Tucked away behind a paved road in Tongi’s Ershadnagar is a small tin-roofed gym that looks unremarkable from the outside. Inside, however, iron bars, weight plates and young athletes sweating through their training tell a different story.
This modest gym is the life’s work of 84-year-old freedom fighter and veteran weightlifter Mojibur Rahman, a man who has never allowed age to define his limits.
Even after thieves recently broke into the gym through its deteriorating tin fencing and stole several locks, a CCTV camera, and a Wi-Fi router, Mujibur did not give up. He continues to train himself and coach young athletes every morning and afternoon.
His journey into weightlifting began in the early 1960s, after he moved to Dhaka from Bhandaria in Pirojpur in search of work. He joined the then Telegraph and Telephone Department through a relative and spent his days delivering telegrams across the city. While travelling between Arambagh, Gulistan and his workplace, he one day noticed weightlifters training at the Wanderers Club. Intrigued,
In 1964, he began formal training under Mokhlesur Rahman Bhuiyan, Anwar Hossain and Mohammad Sheikh Amin and gradually established himself in the sport. He also became close friends with Mohiuddin Ahmed, who later became an influential organiser in the national sports federation.
Mojibur competed in the 1966 East Pakistan Games, where he won bronze, and took part in the 1968 Pakistan Games. In 1970, he undertook another remarkable feat, cycling across 19 districts over two months and 16 days. He also received recognition from the bodybuilding federation and developed friendships with several figures from the film industry, including the late actor Wasim.
But coaching would eventually become his greatest contribution. In 1990, he established his first club, Bhaibandhu. In 2005, he founded another club in Ershadnagar and later established a training centre bearing his own name. More than 25 athletes trained under him have gone on to secure jobs in the Bangladesh Army, Ansar and the prison service. His clubs have also won the national junior championship 11 times and finished runners-up four times. At the senior level, they have secured three runner-up positions. Mojibur’s life took a dramatic turn during the Liberation War.
After completing 45 days of guerrilla training at the Hasnabad Amlani camp in North 24 Pargana under the commander of Belayet, India, he joined the war under Sector 9 and fought in the Sundarbans.
On one occasion, Mojibur and 52 other fellow freedom fighters from Modbaria Thana were attacked by Pakistani forces while moving deep into the Sundarbans. At that time, Mojibur was alone from vandaria thana, and he led the full team from Modbaria Thana.
Amid the chaos, strong tidal currents broke the rope securing their only boat, sending it drifting towards the sea.
Around 1am on a winter night, the young Mojibur plunged into the dark river. Battling crocodiles and strong currents, he swam for nearly 40 minutes and managed to pull the boat back to shore, saving the lives of all 52 of his comrades.
That experience, perhaps, explains why strength has always meant more to him than sport.
At 84, Mojibur is still competing. Last March, he won gold in the 70kg category at the Asian Masters competition in Doha, Qatar. In September the same year, he won silver at the World Masters in Las Vegas, United States. He is now preparing to compete at another World Masters event in Athens, Greece, on September 17.
He also played a pioneering role in introducing women’s weightlifting in Bangladesh.
In 1998, while watching a television broadcast of a Bulgarian female weightlifter with Mohiuddin Ahmed at the National Sports Council, Mojibur wondered why Bangladeshi women could not do the same. With encouragement from Ahmed, he approached four young women, Nargis Akter, Parul Akter, Lily Akter and Mariam Begum and convinced them to train.
The first women’s weightlifting training programme in the country began on June 28, 1998. Years later, athletes such as Mabia Akter emerged from the sport and brought international glory to Bangladesh.
Mojibur does not charge his students any training fees. Instead, he uses his freedom fighter allowance and Ansar honorarium to help cover their transport and food costs.
Twenty-one athletes, five boys and 16 girls, currently train at his centre. Among them is Shaeila Akter, a national club-level gold medallist in the 69kg category, who considers the gym a second home.
His work extends far beyond weightlifting. He has helped disadvantaged and orphaned children enrol in schools, donated wheelchairs to three children with disabilities and supported the education of an orphaned sixth-grader. He routinely buys notebooks in bulk from local shops and distributes them among children.
During the devastating 1988 floods, he also delivered food and safe drinking water to families in need.
His own life has not been without loss. In 2014, he lost his eldest son, who died at the age of 35. Today, he lives with his wife, Peyara Begum, two daughters, and his youngest son. For Mojibur, life is about living in the present. He spends his leisure time listening to Baul, Lalon and Bhatiali music and watching old films starring Uttam Kumar, Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand. Yet his greatest concern remains the future of the children he trains.
The ageing tin-roofed gym leaks during rain and cannot accommodate all the athletes at once. Many prospective trainees have to return home simply because there is not enough space. Still, Mojibur has one dream: a permanent, modern gymnasium for thousands of underprivileged children in Ershadnagar.
“I want to remain involved with weightlifting until my last breath,” Mojibur told Dhaka Tribune. “I want to leave behind a permanent place of dreams for the children of this area. I ask the honourable sports minister to give these boys and girls, whom I have nurtured with a lifetime of sweat and love, a small piece of land. If we can have a gymnasium, thousands of dreams will have a place to grow. Then I can close my eyes in peace.”
