Comrade Moni Singh
Ahmed Ilias, Sir Syed Road, Mohammedpur, Dhaka
The article on Comrade Moni Singh reminded me of those days when I was young and involved in left politics with the Urdu-speaking students who belonged to the East Pakistan Students Union. Salahuddin Mohammed, a former president of East Pakistan Union of Journalists, was living in a colony at Azimpur and I was residing in a thatched hut which was located at Wari, adjacent to the railway lines. Salahuddin Mohammed had helped me in getting a job in the then East Pakistan Press Club as its manager. During that time the Communist Party was banned in Pakistan and Moni Singh was living underground. One day Salahuddin Mohammned asked me to come to his residence where I met for the first time the great leader-- Moni Singh.Salahuddin Mohammed asked me to arrange a one-night stay for Moni Singh in my hut, which was very much secure and safe. Accordingly, Moni Singh came to my hut riding a bicycle and wearing an overcoat, a nightcap and muffler covering his face. But he did not enter the hut and told me that he had arranged a more secure place for his living. He came only to express his thanks to me. After some time, we heard that Moni Singh had been arrested from a house in Mohammedpur. After liberation, Salahuddin Mohammed took shelter in Mohammedpur. He was in great difficulty for his role during the nine months of war of liberation. He sent a message to Moni Singh and sought his help to go safely to India. Subsequently, Moni Singh arranged for him and his family a safe passage to cross over to India from where Salahuddin Mohammed went to Pakistan and gradually disappeared from public life.
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