Volume 5 Issue 32| October 08, 2011|



  
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Behind The Scene

Mymensingh

A Victory to Remember:
The Fierce Battle of Telikhali

Freedom fighter Abdur Rob still remembers the fierce battle at frontier Telikhali during the Liberation War. “The battle seems a dream to me now”, says Rob. The Pakistan Occupation Army had suffered massive casualties that day
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Aminul Islam

Abdur Rob was an undergraduate student at the Phulpur Degree College in the Phulpur Upazila at the time. He was trained in combat from Tura, India. He had come back to Bangladesh and joined Sector No-11 headed by Colonel Taher.

Freedom fighter Abdur Rob

Commander Abul Hashem informed of the Occupation Army gathering forces and readying themselves for a big battle. “We were under special training for three long days supervised by the commander”, said Rob. They were being trained to stand against the Pak Army occupying Telikhali village in Haluaghat upazila. The occupational forces were stationed there to make sure none of the freedom fighters from the area could travel to India to receive training.

Rob reminisced back to the time when 201 freedom fighters had joined the allied forces - No-13 Rajput Regiment - and how they all had conducted a week long special mohra before the final attack against the Pak Army. He remembered how the regiment had to improvise while battling the enemy and their sophisticated arms and ammunitions.

All of the fighters in the battle were very young, but very enthusiastic in their sense of patriotism as they were all ready and eager to face the war. The battle took place on November 2, 1971, in Jatrakona, a neighboring village to Telikhali. The freedom fighters had cordoned off the Pak Camp around 3am and had charged grenades on them. The enemy forces had retaliated violently with bullets flying out of the camp in very direction. The fierce battle was ready to go down in history.

With much enthusiasm, Rob said, “The battle had stopped after dawn on the same day. We brought back a strategic victory. It was very important for us, as the path was made easier for freedom fighters' movements towards the capital.”

The battle was merciless! Only one out of 125 Pak soldiers was able to surrender while all the rest were killed along with all 25 Ranger Police members and 85 out of 87 collaborators or rajakars. Even though the casualties on the freedom fighters' side were not as great, 21 members of the allied forces, and seven freedom fighters including a student of Bangladesh Agricultural University had given their lives and climed martyrdom.

The ex-commander of Muktijuddah Sangsad Mymensingh Command, Abdul Rob says, “I remember the sacrifice of my co-freedom fighters with great respect and demand reasonable facilities from the government for the freedom fighters, especially for the poor and distressed ones.”


 


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