Things of concern for a freedom fighter
THE subject matter of the present write-up is an article, the title of which may be rendered in English as "Definition of Freedom Fighters and their number" by Abid Anwar. The article was published on the Oped page of the Bengali daily Prothom Alo in its December 31, 2009 issue.
The writer, a veteran freedom fighter, started guerrilla operations in the wake of the Pakistani military's crackdown of March 25, 1971 on the defenceless residents of Dhaka first from the Dhaka University (DU). He was then a third year Honours student of DU at its chemistry department. Later, he organised the War of Liberation under Sector No.3 in his home district of Kishoreganj (then a subdivision) after receiving training as a gonobahini commander from India.
As a writer he hardly needs any introduction as he has a long track record in the print media as a poet, columnist, literary critic and a popular science writer. But the article in question cannot be categorised as just another of his usual literary exercises. To all appearances, it has to do with something that touches his very personal space, his pride. A discreet reader would not fail to notice that he has gone off the deep end in his narrative of the Liberation War and the definition and number of the freedom fighters. Small wonder he has felt the obligation to speak out in a manner that might have surprised many.
Any proud freedom fighter who took up arms to wrest the independence of his motherland was propelled by sheer patriotism. A person who did not go to war out of any desire for personal gain or greed is naturally upset by any suggestion, implied or otherwise, that questions the genuineness of that urge. As one would expect, the entire hullabaloo over the issue of true or fake freedom fighters or their exact number around four decades after the war has pricked his self-esteem.
True, Bangladesh's independence would not be possible had not the whole nation, excepting a handful of renegades, participated in the War of Liberation. The mass people waged this war in a hundred and one forms. The number of fronts, too, was countless. Some members of the population took the neighbouring India to fight enemy soldiers and their local collaborators at the different battlefronts.
Others, who stayed back, provided food and shelter to the guerrilla fighters. Many were persecuted by the enemy forces and their local accomplices for their support to the war of independence. If truth be told, the entire populace was in the war and fought the enemy on a thousand and one fronts. In that sense, all of them were freedom fighters.
But during the independence war, the identities of those who went against the people and joined the enemy camp were unambiguously marked. Their number was easily calculable as every villager and resident of a ward in a big or small town knew them too well.
But how is one to count the numberless masses, all of whom took part in the Liberation War? Abid Anwar pointed exactly at this fallacious proposition of counting the "real freedom fighters" of that glorious war.
Though the size of the population has doubled during all these years after independence, the time that has come in between has not blurred the people's memory a bit about who had been with the cause of that people's war and who had not. Hence, his suggestion that it would be rather easier to revisit the records and count up the collaborators.
The people who fought the war of independence out of their love for the country are least concerned about all these efforts at listing and re-listing of the genuine (!) freedom fighters, an exercise they had always taken with a grain of salt. On the contrary, a freedom fighter is more willing to take stock of the successes and failures of the nation they finally created through the war.
Are they happy with what has become of the country some four decades after the Pakistani occupation forces had signed the paper of their surrender? What do they tell their children about their dreams and struggles during the war? Do they rejoice at or regret their roles during the war and, if so, what gladdens or saddens them most? The inducements of allowances, job quotas or other benefits for which some think they might fall are completely in the wrong.
In a similar vein, they, for certain, do not take all the claims and counter-claims over who were the real champions and who were less than that in the Freedom War in a light-hearted manner. They did not after all dream of a fractious nation after the war. For they cannot forget for a moment the rock solid unity of the people that injected courage and hope in their heart to stake their dearest lives in the cause of national freedom.
Where is that unity among the political forces that is so essential for waging the other war, the one for building a prosperous nation?
A freedom fighter, who was in her/his early youth during the War, has already reached early or late middle age by now. What may a person at this critical stage of her/his life yearn for? They would rather like to leave behind a nation that is safe for her/his progeny and where they may lead a prosperous life.
So, the best way to make the freedom fighters happy, especially by those who are now at the helm, would be to present before them a better prospect for the nation where their progeny may live in peace and prosper.
Syed Fattahul Alim is a senior journalist.
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