Bangladesh – Page 7 – Adnan's Den

Story of a Martyred Intellectual of 71’s war

14th December 1971, history remorses for the killings of intellectuals of Bangladesh in this day. When the Pakistani Military realized that they were totally unable to defeat Bangladesh in the Liberation war, they tried to crack the psychological strength of freedom fighters by killing numerous intellectuals of Bangladesh. But off course they failed!! I am here to tell the story of one of such bright sons of Bangladesh, who was happened to my relative.

Nizamuddin Ahmed, younger brother of my grand-father, is a martyred intellectuals who was killed on 14th December 1971, just before two days of the Victory of Liberation War. I never saw him actually, but my grandfather never forgot his brother for a single moment in the rest of his life.

Nizam Uddin Ahmed

Nizamuddin Ahmed was born in Munshiganj in 1929. He was a journalist. He passed B.A (Hons) and M.A in Economics from Dhaka University in 1959. Later he joined Pakistan Press International. He became the editor of PPI in 1969 and was promoted to the rank of general manager.

He was an ardent supporter of the liberation war of Bangladesh. He used to send news items on the atrocities of the Pakistani forces to various foreign news media. He had taken New York Times journalist McBrown to a guerrilla camp to collect authentic news. He provided BBC with authentic news under strict censorship. For this reason he was taken to General Rao Forman Ali’s office on two occasions.

On December 12, 1971, while he was taking his lunch, members of Al-Badr (a branch organization of Razakaar) picked him up from his residence forcefully. At that moment there was none but his mother in the house. That was the last time his mother saw him alive. After the victory of Bangladesh, my grand-father took every possible steps to find out his brother’s body, whether he was dead or alive. But his body was never been found.

We’ve passed 36 victory days but the murderers were went unpunished. Not only Nizamuddin, the Razakaars (now they formed Jamat-e-Islami) killed numerous intellectuals from Bangladesh at 1971. But what our political leaders did with them? Whether it was Awami League or BNP, they just made collaboration with them for the power. And at the present day the Caretaker Government is doing actually nothing to the Jamat-e-Islami for their past misdeed. These beasts are roaming in our country, which costs the blood of 3 million martyrs. Does our politics really think of our country? I don’t know. But one thing is sure that I hate the Razakaars as well as the political parties and the individuals, who have already abandoned their moralities for the wealth and power by supporting the Razakaars.

Can’t we dream of a Bangladesh, which is free from the liberation war opposer? Can’t we do something to make the liberation war’s martyr’s dream true?

Eid-ul-Adha will be on December 21, 2007.

According to the lunar calendar, this year Eid-ul-Adha in Bangladesh will be celebrated on December 21 (Friday). After their meeting, in a press briefing, Islamic Foundation Bangladesh has announced the date officially, this evening. So the government holidays will be Decemebr 20, 21 and 22 (Thusrday, Friday and Saturday accordingly).

Happy Eid-ul-Adha to all in advanced 🙂 .

Exile Government of Bangladesh in 1971

The oath-taking ceremony of the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh-in-exile at Mujibnagar on April 17, 1971.

Mujibnagar Government On 10 April 1971, the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh was formed through a proclamation of independence issued from Mujibnagar. It confirmed the declaration of independence made earlier. Bangabandhu sheikh mujibur rahman, who was then interned in Pakistan, was elected President, syed nazrul islam Vice President and tajuddin ahmed Prime Minister. In the absence of the President, the Vice President was empowered to exercise the powers, duties and responsibilities of the President.The Bangladesh Government held a formal inauguration ceremony at the mango grove of village Baidyanathtala (renamed Mujibnagar) under the present Meherpur district on 17 April 1971. A few platoons of the then EPR and freedom fighters were deployed for presenting the Guard of Honour. The ceremony started at 11 am. When Syed Nazrul Islam hoisted the flag, a small group sang the national anthem Amar Sonar Bangla (My Golden Bangla) in a chorus. Syed Nazrul Islam announced the formation of a sovereign government of Bangladesh and introduced the ministers to the audience. The Acting President then delivered his speech. After that, Prime Minister Tajuddin Ahmed spoke at a press conference. Continue reading Exile Government of Bangladesh in 1971

First Diplomat from Bangladesh.

Abul Fateh (born 1924) is the Bangladesh diplomat who became that country’s first Foreign Secretary when it gained its independence in 1971. He was an unusual diplomat of his time, as he was Bengali-born, but had managed to work his way up the ranks of the Pakistani power structure. Then when Bangladesh began seeking independence, it was a massive morale boost for the Bangladeshi people, for people of Fateh’s stature to resign from the Pakistani power structure, and support the fledgling country of Bangladesh. Fateh was the highest-ranked and most senior foreign service officer in the new country. His story was later documented in a National Geographic documentary, Running for Freedom.

