Bangladesh
has instituted Bangladesh Freedom Honour to pay homage to the people who are
not Bangladeshi citizens but actively supported the cause in 1971. As a part of
this initiative, 129 international personalities and institutions have been
named to receive the honour.

The list
includes 47 Indian individuals and institutions, 11 Russians, 22 US citizens,
14 UK citizens and institutions, 4 Japanese, 4 Germans and others from
countries as diverse as Nepal and Vietnam.

Some of the
institutions that have been included in the list are the BBC, Oxfam, the
International Red Cross, Indian radio the Indian army and the entire people of
India. Many personalities have been awarded including the head of states and
governments like Pierre Trudeau (Canada), Willy Brandt (W. Germany), the King
of Bhutan Jigme Singhey Wangchuk as well as Nikolai Podgorny and other state
leaders of the erstwhile Soviet Union.

A
significant awardee was William S. Ouderland who was the only international
person who was given a gallantry award for his role in the Bangladesh 1971.

Ouderland
came to Bangladesh in 1970 to work at the Bata shoe factory located in Tongi
industrial area. At the early stages of the war, he worked in ferrying
information important about the Pak army to the Bangladesh forces to let them
know what was going on. Later, he began to train the guerrilla including in the
premises of the Bata shoe factory using his experience as a World War II
veteran.

This was a
risky venture but he acted out of a sense responsibility he felt towards the
people he considered his own. Subsequently, he came in close contact with Major
Haider and other guerrilla leaders of Sector 2 of the war theatre. His
activities became known after the war and the people of Bangladesh welcomed him
as a special hero.

The
background of Ouderland and the mentality of Europeans like him

Why many
foreigners became ardent supporters and made contributions to the Bangladesh
liberation cause and why it became such a popular issue is an interesting
exploration.

Ouderland’s
life is remarkable because he actively participated in a war that was not based
on his national identity making him a true international like the famous
partisans of the international brigade of the Spanish civil war. The Spanish
civil war was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April
1939. The war began after a group of right-wing military leaders rebelled
against the elected government of the Second Spanish republic which led to
decades of military dictatorship in Spain under Gen. Franco. Many foreigners
came and joined the international Brigade which fought against the Fascists but
they were defeated.

“I
recollected and resumed in myself the experiences of my youth in Europe, and I
felt that I should get the world informed of what was happening in Bangladesh”.
(Ouderland)

Ouderland
came from a poor working class background in Europe and these people had
suffered a great deal during and before the World War II. They had felt
helpless as Hitler invaded country after country and the pain of losing
independence was something Ouderland know firsthand as his motherland was run
over by Nazi Germany. Europe in particular was also greatly affected by the Nazi-Fascist
alliance under Germany’s Hitler and Italy’s Mussolini. Although people had
rallied against them, it wasn’t enough and ultimately many had suffered as the
German military marched on other people and lands.

Ouderland
was not just an ordinary citizen but one who was born poor in Europe and had to
start working even before he was 18-year- old shining shoes. It gives an
indicator of his class and its sensibilities which had sympathy for other
sufferers and rage against the repressors.

It is
important to note that Ouderland was not the only European who was involved in
the war but many others were part of the movement though not militarily like
him. One remembers the French intellectual and radical Andre Malraux as an
example whose words and writings brought international attention to the
Bangladesh war efforts. Malraux’s remark that he would go and fight in the
Bangladesh war is indicative of the liberal and radical European mind.

Ouderland
was not an intellectual but a foot soldier but shared the same spirit. That he
was a soldier with war experience must have made it easy for him to join the
fight without hesitation. As an ex-guerrilla he also must have felt a kinship
with the Bangladeshi guerrillas and took advantage of his nationality to
clandestinely join the fight.

Many people
were also shocked by the images of the war victims which seemed like a déjà vu
of the World War II horrors and he felt compelled to do something to both
protest the carnage and also aid the victims. He has remarked that recording
the horrors was something very important to him because it also showed how much
suffering had been caused. By becoming a witness he had fulfilled all the roles
possible to him. That was his great achievement.

The Western
attitude and 1971

Apart from
Europe which had a high number of Bangladesh supporters and where in most cases
the governments also backed the cause, the US was a different situation because
while the people were pro-Bangladesh, the government was pro-Pakistani. The
student movement there opposed the Vietnam War going on in which the US was
involved. They and the media had largely succeeded in turning the tides of
public opinion against the war. It was on such a fertile ground that the
supporters of the Bangladesh war worked. Many of the supporters were from the
Democrat Party which was in general more liberal than the ruling Republican
Party to which President Nixon belonged.

Most
journalists were also supporters of Bangladesh and to this is credited the
great surge of global public opinion in Bangladesh’s favour. It should however
be mentioned that out of their enthusiasm and sympathy, there was over
reporting, misleading reporting, exaggeration and occasionally untruthful
reports. International media was biased towards Bangladesh and this was
responsible for this kind of focus.

International
politics also played a role in organising supporters. For example, almost all
Muslim countries supported Pakistan as it was their supporter in the fight against
Israel and so almost all Jewish people including media and politicians of
Jewish origins supported the Bangladesh cause. In several interviews,
Bangladeshi activists have mentioned that Israel had offered support to
actively aid the war effort but they were turned down by the Mujibnagar
government who didn’t want to antagonise the wider Muslim world and community.

To the
international warriors like Ouderland’s participation was a way of affirming
the spirit of freedom and liberalism. Although not a Bangladeshi he fought like
one. In the end he was not just a Dutch-Australian but a Bangladeshi too.