Farquan Begum
The Liberation War of 1971 didn't just begin overnight. It took long years of mobilising people towards the cause of gaining an independent nation. It took time to motivate people, educate people on their rights, and prepare people for this kind of movement. My
family and I had been involved in this process leading up to the war. Fighting for independence was in my blood. My mother was a "Bhasha Shohinik" (activist in Language Movement of 52). Before that, my parents and maternal uncles were active in the struggle for independence of India from the British. The Brits called them "terrorists". I had been involved with Chatra League for years. The West Pakistan governance created a disparity between the two Pakistans, they cheated us. We realised we had to stand on our own, we had to survive, we had to protect ourselves.
Bengalis are generally a peace-loving people. But when the Pakistani's unleashed such unbridled, inhumane atrocities, we as a people
became furious. When the war started, I helped establish camps for those who lost their homes. Among the displaced in the camps, we selected the young, strong ones to fight in the war. We collected arms and provided arms training.
We also collected funds for food, shelter, medicine and establishing nursing centers for the wounded. I was the leader of the Women's
Guerilla Squad in Agartala. I trained women to fight and use arms. We used our friends and relatives who were on duty in the Pakistani Army to help us free the captured.
Because of all my activities, I always carried a Chinese pistol. When I was with the others, fighting on the streets, I carried grenades.
During this terrible time, I saw villages set on fire, burning in the wake of the Pakistan's infiltration. The corpses we saw along our path
saddened me and fuelled the fires to fight against injustice.
Sometimes we didn't eat for days, we walked miles, sometimes eating fruits on our way. I did not face too much trouble joining the
cause of war as a women. Actually, I was trained from childhood to do this. Besides, I went to a coed school and came from a broadminded family. We all went through lots of trouble, but we did it for love of our nation. In the name of "Desh Prem" people can do anything.
After Muktijuddho, I did not associate with any political party because the country was free. The political party was just a vehicle to get
there. Instead, I put my energies into social work, humanist activities, working for the poor. I write and I have actively called on the
government to recognize freedom fighters. When we were fighting, we had a dream that all our people would be able to eat and enjoy
fundamental rights. However, big powers have a role to play, they make the rules, preventing us from realising those dreams.
We, the smaller countries must demand that the big powers play fairly. Right now, I am 'hanging' in between jobs. I was a Deputy Director and Senior Assistant at different levels of a ministry. But because of my associations before the war, sometimes we get shafted by different governments. Those who fought for the cause of war all were involved in political parties, it was for a greater cause. But now we are being punished for that.