Weeping Heart

Weeping Heart is a memoir by Captain (Retd.) Dr. Sitara Begum, Bir Protik. A physician in the Pakistan Army before 1971, she defected to join the Mukti Bahini as a strong believer in the dream of an independent Bangladesh, serving at the Bangladesh Hospital in Sector 2. She was awarded Bir Protik for her dedication during the war. Dr. Sitara once dreamed of an independent Bangladesh solving poverty, gender oppression, and inequality. But her hopes were shattered. On November 7, her brother, Heroic Freedom Fighter Abu Taher Mohammad Hyder, was murdered. Dr. Sitara’s full story has remained mostly untold. Lt. Col. Hyder’s death was never investigated, and justice remains elusive. In Weeping Heart, Dr. Sitara breaks her silence to tell her story, to condemn the genocide Pakistan committed and to call for justice and accountability for Hyder and for all who suffered and died during the war and during the tumultuous political upheavals that followed. The role of women in the Liberation War often goes unspoken. This book brings to life the memories of a woman who was not just a soldier in the Liberation War of Bangladesh but also a witness to its most turbulent moments.