative journalist Masudul Haque have documented the rise of influential Bengali ultranationalist currents within sections of the Awami League's student organisations during the 1960s. These ultranationalist factions grew so powerful, that they even reportedly worried Sheikh Mujibur Rahman himself. While the liberation struggle was fought in the name of democracy, equality, and self-determination, competing visions existed regarding the identity of the future state. For some, Bangladesh was to be a homeland for all who lived within it; for others, it was to be defined primarily through a singular Bengali national identity.
These tensions became apparent during the Liberation War itself. Although many Chakma, Marma, Santal, Garo and other indigenous youths sought to join the Mukti Bahini, several accounts describe suspicion and obstacles placed in their path. S. Mahmud Ali notes that many Adibashi students, who had supported the Bengali nationalist movement during the late 1960s, travelled to India expecting to join the war effort only to encounter distrust and return disillusioned. Former freedom fighter and researcher Ayub Hossain similarly documents cases of indigenous volunteers (especially from Chakma community) who struggled to gain acceptance despite their commitment to the liberation cause.
The end of the war did not resolve these anxieties. In the months following independence, violence, dispossession, and reprisals affected many non-Bengali communities. Biharis were frequently treated as a collective enemy regardless of individual wartime positions, while indigenous communities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts increasingly found themselves at odds with a state that prioritized a singular national identity. When indigenous leader Manabendra Narayan Larma sought constitutional recognition and autonomy in 1972, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman famously responded: “We are all Bengalis.” For many indigenous communities, this statement symbolised the state's unwillingness to accommodate distinct identities within the new republic.
The consequences extended far beyond the immediate post-war years. Numerous indigenous freedom fighters struggled to obtain recognition, compensation, or a place within official narratives of liberation. Ayub Hossain records instances in which Santal veterans remained excluded from benefits granted to other freedom fighters, while discriminatory attitudes persisted long after independence. Communities that had fought, sheltered refugees, guided guerrillas, and endured wartime atrocities remained absent from textbooks, memorials, and public commemorations.
Many of these patterns remain visible today. Adibashis, Biharis, Harijan and Bede communities, tea workers, and other marginalized groups continue to face discrimination, dispossession, and unequal access to opportunities. Their experiences differ, yet they share a common place at the margins of national memory. The photographs and archival fragments in this collection are therefore not merely records of the past. They are reminders that the struggle for recognition did not end in 1971. For many of Bangladesh's forgotten allies, it continues to this day.
Source for newspaper clipping: Songramer Notebook
[Left] Santal freedom fighter Sagram Majhi, who led Santals into the liberation war.
[Right] Newspaper clipping from Jugantor on March 26, 1971, reporting clashes between Pakistan Army and civilians in north Bangladesh, particularly Rangpur. The report indicates the Nishbetganj Chaos of March 23, when Pakistani forces raided and brought repression into nearby Santal villages. On March 28, thousands of indigenous Santals (armed with indigenous weapons like bows-arrows, knives) alongside Bengalis and Orangs, in a bold move, surrounded the Nishbetganj Cantonment of Rangpur. It was the first act of defiance against Pakistani forces, which ended up killing 600 of the crowd.
[Left and Center Top] Marma King Momphru Sain and his historical palace which served as a base for Mukti Bahini. Momphru Sain established a hospital, his own local liberation force, gave away 33 of his advanced semi-automatic rifles, and his personal vehicles to freedom fighters; Sain also himself fought in the liberation war.
[Left and Center Bottom] Uk Ching Marma and a rare photograph of him on the battlefield. Uk Ching Marma was a Havildar of the East Pakistan Rifles (EPR), and one of those EPR members who revolted. He is the only Adibashi freedom fighter to win the Bir Bikrom, one of the highest gallantry awards for participants of the liberation war.
[Right] Chinghla Mong Chowdhury Mari was one of the finest footballers playing for Pakistan’s national team. In 1971, he joined the liberation war as a captain for Sector-1 zone, and later served as Quartermaster under Major Ziaur Rahman—commander of Sector-1 and the Z-Force (a military brigade of Mukti Bahini).
[Left] Newspaper clipping from Prothom Alo, November 22, 2015, on an event commemorating ten Harijan martyrs of the Liberation War. Considered untouchables and facing marginalisation, they still took part in the Liberation War—carrying out dangerous tasks like hiding freedom fighters, smuggling weapons for them, spying on Pakistani forces and supplying food to freedom fighters. A group of Harijans from Mirin Jilla Harijan City Colony of Dhaka, also took part in the war as aides to Mukti Bahini. They had to face the brunt of it, as Pakistani forces received intel and raided their colony on November 22, 1971, and kidnapped ten of them. Mahabir Lal Samund, Nandu Lal, Anowar Lal, Ishwar Lal, Khalbal Das, Ghashita Das, Sankar Das Hela, Nanda Lal, Lalu Das, and Ramcharan—these ten members were taken away and were never seen again.
