“We learned nation-building the hard way”
Group Captain (retd) Shamsul Alam Bir Uttam is a decorated Air Force freedom fighter who recently received the Swadhinata Padak 2017. Shamsul Alam Bir Uttam speaks to Mir Aftabuddin Ahmed about some key moments in his life leading up to Bangladesh's independence.
Which key event or moment inspired you to participate in the Liberation War of 1971?
I was very fortunate to have been selected under a competitive selection process to join the Pakistan Air Force Academy in Risalpur in 1964. After being selected and having received my commission, I joined the privileged class of Pakistani society. Living in West Pakistan, I almost forgot the misery and sufferings of my motherland. Then came the election date of 1970. It rekindled our hope to come out of the shackles of the West Pakistani political and military establishments. As soon as the election results were declared in favour of the Awami League, all Bengali officers and men residing in West Pakistan felt the presence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in their hearts and minds. Being in military service, I was watching every move of the Pakistani military rulers, as I was posted in Rawalpindi since 1969. By February 1971, I was getting information through various inside contacts about the Pakistani army mobilising large numbers of extra troops to East Pakistan. Finally, the order came to our flying squadron in the Pakistan Air Force, Chaklala, to position six C130 Hercules transport aircrafts to carry troops to East Pakistan from Karachi. I was assigned to fly few such missions. I realised that while President Yahya Khan was pretending to have discussions and deliberations with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Pakistani government was playing a bluff and buying time to mobilise the troops and arms to crack down on East Pakistan. I flew my last mission on March 18, 1971. By then, the seeds had already been sown in my heart to join the Liberation War and they fully blossomed on March 26, 1971 while I was in Rawalpindi, West Pakistan. I started planning out my escape to join our freedom struggle.
How did you escape? How did your family react when you informed them about your participation?
Those of us who were posted in West Pakistan were already separated from our families. So I had taken the decision on my own to make an escape plan. I took a PIA flight from Karachi on March 3, 1971 to Dhaka and travelled as a civilian. But I could not fool the military intelligence team at Dhaka airport. I was arrested and put in the Prisoner of War camp. I had to endure all sorts of interrogation and torture until I finally got an opportunity to make the final escape in mid-August 1971 and make my journey to Kolkata. I reported to Tajuddin Ahmed, Nazrul Islam, MAG Osmani and AK Khandakar and explained my escape plan. During my final journey from Dhaka, I briefly stayed in Malibagh at our family house, and it was my brother Rezaul Karim (Mona) who organised a boat for my journey to Agartala. I received support from my mama, Mir Alauddin Ahmed, and my brother Mona, but both were quite uncertain about my future.
When you joined the war in 1971, you naturally had a dream about this country. Are we in the right path to achieve that dream? What is holding us back?
Without Bangabandhu, we would have never been able to achieve independence. The present generation cannot even fathom the political and economic plight of East Pakistan. I had the privilege of being brought up in Dhaka since 1950. Our school tuition fees were less than one rupee per month. More than half of my classmates could not pay the tuition fees regularly. Up until my SSC examination, I didn't even have proper shoes to wear to school. I used to see many students of Dhaka University polishing shoes in front of Gulistan Cinema Hall, just to earn some money to meet their educational expenses. If this was the condition of Dhaka's economic life, what would have been the plight of rural East Pakistan? Less than 10 percent of families had Rs 10,000 worth of cash savings, and these were mostly families who owned familial land. After independence, Henry Kissinger declared Bangladesh a bottomless basket. The burning question regarding whether in 46 years we have fulfilled our dreams, is one which will be continued to be asked till eternity. Those of us who had experienced poverty stricken East Pakistan would certainly say that Bangladesh has come a long way and achieved many milestones.
In 1974, I had the privilege of flying Bangabandhu and his full cabinet in an AN-24 aircraft to New Delhi, on the invitation of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. During this trip, our Central Bank did not have any foreign exchanges to meet the daily allowance expenses of our VVIP air crew. Just imagine, we were given only Rs 300 per crew for a four-day stay. The per capita income of Bangladesh has now risen to over USD 1,450. Our foreign exchange reserve exceeds USD 31 billion. We have achieved self-sufficiency in food production for over 160 million people, and many such records have been broken in agricultural production, literacy, poverty alleviation, power generation, infrastructure, women's empowerment, infant mortality rates, life expectancy, healthcare and many other fields. Why should I not say that we are heading in the right path? But this generation shall achieve even more!
Looking back at your life, what do you think is your greatest achievement personally and professionally?
My greatest achievement, looking back at the last 46 years, is that I took part in the nation-building schemes since December 7, 1971. I was involved in the building of the Transport Flying Squadron, Flying Training Academy and Flying Instructor's School of Bangladesh Air Force, right from scratch. Today, BAF has all the modern military aircraft, radar, air defence system, and maintenance and logistics support system with adequately trained technical personnel. I take immense pride in the nation-building schemes of war-torn Bangladesh.
What advice, if any, do you have for our generation regarding what we can do for Bangladesh?
From 1947 to 1971 very few Bengalis had the opportunity to contribute to the nation-building process of Pakistan. The majority of our people were hungry, malnourished peasants and farmers. After 1971 we learned nation-building the hard way, that too by trial and error. After 46 years of independence, our beloved Bangladesh has strong economic footing for our next generation to take this country forward. We have also made a lot of mistakes along the way. This generation's task is to identify those mistakes, and assist Bangladesh in achieving the needs of the 21st century.