আখতারুজ্জামান ইলিয়াসের ছোটগল্পে মুক্তিযুদ্ধের বয়ান/ The Naration of the Liberation War in Akhtarzzaman Elias’s Short Stories

Abstract

In the short stories of Akhtaruzzaman Elias, the Liberation War of Bangladesh is represented not merely as a historical event but as a complex life reality intertwined with the crises of the individual, society, state, and politics. This article examines the representation of the Liberation War and the political, social, and human realities of post-war Bangladesh through six of his short stories: Apaghat, Raincoat, Onno Ghore Onno Swar, Khowari, Milir Hate Stengun, and Jal Swapna, Swapner Jal. The stories are examined in three chronological and thematic phases: the direct experience of the Liberation War; post-independence political and social disorder and disillusionment; and the subsequent resurgence of anti-Liberation War forces and the emergence of popular resistance. Apaghat and Raincoat portray the fear, sacrifice, and transformation of consciousness during the war, while Onno Ghore Onno Swar, Khowari, and Milir Hate Stengun reveal political disorder, abuse of power, economic hardship, social degradation, and the deviation from the ideals of the Liberation War in post-independence Bangladesh. Jal Swapna, Swapner Jal, on the other hand, depicts the rehabilitation and social and political re-establishment of anti-Liberation War forces, alongside the suppressed resistance of ordinary people. The analysis demonstrates that Elias does not confine the Liberation War to a conventional heroic or emotion-driven narrative; rather, he presents its immediate and long-term social and political consequences through a critical realist perspective. Thus, his Liberation War-related short stories construct a complex and multidimensional narrative in which history and individual life, dream and reality, aspirations for freedom and disillusionment, and resistance and power intersect. From this perspective, Elias’s short stories can be regarded as significant literary documents for understanding the Liberation War of Bangladesh and its enduring social and political repercussions.