A daughter's tribute
Dr. Shamsul Alam Khan Milon was killed by goons of the military junta near the TSC of Dhaka University at the height of the anti-autocracy movement on November 27, 1990. To mark his 26th death anniversary, his daughter pens an obituary to the man whose sacrifice transformed the anti-autocracy movement into a mass uprising that led to the fall of the autocratic regime.
When I was much younger, I read one of Baba's poems titled "Ami shahoshi manush" - meaning "I am a brave person" - during his death anniversary ceremony. This is perhaps one of my earliest memories.
As I grow older, more and more people tell my mother, "Shama looks just like Milon bhai." With every passing year, I try to live my life more and more by his example. I often think to myself, can I be as benevolent and selfless of a doctor as my father was? Can I be as accomplished as an artist, poet, writer, and musician as he was?
But most importantly, can I be as brave as he was?
Baba was my first and probably my most important role model. His transformation from a young medical student, who also happened to be a political activist, to a renowned doctor and politician, fighting for social equality, is not one I experienced in person, but one that has been told to me over the years. He was assassinated for wanting a free and fair society for all Bangladeshis. His killers remain unknown and have never been brought to justice.
The inequalities Baba saw first-hand as a physician spurred his political activism. Since Baba's time, healthcare in Bangladesh has made many leaps and bounds, something I have observed myself. But, Bangladesh continues to have many societal, economic, and healthcare challenges, which can be attributed to lack of resources, lack of education, corruption, burden of communicable and now increasingly non-communicable diseases, etc. In a country with ever-increasing economic prosperity, the income inequality grows wider, and the burden of disease rests disproportionately on the poor.
We have not realised Baba's vision of Bangladesh. As a future doctor, in my last year of medical school, I promise to do my part in helping ameliorate poor health conditions in our most underserved communities in Bangladesh and beyond. However, the responsibility cannot solely rest on one group or community. Those of us with the privilege of education, health, and relative prosperity must come together, be brave, and champion those most disadvantaged in our society.
Amra shahoshi manush - "We are brave."
The writer, the only child of Shaheed Dr. Shamsul Alam Khan Milon, is a medical student at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, USA and is in her final year of medical school.