‘My priority was to keep my men safe and fight a long war’

When freedom fighter Sergeant (retired) Badrul Alam, an octogenarian man spoke, he did not remotely sound like his age.  For an elderly man in his eighties, the Sergeant sounded strong.

During the Liberation War in 1971, he was the fighting commander of Akbar Bahini.

At the onset of war, Alam was posted at the Lalkhan camp in Chattogram.

On the night of March 25, 1971, the radio was broadcasting Bangabandhu's 7th March speech.  "Right after that speech, a massive shelling began in Chattogram," Alam said as he recalled the night that would change his life forever.

Around that same time in the Lalkhan camp, the soldiers were issued Chinese rifles. Badrul Alam, excited at the intensity of the moment, fired 10 rounds of blanks.

Things soon went so intense that, "I shot a Punjabi [Pakistani] soldier nearby," Alam said. 

Alam's hidden rage against the Punjabi soldiers – whose mistreatment, racism and negligence Alam endured all these years for being a Bengali – had burst like a volcano.

It was around 9 pm.

However, soon the word spread like a wildfire that Alam shot a Punjabi soldier.

Now scared for his life, Alam immediately ran away from the camp and went to the Lalkhan Bazar.

Everything seemed blurry. His heart was racing. Alam could not process his thoughts, and "I did not have the sense that I had three kids then… or what might happen to them," he recalled. 

At the Lalkhan Bazar, some students had gathered in Batali Hill around 10 pm.

In the meantime, Alam saw that some army officers had deserted the 8^th Battalion of the East Bengal Regiment. "They said that Ziaur Rahman had killed unit CO Lt. Col. Janjua," Alam explained. 

Everyone at Batali Hill was high strung. Anxiety was at an all-time high about what was to come next. Alam was very stressed as he loitered thinking of what he had done in the Lalkhan camp.

In an anxiety-riddled moment, one of the students turned on his small transistor.

And "suddenly I heard Zia calling for resistance against the Pakistani military. We were relieved with the announcement that we have the Bengali soldiers on our side," Alam said.

The escape from Chattogram

Alam was in Chattogram for six days. In those six days, he and his compatriots assembled a small team that ambushed several Bihari homes and closed some weapons.

Meanwhile, the Baluch Regiment from Cumilla reached Chattoram. On their way to Chattogram, they burned down all the villages that fell on their way.

When they reached Chattogram, Alam and his team did not have much to do.

"I took on a disguise and took shelter in one of my relative's houses. I found a navy man there from Jhinaidah. We planned to return home to Magura," Alam said. 

As a military man, Alam knew the maps well.

"We followed the edge of the ocean from Cumilla, Noakhali via Chandpur. After crossing the river, we entered Faridpur and then reached home," said Alam.

It took him nine days to reach home in Belnagar, Magura.

Then he scattered his family in different places. Alam sheltered with his wife and his in-laws at Shonakandi village in Magura. 

"I led the fight of Akbar Bahini"

It was mid-April 1971 when Badrul Alam joined Akbar Bahini, a force formed by Sreepur's chairman Akbar Mia.

At that point in time, there was a void of motivation in the group on account of the limited supply of weapons.

But Alam was determined to fight. After all, he would be prosecuted if Bangladesh did not become independent.

"I said even if we have one rifle, what we can do is hit and run. They will realise that there are freedom fighters in this area," Alam convinced the group. 

Akbar Mia liked his plan and made him the fighting commander of the force.

However, soon after the formation, Alam and his team realised that with the Sreepur Thana nearby was left unguarded.

"So we captured Sreepur Thana and secured many rifles, other weapons and ammunition," Alam recalled.  "I attacked the thana with only 15 soldiers. We cautiously avoided untrained civilians to avoid casualty on our side."

The police at the station surrendered without fighting.

When some civilians in his force demanded that they execute the police officers, in response Alam recalled saying, "Look, they are Bengali just like us. If we take their lives, their wives will become widows and their kids will be orphaned. Such an act will only create enemies within the Bengalis and divide us. If they want to join us they can, else we should let them go".

The Bahini's supremo Akbar Mia liked his point, and let them release the military police officers.

Akbar Mia was always a fascinating character to Badrul Alam. A man who led a team of military, students, and civilians so skilfully did not get his due credit for the contribution he made, Alam lamented.

"What a leader he was. No salary, little to no rations, and yet he led the entire bahini with grace and skill. It was a truly rare instance," Badrul Alam added.

Soon Akbar Bahini became a solid team of former army personnel, civilian fighters, and students. People from different walks of life began to join them. Their reputation also spread as protectors.

Within a short time, in collaboration with Montu Bahini, Akbar Bahini captured Shoilkupa Thana filled with more weapons and ammunition.

"I got shot during that Shoilkupa Thana mission," Alam added.

But he survived.

And by now, Akbar Bahini became quite powerful.

Since a lot of people began to volunteer for the force, Akbar Mia formed small groups within the Bahini and deployed them at various places in Magura and surrounding areas.

"The plan was to spread out our freedom fighters around to ensure the safety of our people," Alam said.

When the students kept coming in flocks to join the fight, they were grouped into 12-people teams sent to India for training.

Around 20 such teams went to India for training through Akbar Bahini. 

'My tactic was to save more lives'

There was a big military unit in Magura Ansar camp.

"We attacked the compound at night with just 15 men. Our mission lasted only for 10 minutes until we escaped. But the Pakistani military kept firing for the whole night. I devised a plan that when I fired from the left side, another fighter in the centre would fire, then another fighter… so that we gave the impression that we were coming from all sides," Alam said.

Soon, the Pakistani military unit left Magura.

"After the independence, when we reached Magura town, people told us that we could have entered the town much earlier because the Pakistani military had already left," Alam said.

"If I was a bit bolder, we could have recovered arms from that mission as well. But my target was to hit and run so that my men could get out safe," said Alam.

"When the military would come, we, no matter how few in number, would attack the convoy from all sides to make them believe that there were many freedom fighters in the locality," he recalled.

"I would divide the team into two/three people, and highlight on the map where to attack. I ensured that the teams were too small to pin down because otherwise they could shoot at us with all they had and we would drop like birds. Who knew how many days this war would go," he added. 

During the entire period of war, Alam lost only one fighter, while Akbar Bahini attacked at least 25 camps of the Pakistani military.

"If I wanted, I could have killed a lot of Pakistani soldiers and that could have earned me a lot of fame. But I am not a man of politics. I am a military man and all I cared about was protecting my men and liberating my country," Alam said. 

After Bangladesh became independent, Badrul Alam re-joined the military. Finally retired in 1989.

During our conversation, the freedom fighter Sergeant (retired) Alam repeatedly expressed his doubt of what good telling his stories would do, or if his stories would be presented correctly at all.

Badrul Alam said, "These days… many choose to not believe my encounters. Today many non-freedom fighters pose as freedom fighters and many have even become leaders."

"It is difficult to share my stories these days," Alam lamented.