Bangabandhu’s concern for children | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Sunday
July 13, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
SUNDAY, JULY 13, 2025
Bangabandhu’s concern for children

Bangladesh

Julian Francis
17 March, 2022, 10:30 am
Last modified: 17 March, 2022, 12:47 pm

Related News

  • After 58 yrs, Ctg getting two new govt schools
  • No homes, no hope: The lives of Dhaka’s ‘floating population’
  • Bodies of 2 children recovered from septic tank in Feni
  • Three children drown in ponds within an hour in Kutubdia
  • Mention of Mujib Bahini, Mujahid Bahini removed from Freedom Fighters' Council Act

Bangabandhu’s concern for children

Julian Francis
17 March, 2022, 10:30 am
Last modified: 17 March, 2022, 12:47 pm
Children gather at the Ganabhaban on the occasion of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's birthday on March 17, 1975. Photo: Collected
Children gather at the Ganabhaban on the occasion of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's birthday on March 17, 1975. Photo: Collected

When I came to Dacca in January 1972, I was advised by UN, British and other aid officials to pay a courtesy call on Sheikh Mujib. My meeting was organized by Tajuddin Ahmed, who I had met a few times in Calcutta in 1971 when he was Prime Minister of the Mujibnagar government. 

My meeting with Sheikh Mujib is one I will never forget. I told him that I wanted his advice about what a small organization like OXFAM might be able to do to assist in the rehabilitation and development of Bangladesh. 

Sheikh Mujib took his pipe out of his mouth and pointed the stem of the pipe at me. "How did you come here, young man?", he asked in a booming voice. I told him that I had driven overland from Calcutta. "In that case", he told me, "You have seen more of my country than I have, as I was a prisoner for over nine months, so please tell me what you think my country needs. What have you seen?"

I told Sheikh Mujib that I had seen many villages that had been burnt down, many bridges and culverts blown up and many ferries and launches, large and small, sunk in the rivers. 

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

I will always remember about 20 children fighting over one boiled egg," I told him and added, "In the same camp I saw a child in the milk queue vomit and collapse and nearby a woman groaning and giving birth in the mud

Julian Francis

I told Sheikh Mujib that, on behalf of OXFAM, I had already ordered, in India, £ 250,000 worth of C.I. sheets for a big house rebuilding programme and these would arrive by early March. I added that I thought that bridge-building and replacement and repairs of ferries were more suited to bilateral and multilateral aid. 

"No", Sheikh Mujib said, "Ferries are and will be the lifelines of food supplies for my people. Please discuss with officials of the Bangladesh Inland Waterways Authority and see what OXFAM can do."

Before I left him, Sheikh Mujib asked me about my experiences working with the people of Bangladesh in the refugee camps and what would I remember most. As I spoke, emotion got the better of me and tears welled up in my eyes. I told him that I would always remember, most of all, the plight of the children and that so many never lived to see and enjoy their new country. They perished because of acute hunger and disease (a rough estimate is that at least 1 million children perished in the refugee camps in India). 

Sheikh Mujib wiped his own eyes and put his arm around me and asked me more details about the state of the children in the camps. "I will always remember about 20 children fighting over one boiled egg," I told him and added, "In the same camp I saw a child in the milk queue vomit and collapse and nearby a woman groaning and giving birth in the mud." 

I told Sheikh Mujib that I had met parents who had given up hope of ever seeing their children well again. I told him that I will never forget seeing infants with their skin hanging loosely in folds from their tiny bones-lacking the strength even to lift their heads. Also, seeing the children with legs and feet swollen with oedema and malnutrition, limp in the arms of their mothers.

From my time with Bangabandhu in early 1972, it was so very clear how concerned he was about children, particularly the new generation of Bangladeshi.


Julian Francis was with Oxfam in 1971 and had personal experience of the War of Liberation. Since the emergence of Bangladesh, he has contributed in diverse capacities to the country's progress. He has been recognized as a friend of Bangladesh through being awarded the Friends of the Liberation War by the government of Bangladesh. This article was earlier published in tbsnews.net 

Supplement / Top News

Bangabandhu / Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman / children / 17 March

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Energy Adviser Fouzul Kabir Khan speaking about tariff negotiations with United States on 13 July 2025. Photo: TBS
    US wants a framework agreement with Bangladesh that includes their security concerns: Adviser Fouzul
  • Infograph: TBS
    From Gulf to Southeast Asia, why Bangladeshis are facing visa denials
  • Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser on Posts, Telecommunications and ICT. Photo: UNB
    New policy to end 15 years of telecom irregularities: Taiyeb

MOST VIEWED

  • RAB Director General AKM Shahidur Rahman speaks at the press briefing on a fake bomb threat on Biman Bangladesh flight on Saturday, 12 July 2025. Photo: TBS
    Mother faked bomb threat on Biman flight to stop married son from flying with girlfriend: RAB
  • Bangladeshi garment workers make clothing in the sewing section of a factory in Gazipur, Bangladesh, April 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain/File Photo
    Some Walmart garment orders from Bangladesh on hold due to US tariff threat
  • Infographic: TBS
    Dollar price plummets by Tk2.9 in a week as demand wanes
  • Bangladesh and US hold tariff talks on 11 July 2025. Photo: CA Press Wing
    Dhaka, Washington yet to agree on 20% of US tariff conditions: BGMEA
  • Infograph: TBS
    Matarbari power plant eyes G2G coal deal with Indonesia after quality setbacks
  • Dr Mohammad Zakir Hossain, managing director of Delta Pharma Ltd and secretary general of the Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceutical Industries (BAPI). Sketch: TBS
    Pharma industry grew with policy support, needs it again to survive: BAPI secretary general

Related News

  • After 58 yrs, Ctg getting two new govt schools
  • No homes, no hope: The lives of Dhaka’s ‘floating population’
  • Bodies of 2 children recovered from septic tank in Feni
  • Three children drown in ponds within an hour in Kutubdia
  • Mention of Mujib Bahini, Mujahid Bahini removed from Freedom Fighters' Council Act

Features

The 2020 Harrier's Porsche Cayenne coupe-like rear roofline, integrated LED lighting with the Modellista special bodykit all around, and a swanky front grille scream OEM Plus for the sophisticated enthusiast looking for a bigger family car that isn’t boring. PHOTO: Ahbaar Mohammad

2020 Toyota Harrier Hybrid: The Japanese Macan

20h | Wheels
The showroom was launched through a lavish event held there, and in attendance were DHS Motors’ Managing Director Nafees Khundker, CEO Imran Zaman Khan, and GMs Arman Rashid and Farhan Samad. PHOTO: Akif Hamid

GAC inaugurate flagship showroom in Dhaka

20h | Wheels
After India's visa restriction, China's Kunming is drawing Bangladeshi patients

After India's visa restriction, China's Kunming is drawing Bangladeshi patients

1d | Panorama
Photo: Collected/BBC

What Hitler’s tariff policy misfire can teach the modern world

2d | The Big Picture

More Videos from TBS

The price of the dollar is falling; how much can it fall?

The price of the dollar is falling; how much can it fall?

10m | TBS Stories
110 killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza

110 killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza

1h | TBS World
Why is there a mystery surrounding the death of 'Jalibi' actress Humaira?

Why is there a mystery surrounding the death of 'Jalibi' actress Humaira?

12h | TBS World
Why cockpit audio deepens the mystery of Air India crash

Why cockpit audio deepens the mystery of Air India crash

12h | Others
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net