Many of the roads in Mohammadpur, Dhaka, bear the names of Mughal-era rulers, but two stand out for their association with Bangalis and Bangladesh’s struggle for freedom.
Some are aware of the history behind the naming of one road, Asad Avenue, but most people think Salim Ullah Road honours Sir Khwaja Salimullah Bahadur, the fourth nawab of Dhaka.
The second road, intersecting Asad Avenue and Taj Mahal Road on the western side of Mohammadpur Town Hall Market, actually bears the name of a patriotic Bangali martyred on March 26, 1971, a date etched in the brutal annals of the struggle for freedom.
Salim Ullah lived with his wife Zebunnesa and their 10 children in a three-storey house on Tajmahal Road in Mohammadpur.
He was born to Hasan Ali Sarkar and Omar Jan in 1924 in Kachua, Chandpur. He had two brothers and two sisters.
A businessman by profession, Salim Ullah was also well-known as a social worker.
In 1961, he settled with his family at House C-12/10, Tajmahal Road, where his legacy continues to inspire reverence and remembrance.
Rising tensions
During that era, Mohammadpur was home to a significant population of Urdu speakers.
Salim Ullah played a pivotal role as head of the Bangali and non-Bangali coordination committee in the area. He also served as president of the Awami League’s Mohammadpur thana unit. His residence was a frequent gathering place for political workers, which did not sit well with Biharis and Punjabis.
But Salim Ullah had become an eyesore to non-Bangalis even before that.
The friction centred on the establishment of Mohammadpur Govt High School. Back then, there was no separate Bangla medium school in Mohammadpur, and Salim Ullah wanted Mohammadpur Boys School to adopt Bangla as its medium of instruction instead of Urdu, a stance that faced disapproval from the non-Bangali community.
Then came the momentous year of 1971. It was March 23, Pakistan Day. When the majority of the non-Bangali families in Mohammpur were celebrating the occasion, Bangladesh’s flag was flying proudly atop the roof of Salim Ullah’s three-storey house. Salim Ullah’s wife Zebunnesa had made the flag by embroidering on cloth with golden thread a map of Bangladesh drawn by their son Sadi Mohammad.
The Pakistanis did not take it well. That very day, a Pakistan Army helicopter checked out Salim Ullah’s house while hovering over it.
On the night of March 25, a meeting of Bangalis and non-Bangalis was convened at the house, attended by such notable figures as Abdul Quddus Makhan and Nure Alam Siddique, prominent student leaders and known popularly as two of Bangabandhu’s “four caliphs.”
At the gathering, Salim Ullah called for peaceful coexistence, a plea for harmony amidst escalating tensions.
Beginning of turmoil
But peace eluded Salim Ullah’s family. After the brutal crackdown of Pakistani forces in Dhaka on the night of March 25, a grim shadow enveloped Salim Ullah’s house the next day.
His son Sadi Mohammad, a celebrated Rabindra Sangeet singer and composer who died earlier this month, narrated the incident in an interview in Tanvir Mokammel’s documentary “Swapnabhumi.”
Sadi Mohammad and his siblings were at home during Jummah prayers on March 26, but their father, Salim Ullah, had gone to the mosque next to their house.
As the congregation concluded their prayers, two shots rang out from a neighbouring residence named Bhopal Cottage, inhabited by a Punjabi family.
However, a group of people coming out of the mosque accused Salim Ullah’s household of the gunfire before attacking it.
By that time Salim Ullah had rushed home.
In the wake of the army attack on Dhaka on March 25, many Bangali families from the neighbourhood had taken shelter in the house, believing it was safe and no one would attack it.
But it did not take time for them to be proven wrong as bombs were hurled and shots were fired at Salim Ullah’s once-peaceful residence.
In Sadi Mohammad’s recollection, approximately 25 sheltering individuals died in the onslaught, while one of his brothers sustained injuries.
Escaping the violence
In a desperate attempt at survival, Salim Ullah’s family members all jumped from the first floor of the three-storey abode onto a neighbouring house, with his wife breaking her leg in the process. Sadi’s six-month-old twin sisters remained cradled in their uncle’s arms, while the rest of the siblings sought hiding spots wherever they could find them. Sadi went to hide inside a bathroom in the house next door where he saw his mother lying injured with a broken leg, along with his father.
Suddenly, a non-Bangali neighbour who worked in the air force barged into the room wielding a knife and stabbed Salim Ullah in the back.
In a bid to save his father, Sadi Mohammad put his hand over his father’s wound to stem the flow of blood. With his hands now stained crimson, soaked in his father’s blood, Sadi was told by Salim Ullah to run for his life. Reluctant at first, Sadi finally exited the house at his father’s insistence.
He ran to a nearby house for shelter, only to see dead bodies piled up there. Horrified, he left its premises only to see more brutality.
Tragic losses
Sadi watched in disbelief as assailants took his infant sisters from their uncle’s arms and threw them on the ground before putting a spear through his chest. They tied his body to a car with a rope around his neck and dragged him until his death was confirmed.
One of Sadi’s cousins suffered a similarly brutal fate as he was bound by the neck to a car and dragged mercilessly to Mohammadpur Eidgah Field where his life was ended by his throat being slashed.
Post-independence
Unsurprisingly, Sadi detested Pakistanis but did not let his feelings come out. Instead of allowing his hatred to dictate his actions, in independent Bangladesh, he and his mother provided financial support to the non-Bangalis in the Mohammadpur Bihari camp, also giving them employment opportunities.
In 1972, after the Liberation War, the road adjacent to Tajmahal Road was named Shaheed Salim Ullah Road in honour of Sadi Mohammad’s father, thanks to the efforts of the Mohammadpur units of the Awami League and its student wing, Chhatra League. It also received official recognition later.
Historical records state that the road was known as Quaid-e-Azam Road during the Pakistan era.
Meanwhile, after the end of the war, Sadi and his family faced significant challenges in reclaiming their Tajmahal Road residence.
During the war, Zebunnesa and her children stayed in another house of theirs in Basila, where she was fighting a battle of her own with her broken leg.
Even after the war ended, Zebunnesa’s struggles persisted. Upon returning to their former address post-liberation, they embarked on the arduous task of renovating their fire-damaged house. However, complications arose when the property was categorized as “enemy property.” Subsequently, a legal dispute ensued, culminating in a court ruling in favour of Sadi’s family.
Zebunnesa engaged herself in sewing work to finance her children’s education, ensuring they received a quality upbringing. Among them, Sadi Mohammad distinguished himself by attaining bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Rabindra Sangeet from India’s Visva-Bharati University, emerging as a prominent figure in the promotion of Tagore songs in post-liberation Bangladesh. Another son, Shibli Mohammad, achieved fame as one of the nation’s foremost dancers.