The sixteenth of December 1971 was a moment of supreme emotion. The day of Pakistan's capitulation became Bangladesh's Victory Day (Bijoy Dibosh; bijay dibas). As liberation and independent statehood became realities, a mood of exuberance took hold of the delta. Now ‘Golden Bengal’ – that promised happy land – finally was within reach. Indian forces hurriedly installed an interim government, rounded up Pakistani soldiers and tried to establish a semblance of order. It was also a turbulent and difficult time. All over the delta people were violently settling scores, and millions of displaced people were returning to often devastated and looted homes. There were three immediate issues confronting the young state: how to cope with collaborators, how to rehabilitate war victims and how to repair the damage caused by the war.

DEALING WITH THE ENEMY WITHIN

What to do with those who had been on the Pakistani side and who remained in the delta? One group consisted of some 90,000 Pakistani prisoners of war and civil internees who were taken away by India. They would spend several years in camps in India before being returned to Pakistan.

A second group consisted of collaborators who remained in Bangladesh: members of paramilitary groups, death squads, citizens' committees, looters and informers. In January 1972 it was decided that these would be brought before a Collaborators' Tribunal and tried for war crimes.