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For octogenarian Chhobi Sen, Sen Bari is a source of pique, besides pride, over the lack of recognition of the house full of Liberation War memories
Published : 17 Apr 2024, 02:02 AM
Joishthapura village, some 10 kilometres north-east from the main town of Boalkhali Upazila in Chattogram, is nestled among hills and a river. This serene setting provided a safe haven for the Mukti Bahini, Bangladesh's freedom fighters, and civilians during the 1971 Liberation War.
Sen Bari, a two-storey mud house in Joishtapura, stands as a silent witness to the war's history in the village. Its doors were open at all times to freedom fighters using the residence as a transit point or shelter.
“Joishthapura’s Sen Bari was the shelter of freedom fighters from different parts of the country who used to take refuge there. Some would go for training and some to war from there. I myself went to the house before joining the training,” said freedom fighter Ahmad Hossain.
Ahmad was vice-president of Chhatra League’s Chattogram District Unit during the war. He became president of the unit afterwards.
Nipul Kumar Sen, a resident of the neighbouring house, was a tenth grader during the war. He also said that the house was a shelter for freedom fighters in 1971.
“Some university students came to the house at that time. They arranged training for youths at Madhav School (Madhav Government Primary School now) which is close to the house. Many of them were at this house after the training. Later they would go to India to receive training,” Nipul recalled.
As the house is surrounded by hills and a river, it was not affected by the violence of Pakistani soldiers, a fact that made it a perfect place for freedom fighters to take shelter.
In a recent conversation with bdnews24.com, Sen Bari’s oldest resident Chhobi Sen recalled memories of the war.
A group of around 30 to 40 freedom fighters came to the house at first with a man named Abul Hossain a few days after the war had begun. He was known as Abul Hossain Commander among the locals for his bravery.
Sen Bari had ponds bustling with fish and silos full of paddy and other crops during the war, she said.
“My sister-in-law and I cooked food for them for over a week after their arrival. Later the number of people gradually started to rise. Besides freedom fighters, people from different villages began to come. Then they started to prepare their own food. Our four ponds were full of fish and we had rice, the freedom fighters used to bring food and cook them later,” Chhobi recalled.
She said two of her three sons were sent to India at the beginning of the war. She stayed back at the house with her younger son and two daughters, accompanied by her father and daughter-in-law, a school teacher.
“We vacated the main house and moved to a small room in the south end when the number of freedom fighters rose. Everyone used to travel to the house. A group would come and another would leave just after dawn. Weapons were brought and stored here. Freedom fighters kept guard on different sides of the house. People from the Bengal Regiment also visited the house,” Chhobi said.
The house is a source of pique, besides pride, for Chhobi.
“Nobody came to ask about the house after the war. Awami League leader Moslem Uddin ((late president of the party’s Chattogram District South Unit and a local MP) once visited the home. He searched for the house. Many others came in search of the house, but we haven’t received any recognition,” she said.
“Now we have a pro-Liberation War government. It has given many things to the freedom fighters but we haven’t received any recognition. That’s why I lost interest in talking about the situation of our house during the Liberation War.”
Her son Shibashish Sen Shankha said several local journalists once wrote articles on the house. Local freedom fighters also visited it in 2017.
Moslem Uddin visited the house in 2018 before being an MP. He organised a freedom fighters’ conference at the house.
Rana Dasgupta, an International Crimes Tribunal prosecutor and the general secretary of Bangladesh Hindu, Buddhist, Christian Unity Council, visited the house in 2022. A mural using the photographs of the ancestors of the house was built at that time.
Shibashish said, “My mother wants to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to inform her about the war-time history of our house. We sought permission for the meeting which was forwarded to the Prime Minister’s Office by then Chattogram divisional commissioner Abdul Mannan. But it made no progress due to the coronavirus pandemic afterwards,”
“We want to inform the prime minister about the war-time history of the house by meeting her.”
