In 1971, Sultan Miah fought for the country’s independence and his left leg was left unfit for work due to injuries. In a strange twist of fate, however, this freedom fighter, who never reveals his woes to anybody, has been pulling rickshaw for the last 14 years to make a living.
Sultan earlier had a small grocery shop in the village but could not continue the business due to lack of capital.
The war veteran lives with his wife Jahanara Begum and daughter Rina Khatun in a rented house at Shaheed Shahjahan Colony in the town. He had a four-decimal land in Khochabari village under Lalmonirhat municipality but sold it seven years ago to arranger his elder daughter Shefali Begum’s wedding. The 15-year-old Rina Khatun works as a housemaid at a nearby house.
“I want to marry Rina off but I don’t have much money to do that. My wife has been asking me to save money for Rina’s wedding but I failed to do so. I’ve to pay Tk 30 a day to rent the rickshaw but I can’t pull it for long because of the injury in my leg,” said Sultan.
“I make Tk 70-80 a day by pulling rickshaw, which is insufficient to bear all the family expenses. That’s why we often starve for half of the day,” he added.
Sultan says he receives a monthly allowance of Tk 2,000 as a freedom fighter from the government but the whole amount is spent on house rent and medicine for himself and his wife.
The 58-year-old joined the Liberation War when he was just 18. He received training in India and fought against the Pakistani forces under group commander Soleman Ali of sector-6 in different areas of Lalmonirhat, including Bawar, Goddimari, Votmari, Dawabari, Daliya and Singimari. He also fought in Dimla and Daliya of Nilphamari at the time.
Moza Miah, a fellow wear veteran, said, Sultan was a brave member in their group as he was always the first to act on the group commander’s order.
“While in the battlefield, Sultan was always very caring about his fellow fighters. We would love him very much,” said another fellow fighter Abu Hossain.
Describing her husband, Jahanara said he was physically unfit for hard work.
“He needs to take rest all the time but it’s a pity that he now has to work very hard to make ends meet. We want to have fish or meat on the menu but we can’t as rice, vegetables and other items gobble up the meagre amount he brings in,” she said.
Now the couple’s only dream is to save enough for arranging their younger daughter’s wedding but they are unsure of the time it will take to save the required amount.
“I would rather die than beg for collecting the money. I am a war veteran and that’s why begging is not for me,” Sultan said in a determined tone.
