Birangana (Bengali: বীরাঙ্গনা|lit=war heroine) is the title awarded by the Government of Bangladesh to women raped during the Bangladesh Liberation War by the Pakistan army, Razakar paramilitaries, and their local collaborators.[1] [2]
On 16 December 1971, Bangladesh won its independence from Pakistan through the Bangladesh Liberation War. There was mass rape during the Bangladesh Liberation War, with an estimated 200,000-400,000 women raped by Pakistan Army and their collaborators.[3] [4] On 22 December 1971 the Government of Bangladesh declared women who had been raped Birangana, or war-heroine.[5] President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman asked Bangladesh to "give due honour and dignity to the women oppressed by the Pakistani army" and called them his daughters.[6] [7] Yet, many of them committed suicide, a section of them left the country to work as servants abroad, and a great many were killed in the hands of the unskilled mid-wives during abortion of war babies. This prompted the government to set up seba sadans (service homes) to give them clinical support. Kendrio Mohila Punorbashon Songstha (Central Women Rehabilitation Organization) was established in January 1972 to rehabilitate these violated women with technical and humanitarian support from International Planned Parenthood, the International Abortion Research and Training Centre, and the Catholic Church; notable activists at the homes included the poet Sufia Kamal and the social worker Maleka Khan[8] Later, the government provided them with vocational training and launched a campaign to get them married. This led to accusations that Bangladesh was trying to hide the Biranganas.[9] The Biranganas have often been ostracised by society and their family members.[10]
Activists for women's rights have called for the Birangana to be declared Freedom Fighters (Mukti Bahini).[11] [12] Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association and Mitali Hossain filled a petition with the Bangladesh High Court to upgrade the status of Birangana. On 27 January 2014, the High Court asked the government of Bangladesh why it should not be directed to do so.[13] In January 2015, the parliament of Bangladesh approved a proposal to upgrade the status of Birangana to freedom fighter status. On 23 October 2015, the Bangladesh government declared 43 Birangana to have been Freedom Fighters for the first time. Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque said that they would now enjoy the same government benefits as Freedom Fighters.[14] With the latest inclusion in December 2020, a total of 400 Biranganas received the status of freedom fighters.[15] Sixteen Biranganas were added to the list at the 73rd meeting of the National Freedom Fighter Council, taking the total number to 416 in June 2021.[16]