A liberation war-based oral history digital data collection program titled ‘Voices of Bangladesh’ has started. The oral history collection program is being organized by the Bengal Foundation with the support of the United States Embassy in Bangladesh. ‘Voices of Bangladesh’ is an overall effort to document the contribution of women and marginalized people in building the foundation of the country’s great liberation war, context and contemporary society.
Ayreen Khan, alumnae of the United States Department of State, the founder of iCan Foundation, coordinator of the program, said, ‘Achieving the independence of Bangladesh through the oral history collection program; Various political and socio-economic events that happened in the next five decades are being highlighted. Various comments are being preserved from freedom fighters from different parts of the country, women’s groups, researchers-professionals-writers, prominent people of the society, cultural workers, students and ordinary people are participating in the United States-Bangladesh exchange program. By creating a multi-dimensional digital archive through the collection of oral history, there is an opportunity to share unknown stories and stories with the people of the country.
As part of oral history preservation, exhibitions, seminars, film screenings and archiving sessions have been organized at Barendra University, Rajshahi and Northern University of Business and Technology, Khulna, on the activities of Voice of Bangladesh. Researcher of the project Asha Zahid said, various perspectives of the liberation war are being collected from different regions and are being archived online through digital means. People from general youth to people who are interested in liberation war can participate in this program.
Rajshahi University professor Pranab Kumar Pandey, Habibur Rahman, Barendra University teacher Rabita Rezwana, police officer Ashrafi Khanam and officials of the US Embassy in Dhaka participated in these seminars. In the conference, the various issues of the relationship between Bangladesh and the United States were highlighted as well as the expats of the State Department shared their experiences.