After the Pakistani military crackdown in March 1971, Abul Fateh received a request from a former university dormitory mate, Syed Nazrul Islam, to join the liberation struggle. At about the same time, in July 1971, Fateh received a summons from the Pakistan Foreign Ministry to attend a conference in Tehran of regional Pakistani ambassadors. He chose to take his official car ostensibly to drive to Tehran but, as he and his driver approached the Iran-Iraq border, he feigned chest pains and ordered the driver to return him home, where he arrived that evening. Saying that he would take a plane the next day, he dismissed the driver. That night, he fled with his wife and sons across the border into Kuwait, from where they took a plane to London.

The announcement of Fateh’s defection to the Bangladesh cause marked the first time a full ambassador had joined the fledgling Bangladesh diplomatic service. The news was received with fury by the military regime in Islamabad, which meanwhile had discovered that on the afternoon just before his supposed departure for Tehran, he had cleared out the Pakistan Embassy bank account in Baghdad to the benefit of the Bangladesh government. The military regime’s requests to extradite him from London were rebuffed by the British Government. These events were chronicled in a 2003 National Geographic Channel television documentary, Running for Freedom.

Abul Fateh (second from left) with his family in London.

The Mujibnagar government made him ambassador-at-large, followed in August 1971 by the concurrent position of Advisor to the Acting President, a position he was to resign in January 1972 after the return to Bangladesh of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He had a leading role, as the Bangladesh movement’s senior-most diplomat, in a delegation under Justice Abu Sayed Choudhury which went to the United Nations in New York to lobby for the Bangladesh cause. He was also in communication with other governments, such as the Nixon administration via the French consul. He was one of the first high officials to reach Dhaka after its liberation, and was quartered with other senior officials in Bangabhaban until January 1972. Already the effective head of the incipient foreign service, he became Foreign Secretary at the end of 1971.

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Some posters of 1971’s Liberation War.

Dear Readers, as it is December, the month of victory of Bangladesh, I am trying to post topics related to the Liberation War of 1971. It is very much fascinating for me as I am googling numerous sites in search of topics related to the 1971’s war and chapters of the past history of Bangladesh is revealing in front of me. It’s really an speechless feeling to know the past of your nation from other than the text books. And I am trying my best to give you the flavor of that feelings.

These are the some posters that were published in 1971 during the Liberation war. These posters helped Bangladesh to gain international support during the war. The first one is a legendary poster, produced by famous Bangladeshi artist Potua Kamrul Haasan. This is a caricature of Yahya Khan.

If anyone have more link(s) for other 1971’s war posters, please share the link(s) in this blog.

First Postal Stamp of Bangladesh.

First postal stamp of Bangladesh was published on July 29, 1971. It shows the whole map of Bangladesh. Only three colors are there: red, dark purple & light blue. It’s denomination is 10p [ten poisa]. It’s perforation is 14×14 1/2. On the stamp, the word Bangladesh is written three times; two times in English and on the upper left corner in Bangla. This stamp served mainly two purposes; to familiarize Bangladesh with the rest of the world as well as to convince other countries to support Bangladesh in the Liberation War.

First Flag of Bangladesh.

The first flag of the independence movement of Bangladesh in 1971 was somewhat different than the present one. That flag had a map of Bangladesh in gold color embedded at the center of the red circle. This was the original design of the flag of Bangladesh under which the valiant freedom fighters fought during our liberation war. On the 3rd of March 1971, ASM Abdur Rab, the then Vice President of Dhaka University Student’s Union, hoisted the flag for the first time at the historic Dhaka University location known as Bot-tola. This flag was also raised at the then Ramna Racecourse (now a park renamed as Shuhrawardy Uddayan) when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman gave his historic speech proclaiming “…this struggle is the struggle for liberation…“.

Salute to the Martyrs of the Bangladesh Liberation War 1971.

December, an extremely significant month in the history of Bangladesh. This is the month of victory for Bangladesh. On December 16, 1971; Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) achieved independence from Pakistan (then West Pakistan) after a continuous war of nine months, which is known as “Liberation War” or “Mukti Juddho”.

During the war there were widespread killings and other atrocities – including the displacement of civilians in Bangladesh and widespread violations of human rights – carried out by the Pakistan Army with support from political and religious militias began with the start of Operation Searchlight on 25 March 1971. At the end of the war Bangladesh lost 3 millions of her brave people.

I am remembering those valiant gems of Bangladesh without whom a new nation couldn’t be born. Without them we are nothing. They are our history. The brave soldiers of Bangla, we never forget you. You are our hero, our pride, our existence. May Allah give us strength so that we can stand against them who opposes you as well as the liberation war.