Martyred intellectual's daughter slates Awami League over assault of a Bangladesh war veteran

Martyred intellectual's daughter Dr Nuzhat Choudhury has slammed the Awami League leaders for their indifference to the assault of a freedom fighter when the party, which led the struggle for independence, is in power for seven long years.

"I want to know from you, if you are the partymen bearing the Sonar Bangla spirit and Bangabandhu's ideals, how can a freedom fighter suffer that kind of assault and humiliation?" asked Nuzhat, daughter of martyred doctor Alim Chaudhury, referring to a recent incident in Shailakupa, Jhenaidah.

Speaking at a programme to mark Martyred Intellectuals Day on Wednesday, she referred to the beating of Shailakupa Awami League leader and freedom fighter Muktar Ahmed Mridha on Oct 18.

Mridha was attacked and mercilessly beaten allegedly by the supporters of a rival Awami League group. The video of the attack went viral on the internet.

His family alleged people loyal to Jhenaidah Awami League President Md Abdul Hye, MP, and Shailakupa Upazila Awami League chief and former JaSoD leader Sona Shikder carried out the attack.

"We don't want this Bangladesh. We wanted such crimes and culture of impunity to go," Dr Nuzhat said in the presence of Awami League chief Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and other senior leaders of the party who attended the programme.

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was one of the patients of Dr Alim Chowdhury. The eye specialist, along with hundreds of intellectuals, was picked up from home by the Razakar, Al-Badr and Al-Shams forces on Dec 15, 1971, a day before the Pakistan military surrendered in Dhaka.

His body was found later at Rayer Bazar killing ground, with the eyes gouged out.

Alim's daughter Nuzhat, who also became an ophthalmologist, said she was pained to see the news of the beating of a freedom fighter.

"I hope you will understand how big a blow it is to a martyr's child to hear of such news."

Speaking about her father, she said, "They detained my father in the afternoon of Dec 15. The body was found on Dec 18. His chest was riddled with bullets. They charged bayonets on his forehead."

"Bangabandhu, just on his return (on Jan 10, 1972), asked: 'Have they killed my eye doctor?'"

Nuzhat continued that the children of the martyrs accepted the sacrifice of their fathers with hope of seeing a beautiful Bangladesh.

"Our fathers went away with their heads held high and our mothers have been struggling for the last 45 years without complaining.”

"We get very emotional when we come close to you," Nuzhat told the Awami League leaders.

The prime minister listened to her speech loaded with emotion and personal feelings when there was a pindrop silence in the audience. 

"We covered up much of our grief and surrendered many hopes (to you AL leaders). We wanted a beautiful country. And it's your duty to build that beautiful country," Nuzhat said.

"I know that politics is very difficult at the grassroots level. You might have to manage many things for political reasons. Little settlements might mean nothing much to you.

"But please think about those who spilled their blood in the Liberation War...it’s a blow to their honour.   

"We may have achieved political freedom, but the ideological fight is still on," Nuzhat added.