Amir Ali Chowdhury: A friend forever

MARCH 22 began on a happy note. Three of us friends went to Rajendrapur to spend a quiet day together. Sitting in a log cabin in the serene environment of the shal bon, we were engaged in recalling some memorable incidents of our lives. We lost the thread of discussion when my cell phone rang and I was asked to urgently contact Mrs Amir Chowdhury for an update on her husband's health condition. The information I got was a shock. Mr Amir Ali Chowdhury had passed away following a minor surgery.
I met Amir Sahib for the first time in Kolkata in February 1972. Amir Ali Chowdhury had raised the Bangladesh flag atop the Pakistan Deputy High Commission in Kolkata and became the first in the batch of freedom fighter diplomats to declare allegiance to Bangladesh. He gave help, hope and inspiration to countless others who found refuge in India. He lived on a subsistent allowance himself yet shared his home and hearth with people who had nowhere else to go.
We heard from others about the role Amir Ali Chowdhury and his colleagues had played during the war of liberation. His sterling qualities began to touch my heart from the moment I met him. I got the feeling that I had known him for a very long time. For thirty-seven years we had valued and nurtured our relationship, that grew stronger with the passing years and after we both retired.
We remained in close contact with each other until his sudden death. A loving husband, a doting father and a dear friend had to pass away under circumstances that has left us all in deep agony. In this day and age, when everyone is speaking of transparency and accountability, can we expect an intervention from someone in authority to find out the truth about the circumstances surrounding his death? This alone can lighten the burden of his family's irreparable loss. Or is it too much to ask for?
Amir Ali Chowdhury was a freedom fighter. However, I never came across anything said or done by this self-effacing man to get recognition or reward on account of his role during the war of liberation. He was proud of his association with the war of liberation but never intended his patriotism to be overshadowed by some mundane consideration of professional reward or advancement.
Amir Ali Chowdhury was a simple man. He was a thorough gentleman, coming from an old family, and was related to many illustrious families. I am fortunate in having known him for the better part of my life and in knowing that he also counted me as one among his many friends. There was nothing humble in his origin yet he was a humble man, and his company lifted my spirits and taught me lessons in humility.
He lived in a virtuous circle, a family man for whom his wife and children came first. Every time he spoke to me about his children I felt as if he was sending up a prayer of thanks to the Almighty for blessing him with such loving son and daughters. He gave his children everything that a mortal on this earth can possibly give, but nevertheless felt deeply indebted to them for their overwhelming care and affection for their parents. He took nothing for granted. He was a gentleman throughout his life.
Amir Ali Chowdhury will remain my friend forever. I shall follow with the same interest the course of life of his children -- Ruhi, Tighi, Apu, Bithi and Shoily. Our prayers will always be with bhabi to give her strength to bear this loss. The emptiness of a dear one's death can never be filled, yet life has to go on.
When all is quiet, the night appears in all its splendour and the sky is studded with countless stars, I shall keep on looking for a lone star somewhere in the universe. Beyond the Milky Way, in the constellations, someday I shall see it sparkling in all its celestial brilliance. Then I shall connect with him once again.

Abdul Momen Chowdhury is a former Ambassador.