Death Anniversary of Our Eldest Brother - Babul Chowdhury by Imran Chowdhury of Northampton

Death Anniversary of Our Eldest Brother - Babul Chowdhury 

1971 - Liberation War of Bangladesh - 21st November our eldest brother Babul Chowdhury was killed by the Pakistan Army in B.Baria. Bangladesh. 

It was the Eid day - the barbaric Pakistan Army did not let him have his last eid.

11 of Them Freedom Fighters were captured in Bitghor Village in Nabinagar on the 10th November day time when they were taking rest after a long night of Operation in the Area - A Razakar - Collobartor group tipped the Pakistan Army off about their hide out deep inside a rattan bush full of thorns.

They were encircled and raided and captured.

Brought them to the B.Baria Pakistan Army HQ ( 14th Divison HQ) and tortured for 11 day and finally killed them all near the bank of KORULLIA KHAL ( Canal near Niaz Mohammad stadium in B.Baria- same place where him and I in march helped the resistance movement to dig ditch to stop advancing pakistan Army coming from Comilla).

They killed him and left his carcass there unattended and no burial ritual was given; one day slowly and slowly his remains decomposed and recycled back into the muddy slopes of the canal and washed away with tide.

He was just 17 years old - a SSC candidate in 1971.

They were fighting with Sector 2 Melaghor - Student FF's attached with the Baby Tiger (4 East Bengal Regiment).........

What a genocide and what a tragedy. A prisoner of War is killed by a regular army (where was Genava convention?)

We had no knowledge of his capture and subsequent death; came back from Indian refugee camp in December - everyone; the FF's was coming back home but not him; no trace of him; no one could tell us about his whereabouts.

My father and I started to look for him from Sylhet - Srimangol - Shahbazpur - Sharail - B.Baria - Comilla- Daudkandi - Dhaka - Tangail and we were exhausted and returning back to Sylhet ( even went to see so many Pakistani POW camps manned by the indian Army ) and whilst in B.Baria - A FF from a village called Shimarail came to see us and he narrated the whole story - he was captured too but he saw from the room where he was captivated in the cells of the make shift cells in the staff quarter of C&B building on the bank. We then visited the place and made some prayer. That was the location of his rest.

All my father was saying after that day; What an irony of fate - both father and son join the freedom fight; where the father comes back home but not the son - with a big sigh. He continued to utter those painful words for many years after that day.

Today is his anniversary of death.

What a poignant tragedy. 

He was not only my brother; he was my best friend and till date I miss every day; he was my mentor and my role model - a tall, dark and handsome man he was. 

It's 44 years gone past he would have been 61. I was counting his age whilst going to work. He could have become a grandfather by now. 

We lost everything - all our belongings and had no choice but to seek refuge to India and lost all our assets and pictures and mementos of pre 1971. Hence, we do not have a proper picture of him. All we have is an artist sketch from only one of his last picture left in a studio in Sylhet.