"Kalpurush 1971" was a Victory day program, organized for the first time by BRAC Business School (BBS) - the precious 160 minutes with the Freedom Fighters; that made their contribution more unforgettable to all of us. The program was hosted by Tanjim Ferdous who gave a magnificent prologue with his wonderful speech regarding the purpose of the program, why we should have immense respect towards our freedom fighters and why they are considered as the most ideal inhabitants of our country. The program was set in motion with the freedom fighters sharing their tragic, yet inspirational moments, preceded by a very poignant letter from the collection "Ekatturer Chhithi", read out by Ananda, a student of BRAC University.
The first speaker to share a story was Ferdausi Priyobhashini, a woman who is considered to be a "Birangona". She shared her distressing story of how the Pakistanis had tormented her during the war, a story that brought tears in the eyes of every single spectator present in that room. Then came the Guerilla fighter ASM Shahidullah Khan Badal, who is currently the publisher of 'The Daily New Age'. He told us stories of how the most brilliant young people of that period joined the Crack Platoon and terrorized the Pakistanis, keeping them petrified every moment along with the entire Dhaka city. Next was Ajay Das Gupta to share his part of the story. He reminisced how his journey began from Barisal and how he and Mr.Khaled Mosharrof had worked together to build up armed forces out of the amateur freedom fighters. Mr. Mahfuz Anam, the Editor of 'The Daily Star' was also one of the speakers. He shared the stories of his diplomatic broadcasting, the condition of the war both behind the scenes and face to face, his stories of joining the army and how it was the immense help from the 'Mukti Bahini' that went through innumerous hurdles and brought the Indian army inside our border through scouts, that made the surrender of the Pakistanis possible. He also talked about the possibilities for everybody to do something for the country from their repetitive designations. Wrapping up the session was Retd. Major General ATM Abdul Wahab, the sub-sector commander of Sector-8 at that time, who shared his tale. He referred to how difficult it was to administer a war under an umbrella and narrated explicably how it was made possible to see the light of victory.
When all the speakers were done with their dialogue, a documentary was shown based on the life of a martyr Safi Imam Rumi, giving a small glance to his story and few of the letters he wrote during the war, a moment that truly touched the deepest corner of everyone's heart. Following the documentary was a panel discussion, moderated by Professor Mamun Rashid. The discussion was initiated by the woman whom we often see in pictures. During war time when the East Pakistanis were not allowed to sit in the assembly, it was Mrs. Rokeya Sultana Raka, a student from Dhaka University, who, with a rifle in hand called for the first ever procession, being the one to both instigate and lead it forward. Continuing the discussion with his epigrammatic viewpoints was Mr. Nuh Alam Lelin, who talked about his expectations from the people currently dwelling in the country. After that was the most awaited speech of Dr. Akbar Ali Khan, the former advisor of the Caretaker Government. During war, he was an SDO in Habiganj. Though he worked as a Pakistani officer and in spite of of all the warnings of sending him to Karachi, he arranged for a place to store guns for the East Pakistani fighters, using the power that he had. He shared his memories of diplomacy and how he joined the 'Mujibnagar Government', covering aspects of its achievements during the war as well as its post-war failures. Last, but not the least, was the enthusiastic speech of the Director of Gender, Justice & Diversity and Advocacy, BRAC- Ms. Sheepa Hafiza, who talked about the position of women in our country and their role in development.
The end to the panel discussion tagged along with it a cultural program where Shaan, Ruhi, Tasbita and Aniruddha, students from BRAC University performed patriotic songs and songs from 'Shadheen Bangla Betar Kendro'. Our chief artist was Mr.Sadi Mohammed who mesmerized us with his patriotic solo performance, preceded with a duet with Ms.Zainab Ali Farooqui and a solo by Topon Bhattacharjee. The program was given a spectacular finale with our national anthem-'Amar Shonar Bangla', sung by all with downright respect.
The program was organized by the students of BBS headed by Tanjim Ferdous, and his team members, Trisha, Shihab, Rumman, Shimul and Tasbita under the supervision of Mrs. Samina Haque and Mr. Saif Hossain, faculty members of BBS. Although our new generation has not experienced the liberation war, they are fighting their war against all the social, economical and political ties of our nation, declaring a war to bring a better environment and a new ray of hope for the country.