During the Liberation War we remained at our residence in the teacher’s quarter. Our ancestral home was in West Bengal, India.
As my father was worried about the proper care of my 2 year old sister, we did not move there. My father had openly supported our Liberation War. He had made students aware of their responsibility to the nation. An announcement had been given from the Pakistan government that said that anyone who could identify the people working for liberation would be awarded.
At that time, on 20 September, a few men from the Pakistan army came and took my father away, but with the help of a friend he returned unharmed 12 days later. But on the morning of 14 December, my father was taken away from Dhaka University quarter no. 30/E by members of Al Badar. That was the last time we saw him.
It was in the house of Anwar Pasha, Professor of BangIa, Dhaka University. He and my father were bosom friends. From the first week of December we went regularly to Anwar Pasha uncle’s house to spend the nights there. On 14 December at 9 o’clock my father was talking to Anwar uncle while taking breakfast. I was beside my father. Suddenly, a knock at the door stopped their discussion. The door was opened and a few men wearing khaki uniforms came in. One of them had a paper in hand. They asked whether it was the house of Anwar Pasha sir. Anwar uncle came forward and gave his identity to them.
My father asked them why they were looking for Anwar Pasha. They replied that their sir had sent for him. They added that they needed to interrogate him and would send him back after some time. My father looked agitated. A man at the back holding a paper in hand (I later understood that it was the list of teachers targeted for killing) asked my father his identity. My father answered him. He checked something on the paper and then told my father to come with them. Being alarmed, I ran to my mother.
My mother and Mrs. Anwar Pasha were in the middle room. We came back to the drawing door and finding nobody there, we rushed to the corridor. We watched the men dragging them forcefully towards a bus. Father and Anwar uncle were blindfolded. We cried out at the sight of it. They scolded us and asked us to stop crying. They started firing in the air, then got in the bus and disappeared. My eyes often get blurred when I recall that sight. After independence we searched for my father. Some students from Dhaka University found his dead body along with the dead bodies of other intellectuals martyred at Mirpur Boddhay Bhumi 22 days after his disappearance. The dead bodies of probably eight martyrs were found in tact. Some had only the upper portion of their bodies. Later the bodies were buried by the mosque of Dhaka University.
My father believed that we definitely would achieve our independence. My mother was often very nervous and scared about what was about to happen. And just two days after his disappearance we did achieve our independence. We emerged as an independent nation ready to take our place in the world. The creation of Bangladesh was a triumph of the democratic spirit and the resolve of the people who created a homeland in which they could speak their language, embrace their culture, and live in dignity, free from religious bigotry and alien exploitation.
