War tales of the brave hearts

Freedom fighters and the young generation paying tribute to the martyrs of Liberation War

The freedom fighters were ushered in by one child each amidst a tune played on the bugles. The recitation of poet Shamsur Rahman's famous poem Guerilla with the fading of the bugle tune was a befitting tribute to the bravery of these war heroes. After a brief welcome speech of the CEO of Spectra Group, the members of various urban guerilla groups came to the dais and shared their memories with the audience.

Shahidullah Khan Badal reminisced his days at the training camp 'Mela Ghar'. He narrated how the young boys built each of the camps, how they dug wells for the supply of water, how his three friends and he joined the war together, how they were trained up as guerilla fighters and in operating various weapons. Badal could not hold his tears while telling that two of his friends were martyred in the war.

Toufiqur Rahman told about the Kakrail petrol pump operation in which he along with three others took part. BBC broadcast the news that night and the newspapers carried the news the next day. Ali Ahsan Sohel, one of the members of the Young Platoon led by Captain Haider, reminisced how they were provided with shelters by many families in the city.

Among the women freedom fighters, Mini Kader told her experiences with the freedom fighters. 'At that time the Pakistani army generally would not check cars carrying women. So, often the freedom fighters would take a girl or two with them while going to an operation,' she said. Often the freedom fighters would keep bags of arms and ammunition with her and would collect them later.

Renowned actor Raisul Islam Asad narrated the suspenseful story of bombing at the Baitul Mukarram Market. They had to make two attempts for the operation as on the first try the wet fuse betrayed their plan. In their second attempt, however, the bomb blasted creating further terror among the Pakistani army and their accomplices.

Freedom fighter Masud Sadek Chullu narrated the painful stories of how many of them were tortured by the Pakistani army to extract information. 'They would insert needles through our nails, give electric shock on the feet and hang from the ceiling,' he said. Gazi Golam Dastogir and Abdus Samad described the operations of destroying the power station at Rampura and on the Hotel Intercontinental.

The punctuating cultural performances by the artistes of the Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendro (SBBK) and young performers of Tona Tuni were an added beauty of the programme. Many were seen trying to restrain tears especially during the dance pieces with the songs Shei rail liner dharey and Amar shonar chand Altaf. Swapan Dutta, Mini Kader and Shahin Samad of SBBK performed songs.

In the last part of the programme the war heroes were decorated with medals. The programme ended with singing of the National Anthem.