Hope Dies Last in War | |
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Directed by | Supriyo Sen |
Produced by | Supriyo Sen |
Release date |
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Country | India |
Language | Hindi |
Hope Dies Last in War is a 2007 documentary directed and produced by Supriyo Sen. [1] The film received the Best Documentary Award at the 55th National Film Awards and was included in the India Panorama at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI). [2] The documentary was filmed between 2004 and 2007. [3]
During the 14-day India-Pakistan war that commenced on 3 December 1971, over 92,000 Pakistani soldiers were captured by India in the western sector, and nearly 500 Indian defense personnel were taken as prisoners by Pakistan. Following the Shimla Agreement of 1972 between Z.A. Bhutto and Indira Gandhi, a prisoner exchange took place. [3]
However, the fate of 54 Indian soldiers remains unknown. Despite over 200 Indian soldiers being repatriated from Pakistan, the last expected train bringing the remaining soldiers did not arrive. Pakistan asserted that no more prisoners of war (PoWs) were in their custody, leading the Indian Government to advise families to presume the missing soldiers as deceased and accept monetary compensation. [3]
The uncertainty surrounding the 54 soldiers prompted some families to reject the government's stance. Their lives became centered on an unending quest for the truth, desperate to uncover the fate of their loved ones. Tragically, some parents passed away while waiting, some children lost hope faced with bureaucratic obstacles, some spouses remarried, and a few individuals resorted to drastic measures like suicide. [3]
The documentary received a grant from the Sundance Documentary Fund and Pusan International Film Festival. It was screened at festivals like Pusan in South Korea and Yamagata in Japan. [4]
The Hollywood Reporter wrote "Hope’s biggest problem is its lack of opposing views: The Pakistani side of the story is never truly addressed. That’s consistent, however, with the film’s overall apolitical tone with little mentions of war’s major players, Indira Gandhi, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Yahya Khan, or even the background to that conflict." [5]
Madhuparna Das of The Telegraph India wrote "Hope Dies Last in War is a heart-rending documentary that compels us to think: especially of the fact that we are so impossibly helpless not just as individuals, but also as a community, a nation, a race." [4]
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi was an Indian politician and stateswoman who was Prime Minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 until her assassination in 1984. She was India's first and, to date, only female prime minister, and a central figure in Indian politics as the leader of the Indian National Congress (INC). She was the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India, and the mother of Rajiv Gandhi, who succeeded her in office as the country's sixth prime minister. Gandhi's cumulative tenure of 15 years and 350 days makes her the second-longest-serving Indian prime minister after her father. Henry Kissinger described her as an "Iron Lady", a nickname that became associated with her tough personality.
Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan was a Pakistani army officer, who served as the third president of Pakistan from 1969 to 1971. He also served as the Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army from 1966 to 1971. Along with Tikka Khan, he was considered the chief architect of the 1971 Bangladesh genocide.
Abdul Ghaffār Khān, also known as Bacha Khan or Badshah Khan was a Pashtun independence activist, and founder of the Khudai Khidmatgar resistance movement against British colonial rule in India.
Morarji Ranchhodji Desai was an Indian independence activist and politician who served as the Prime Minister of India between 1977 and 1979 leading the government formed by the Janata Party. During his long career in politics, he held many important posts in government such as Chief Minister of Bombay State, Home Minister, Finance Minister and 2nd Deputy Prime Minister of India.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was a Pakistani barrister, politician, and statesman. He served as the fourth president of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973 and later as the ninth prime minister of Pakistan from 1973 to 1977. Bhutto founded the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and served as its chairman until his execution.
The Indo-Pakistani war of 1971, also known as the third India-Pakistan war, was a military confrontation between India and Pakistan that occurred during the Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan from 3 December 1971 until the Pakistani capitulation in Dhaka on 16 December 1971. The war began with Pakistan's Operation Chengiz Khan, consisting of preemptive aerial strikes on eight Indian air stations. The strikes led to India declaring war on Pakistan, marking their entry into the war for East Pakistan's independence, on the side of Bengali nationalist forces. India's entry expanded the existing conflict with Indian and Pakistani forces engaging on both the eastern and western fronts. Thirteen days after the war started, India achieved a clear upper hand, and the Eastern Command of the Pakistan military signed the instrument of surrender on 16 December 1971 in Dhaka, marking the formation of East Pakistan as the new nation of Bangladesh. Approximately 93,000 Pakistani servicemen were taken prisoner by the Indian Army, which included 79,676 to 81,000 uniformed personnel of the Pakistan Armed Forces, including some Bengali soldiers who had remained loyal to Pakistan. The remaining 10,324 to 12,500 prisoners were civilians, either family members of the military personnel or collaborators (Razakars).
The Bangladesh Liberation War, also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence and known as the Liberation War in Bangladesh, was an armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which resulted in the independence of Bangladesh. The war began when the Pakistani military junta based in West Pakistan—under the orders of Yahya Khan—launched Operation Searchlight against the people of East Pakistan on the night of 25 March 1971, initiating the Bangladesh genocide.
The Simla Agreement, also spelled Shimla Agreement, was a peace treaty signed between India and Pakistan on 2 July 1972 in Shimla, the capital city of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It followed the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, which began after India intervened in East Pakistan as an ally of Bengali rebels who were fighting against Pakistani state forces in the Bangladesh Liberation War. The Indian intervention proved decisive in the war and led to East Pakistan's breakaway from its union with West Pakistan and the emergence of the independent state of Bangladesh.
The Emergency in India was a 21-month period from 1975 to 1977 when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had a state of emergency declared across the country by citing internal and external threats to the country.
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Stop Genocide is a 1971 documentary film by Bangladeshi filmmaker Zahir Raihan. It is a 20-minute film that documents the killings and atrocities carried out by the Pakistan Army on the people of the then East Pakistan. It also depicts the plight of the refugees and the activities of the Government in exile.
Children of War, also known as The Bastard Child, is a 2014 Hindi drama film directed by Mrityunjay Devvrat based on the 1971 Bangladesh genocide and the Bangladesh Liberation War. The film released on 16 May 2014 in India and Bangladesh. The film stars Pavan Malhotra, Raima Sen, Tillotama Shome, Indraneil Sengupta, Farooq Sheikh, Shatrunjay Devvrat, Riddhi Sen, Rucha Inamdar, and Victor Banerjee. It was filmed in India with similar characters and places mimicking Bangladesh.
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The Domestic policy of the Indira Gandhi government was the domestic policy of India from 1966 to 1984 during the premiership of Indira Gandhi until her assassination in 1984. Designed to covers a wide range of areas, including to increased focus on developing national security, social welfare, economic and social affair, money and taxes.
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