[Right] Compilation of photos belonging to a few of the Cha-Sromik freedom fighters. The Cha-Sromik (tea workers) people are another marginalized working-class community in Bangladesh, comprising of a cluster of ethnic and religious groups like Dalit communities (brought from regions in India, such as Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh, during the British colonial era), including Adibashi groups like the Santal, Oraon, Munda, Kharia, and Mahali. During the liberation war, the tea gardens of northeastern Bangladesh were attacked by Pakistani occupation forces with heavy weaponry. Massacres unfolded as Pakistani forces gutted several houses across tea gardens, killed several tea-workers, their children and families in their sleep, suspecting them of aiding the Mukti Bahini. Several of them fought in the liberation war as spies, rescue operators, weapons smugglers and fighters on field.
[Top Left] An extremely rare photograph of Khogendro Lal Chakma in the early 1970s. He was an officer of East Pakistan Police Service, and the first indigenous freedom fighter from Chittagong Hill Tracts to be martyred . He supplied weapons from his police stations to freedom fighters, and blew up a bridge on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway to stop Pakistani forces from advancing.
[Top Right] Mongpocha Chakma from Cox’s Bazar, alongside several other Chakmas, fought the liberation war in Bandarban.
[Bottom Left] Rare photograph of Roshomoy Chakma sometime in the 1970s. He was barred from joining the liberation war by Bengali ultranationalists, eventually driving him into burning the house of a Pakistani Punjabi man living in Khagrachhari out of frustration.
[Bottom Right] Monish Dewan, a student of Rajshahi Cadet College who joined the liberation war with his friends, photographed sometime around the 1970s.
[Top Left] Some remaining relics after the Pakistani Army vandalised temples during the 6th May Buddha Bihar Massacres.
[Top Right] A short newspaper clipping from Jugantor (May 7, 1971) about Pakistan Army’s attack in Cox’s Bazar, but no mention about the heinous massacre of Rakhain Buddhists by Pakistani forces in Rakhain Para, Moheshkhali, Cox’s Bazar, resulting in the deaths of around 20 Rakhain civilians [Source: Songramer Notebook].
[Bottom] A Meitei freedom fighter on the battlefield (some sources suggest he was Rakhain or from other indigenous ethnicity).
[Top Left] Two Garo freedom fighters interviewed in Tareque Masud’s documentary Muktir Kotha (1999) .
[Top Right] Promod Mankin, a Garo freedom fighter who led Garos into the liberation war.
[Bottom Left] Rono Bikram Tripura and [Bottom Right] Hemda Ronjon Tripura on the battlefield were from the Tripura community, and were some of the leading figures in liberation war in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
[Left] Newspaper clipping from Prothom Alo, published on November 18, 2015 about the forgotten Mro freedom fighter Labre Mro. Labre Mro was from Bandarban’s Naikyangchhari area who fought alongside Mukti Bahini. His espionage activities for the Mukti Bahini brought about his martyrdom by the Pakistani forces. Yet, even today, he remains forgotten and denied any state recognition.
[Right] A group of indigenous freedom fighters with bows-and-arrows, alongside their Bengali counterparts.
Source for the newspaper clipping: Subrata Shuvo
[Top Left] Subedar Syed Khan, an Urdu-speaking Bihari freedom fighter who was an officer in the EPR. Alongside Uk Ching Marma, he was the second non-Bengali freedom fighter recognised by the state for his bravery and was awarded with Bir Protik.
[Top Center] Kabul Ahmed from Bogura, a Bihari civilian who took part in the war and was martyred. He never got any recognition.
[Bottom Left] Momtaz Khan Pathan, a Pakistani ethnic-Pashtun factory owner in Tangail, who joined the liberation war. He supplied medicines for Mukti Bahini and gathered intel through his cousin in the Pakistani Army.
[Bottom Center] Sami Ahmed Khan, another Bihari freedom fighter who worked as a spy and food supplier for Mukti Bahini, but is yet to receive any state recognition.
[Right] Newspaper clipping from during Liberation War, belonging to Sarbahara party’s newspaper publication Mukti Juddho, which another Bihari freedom fighter Samiullah Azmi often wrote for.
Image courtesy: Protidiner Bangladesh
[Left] Kakon Bibi, a legendary female freedom fighter from Khasi ethnic community, who received the Bir Protik award and [Right] Tushi Hagidk from Garo ethnic community.
Image courtesy for newspaper clippings : Songramer Notebook
[Top Left] A photograph of indigenous refugees during 1971.
[Center Left] A photo collage with Sheikh Mujib’s meeting Chhatra League and other Bengali nationalists in a gathering. Inside the photo is a newspaper clipping from February 15, 1972.
[Bottom Left] A photo of a Chhatra League event in late 1960s, and beside it is a photo of Manabendra Narayan Larma.
[Top Right] Gonokontho newspaper, dated July 6, 1973, reporting about Rakkhi Bahini’s brutal repression in hill tracts. The Rakkhi Bahini was a paramilitary force formed by Sheikh Mujib as a check against the Bangladeshi Army post-independence.
[Bottom Right] The same newspaper reported on July 8, 1974, about the post-independence imprisonment of several Bihari civilians and the repression they faced inside prisons, including enforced prostitution on Bihari women.
Ifaz Ali Khan is a writer, independent researcher, and human rights’ activist, currently pursuing a bachelors degree in Computer Science & Engineering at East Delta University. He also writes for International Policy Digest.