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Linking Young Minds Together
    Volume 2 Issue 50| January 02, 2011 |


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Experience

Stories of '71

Tamoha Binte Siddiqui
Photo courtesy: Zaim Alam

Dr. Hafz G. A. Siddiqi, Vice Chancellor, North South University, presents a crest to one of the freedom fighters present at the occasion.

The English Club of North South University (NSU) organised the event “Stories of '71”On December 2010, in the Recreation Center of the university's own campus in Bashundhara. The event was organised in order to commemorate our great Victory Day. The Chief Guest for the event was the Chairman of the Board of Governors, Mr. Azim Uddin Ahmed, whereas Dr. Hafiz G.A. Siddiqi, the Vice Chancellor, was the Chair of the event, and Dr. S.A.M. Khairul Bashar, the Pro Vice Chancellor, the Special Guest. The valiant freedom fighters who were present as the Key Speakers were Capt. Shahab Uddin Ahmed, Bir Uttam, Mr. Md. Shahjahan Siddiqui, Bir Bikram, Lt. Col. Sajjad Ali Zahir, Bir Protik, Major Wakar Hassan, Bir Protik, Capt. Alamgir Sattar, Bir Protik, and female freedom fighter Mrs. Nasreen Rab.

The event started with a captivating presentation on the history of our country starting from 1947 to our Victory Day on December 16, 1971. One of the highlights of the presentation was a video clip of the historical March 7 speech given by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Videos of the Mukti Bahini receiving training in various places with George Harrison's song “Bangladesh” playing as the background score were also shown.

Next came the memorable speeches given by the gallant freedom fighters themselves. First up was Bir Uttam Capt. Shahab Uddin Ahmed, who narrated the thrilling story of how he demolished Pakistani transports carrying arms and ammunition using a helicopter gunship, while flying it in an extremely dangerous manner.

A successful event that highlighted stories of the Liberation War.

Then, Bir Protik Major Wakar Hassan shared his daring experiences in the war field and how he narrowly escaped death a number of times. He also shared a touching anecdote about how his mother herself was willing to sacrifice one of her sons for the country and hence asked him to participate in the war so that freedom could be earned. His words left many of the audience members emotionally overwhelmed.

Next, freedom fighter Ms. Nasreen Rab recalled her memories of the Liberation War, and spoke of how scores of Bangladesh women played a major role in the country's freedom and emancipation.

Capt. Alamgir Sattar, Bir Protik, on the other hand, gave some valuable political insights and background regarding both the Liberation War and its aftermath, which helped the young members of the audience grasp a true slice of our history.

Afterwards, Mr. Md. Shahjahan Siddiqui, Bir Bikram passionately relived his experiences of both his training process as well as the missions carried out by his team. He highly entertained the audience members with his interactive speech, humorous quips, as well as interesting demonstrations of a few guerrilla hand-to-hand combat techniques.

Last but not the least, Lt. Col. Sajjad Ali Zahir, Bir Protik, took the podium, and Rather than focusing on his mission or his own contribution to the War of Liberation, he spoke about the contribution, courage and the suffering of the common people. He narrated true stories of three ordinary people of Bangladesh who lived during the Liberation War. These true stories touched the audience immensely, and some of them were left surreptitiously wiping heartfelt tears off their faces.

At the end of the programme, the honourable Vice Chancellor of North South University, Dr. Hafiz G.A. Siddiqi presented the valiant freedom fighters with crests as an honour to their invaluable contribution to the nation. All in all, the event was a grand success and gave the students and teachers of North South University an opportunity to hear the true stories of the Liberation War from the great war heroes themselves. We should all keep in mind that these valiant freedom fighters may not be with us in the near future, and hence it is the responsibility of the members of the younger generation to take more such initiatives to organise and host similar events or discussion sessions in order to preserve the glorious history of our country.

 

 

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