During the Liberation War, Abdul Khaleque was only 14. But even at a young age, his patriotic conscience compelled him to join the war, and this participation was immortalised through Naib Uddin Ahmed's famed "Muktijuddhe Tin Kishore" photograph.

Now 64 year old, the Tangail native returned to Mymensingh, where the photo was taken on the first week of December 1971, over this weekend.

On an invitation marking the 50 years of victory celebrations, Khaleque visited the city and joined the 50-km walk organised by veteran freedom fighter 70-year-old Bimol Pal.

"The Brahmaputra river takes me back to when I had visited this serene city as a teenager," Khaleque told this correspondent. "My feelings are beyond description. I am glad that the people here remember me, owing to the photograph."

"I have visited the city during this time, but it's different today due to the 50-year celebrations," he said.

After receiving Khaleque and Naib at the city's Joy Bangla Chattar on Friday afternoon, city Mayor Ekramul Haque Titu honoured the duo, along with Naib (posthumous), with crests for their role during the war.

Among the other two teenagers from the photograph, Mujibur Rahman died in 2016, while Abdul Mazid is now a retired Ansar Battalion officer.

Khaleque now runs a museum, named "Bangabandhu O Muktijodhha", on four-decimal land of his ancestral homestead.