Mirza Fakhrul recalls 1971 memories as Liberation War veteran

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has said as a the then left-leaning activist he responded immediately to the call of his duty after March 25, 1971 along with his comrades but Awami League's opposition for political reasons exposed them to troubles in the war's initial days as freedom fighters.

"As we were linked to the left-leaning politics at that time, Awami League as well as Indian authorities started to consider us enemies," Mirza Fakhrul told BSS in a recent interview.

He added: "They put in all their efforts to debar us from engaging in the Liberation War. They virtually waited for scopes to harass us. It was really difficult to bypass such obstacles to carry out duties."

Fakhrul, however, said the then West Bengal government later allocated their group a location to raise a youth camp and thereafter the then chief minister of Bihar, Karpoori Thakur ,extended his hand to organize some more youth camps and also provided clothing for the left-leaning freedom fighters.

"Subsequently, when got ourselves more organized, India's central government engaged with us and arranged facilities for our training at Deradun (a city currently in the India's Uttarakhand state)," he said.

Fakhrul said at the Liberation War's onset, he was in his mid 20s and just secured his master's degree while he was residing at his hometown, Thakurgaon, a now defunct administrative unit called sub-division under Dinajpur district.

He recalled a unit of the then East Pakistan Rifles (EPR), paramilitary frontier force, was stationed at Thakurgaon with most of its personnel being Bengalis though its commanding officer was a West Pakistani military officer.

Fakhrul said even before the nationwide crackdown on March 25 midnight, the use of guns began since the morning on that day at Thakurgaon claiming lives of three or four people and in the night the EPR enforced curfew in the town.

He recalled that though initially tens of thousands of people took to the street to express their outrage, after some casualties they went indoors and "those of us were involved in movement during the pre-Liberation War time, went underground".

Fakhrul said from his secret refuge at a house along with some comrades, they came to know that the resistance against Pakistani troops began in different districts.

He also recalled that on the night of March 25, they heard an announcement of the then Major Ziaur Rahman and on the next day the detailed of the declaration of independence, which prompted them to come out of the refuge and call upon the people to come out to the street.

"We went to the SDPO (a now abolished police officer rank meaning sub divisional police officer) and asked him to open the arsenal from where we took some weapons," said the politician.

Subsequently, he said, a section of EPR soldiers revolted and "took shelter at the same place we were staying and with their assistance we dismantled a bridge that connected the highway from Syedpur to Thakurgaon to debar Pakistani soldiers ".