The legend of Ranajit Gharai

"At 71, I spend my time sitting with the village youth and helping  them solve their financial issues. I take a dip in the pond every day,  to maintain discipline in my life," said Ranajit Gharai, freedom fighter  turned agri-entrepreneur, summing up his lifestyle and personality.

Ranajit  set up seven ponds across six acres of his parental land in  Balabhadurpur village of Morelganj upazila in Bagerhat district. His  farm, which he built with the help of 50 youth, have been a source of  employment for young men in his community.

Through his efforts,  Balbhadrapur has become a green village, where at least eight more  modern agricultural farms and an animal hospital have been set up.

While  walking down memory lane, Ranajit, recounting his time in the  Liberation War, said, "In 1971, I was a 21-year-old student of PC  college at Bagerhat. My closest friends -- Liakat Ali Khan, Abubakar,  Siddiqur Rahman, Mozammel -- and I started engaging in politics and even  formed our own guerilla group for the Liberation War."

"Our small  guerilla group was led by Kabir Ahmed Madhu, a military man who had  been jailed by the authorities for beating up members of the Pakistani  army. On March 26, 1971, Madhu escaped Jessore jail and returned to  Bagerhat. He instructed us to attack the Razakars with home-made bombs,"  he added.

On April 1, 1971, Chitta and Balahari, two other  members of the guerrilla, were preparing bombs to send to Khulna at  Nitai Sikder's house in Morelganj Bazar. Suddenly they heard a bomb  blast and ran

towards the source of the sound. After arrival, they  noticed the bomb had exploded in Chitta's hands. As he collapsed to the  ground, with his only able hand, he wrote 'Joy Bangla' on the ground  with his own blood, passing away several minutes later.

"Our first  operation at Hawlia village in Morelganj was to attack the police  station in July. Lutfar Rahman was in-charge of the police station at  that time. There were 22 rifles at the police station, out of which we  took six and broke the pins of the remaining 16. Then we camped at  Gulishakhali in the same upazila," he recalled.

"As we were  running out of funds, Major Ziauddin, sub-sector commander of sector 9,  the ninth sector, captured the Pirojpur disctrict treasury and brought  the money to our camp," he added.

"On December 4, a battle took  place at Sharankhola that lasted from dusk till dawn. Seeing that our  cohort Alauddin could not operate the mortar, the Razakars opened fire  and killed five of our members. As a last resort, we informed Major  Ziauddin, who came in a speed boat from the Sundarban camp area and  participated in the fight,'' said Ranajit.

After the war, Ranajit  joined the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) admin cadre in 1984 as a  deputy magistrate at Keshabpur Upazila of Jessore district. He later  retired from the Ministry of Public Administration in 1994 as deputy  secretary.

''When I was working as ADC in Pirojpur, I started an  agricultural farm, 'Basanti Matso o Krishi Khamar' after my wife's name.  Our yearly income from the farm is over 10 lakh taka," he said.

Ranajit  Gharai said he lived alone but happily in the village. His son Mondip  Gharai currently works as a UNO in Shariatpur and his daughter is a  deputy civil surgeon in Jessore.

Subal Das, one of Gharai's  followers, said, "Dada showed us the path of success. In our village,  there's barely anyone unemployed or struggling."