Selfless man left helpless

Brojo Gopal Saha, a septuagenarian in Pabna who dedicated his life and his earnings to sports and social welfare, lies lonely and helpless on a bed at the Pabna General Hospital.

Affectionately known as Kala Da for his selfless and benevolent way of living, Saha never got married; instead he chose to give away everything, including his house, to help groom sportsmen and help poor people of the society. He was so devoted to his cause that he stayed back in his hometown when all of his family members decided to leave for India around the time of the Liberation War.

On Monday, the 75-year-old was left unconscious on a roadside following an accident. A rickshaw-puller took him to the Pabna General Hospital where he is getting treatment, but is still in bad shape, afflicted by injuries from the accident along with old-age complications.      

“After retirement [from Pabna Mental Hospital], I spent my retirement money getting girls from poor families married. I also gave financial support to many children for their studies, but now I have nothing left for my own treatment,” Saha said.

Before liberation, Saha played football at district level and officiated matches as well, but he came to the limelight as an athletics coach and produced some top athletes including once-fastest-woman Rehana Parvin and 400m runner Mehdi Hasan among others. He was once awarded the best trainer by the Bangladesh Athletics Federation (BAF).

The federation's joint secretary and national coach Farid Ahmed recalled Saha's contribution to athletics and his selfless nature.

“A lot of athletes grew up under Kala Da's guidance. I also trained under him despite the fact that I was from Khulna. He took a lot of athletes to Dhaka for different competitions spending money from his own pocket,” Farid said. “His entire family left Bangladesh, but Kala Da stayed in Pabna due to his love of sport, especially athletics.”

BAF vice president Farukul Islam said that they have asked the Pabna District Sports Association to take necessary steps for better treatment.