Soldier of freedom

He was among the first to go to war against Pakistan in March 1971.
As the Pakistan occupation army launched its genocide in Dhaka on the night of 25 March, continuing well into the next day, Belal Mohammad and his dedicated band of colleagues at the Kalurghat station of Radio Pakistan (which by then no more went in the name of Pakistan) knew what they needed to do. It was that dark hour when the lights were beginning to be snuffed out by the hordes let loose by Yahya Khan and Tikka Khan.
And yet it was a moment that would soon turn into Belal Mohammad's finest hour. For the people of Bangladesh, shock and misery were soon to give way to hope and a demonstration of necessary courage.
It was hope, with large dollops of courage, that Belal Mohammad personified in those early hours of an expression of the national resolve for freedom. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, by then in military custody, had already passed on his declaration of freedom to MA Hannan, the prominent Awami League political figure in Chittagong. It was to the Biplobi Swadhin Bangla Betar, which Kalurghat had swiftly been turned into by Belal Mohammad and his fellow officers at the radio station, that Hannan went with Bangabandhu's message of liberty.
Hannan read out the message, which of course could not be heard all across the country for reasons of the grave panic and uncertainty that gripped the nation in those wild moments. But Bangabandhu's message did go through to a goodly number of people, to inform them that Bangladesh was at war, that Pakistan was now an occupying country.
Belal Mohammad needed a more dynamic message to be sent out to the country, indeed to the rest of the world. He had Kalurghat play every patriotic song at hand even as fears grew that the Pakistanis were on their way to Chittagong. Information came to him, drop by drop as it were, of the mass killings in Dhaka, of the resistance being put up by Bangalee officers of the Pakistan army against the occupying power. Belal Mohammad came across, in those dark hours, against the young Bangalee officer in the army, Major Zia. Belal roped him in, told him, half serious and half teasing, that he was a major while everyone else was minor. Would he like to go on air with a message for the country?
Zia, young and dashing and till a few hours earlier busy unloading weapons meant for the Pakistan army from MV Swat at Chittagong port, enthusiastically agreed. Jotting down a few sentences on a piece of paper, Zia went on air -- to tell a stupefied nation that Bangladesh was at war with Pakistan, that he was declaring the country's independence and that he was taking over as president of Bangladesh.
Belal knew there was something very wrong in that speech. And he told Zia so. That speech, he informed the major, would be considered as mutiny by an officer in the Pakistan army. Moreover, the speech would not likely turn things around for Bangalees, for it was not coming from a political figure. Would Zia rephrase the speech?
Zia did. In the speech that is now an indelible part of Bangladesh's history, Zia proclaimed before the world that Bangladesh, under the leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was now a free state; that a government for the new country had already been formed; that nations around the globe should acknowledge the birth of Bangladesh.
Belal had responded to the call of history. Zia's announcement had gone out to the world. Swadhin Bangla Betar, despite the ferocity of a Pakistani attack, had informed the world in no uncertain terms that Bengal had arisen in fury -- to wrest freedom from the murderous state of Pakistan.
Before Belal Mohammad, we bow in deep reverence and abiding love this morning. He seized the moment, in March 1971, out of gathering despair, and convinced us into believing that Swadhin Bangla Betar would make a difference. It did.
This land bears your footprints on its soil, now and for all time
Rest in peace, soldier of freedom.