Ibne Siraj :
Although very late, it is undoubtedly an appreciable move that the government would form a special tribunal to identify the fake Freedom Fighters, as disclosed by Minister for Liberation War Affairs AKM Mozammel Haq at a seminar here recently. (BSS) quoting the Minister, aired a news saying, “A bill would be placed in this respect before the Jatiya Sangsad and later it be turned into a law after completion of the necessary scrutiny before making the tribunal.” Such a tribunal could be formed long ago when the fake Freedom Fighters were making their subtle entry into various advantageous positions by changing their faces from time to time and enjoying all facilities provided by the governments for the real Freedom Fighters. In a sense, these worst human beings did not think for even a moment what a crime they were committing to undermine the Heroes, who risked upon their life to bring Freedom for the country. Everybody must be ashamed of such an act done by a section of the people identifying themselves as Freedom Fighters. The good news is that the government has taken a right decision to unveil the ugly faces of such elements.
According to the Minister, the government has taken immediate steps to scrutiny the existing Freedom Fighters’ lists to sort out the fake ones, who would be given a chance through newspapers to surrender their forged certificates before the concerned authority. Otherwise, action would be taken against them. Newspaper reports said the concerned ministry very recently revoked Freedom Fighter certificates of another 31 public servants for obtaining those through forgery, raising the number of cancelled certificates to 182. The Minister said these fake Freedom Fighters would initially face departmental action and those retired would be charged in criminal cases. The Anti-Corruption Commission has already started investigation against several incumbent secretaries and one former secretary for obtaining Freedom Fighter’s certificates allegedly through forgery. Besides, the government has been investigating another 5,000 people, including 300 government employees, for obtaining Freedom Fighter certificates allegedly through fraudulence. Interestingly, most of the public servants are mid-ranking officials, supposedly in their boyish age in 1971 not to be able to fight the well-trained Pakistani army.
It is not only disappointing, but also shocking and just disgusting, to know that persons presiding over top chairs of the civil administration have cheated themselves as Freedom Fighters by obtaining fake certificates through shameless use of their authorities. By doing so, they showed disrespect to the most valiant sons of the soil, best to be dubbed as the heroic icons and legends, who did not care for their life but jumped into the War of Liberation to achieve the long-cherished freedom from oppression and subjugation enforced by the Pakistani centrists on the Bangalees since Pakistan was curved out of greater India in 1947. These cheats, enjoying all government facilities, did never care for showing any respect for the trail blazing life of the committed and unselfish Freedom Fighters, who must be placed after Father Of The Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Over the last 43 years of the hard-earned Independence, many Freedom Fighters suffered from hunger, diseases, extreme poverty, and frustration and finally died leaving their families into uncertainty. It is also a matter of sheer pity that the war-wounded Freedom Fighters are living on mercy in government shelters.
There’s no need for a long definition of the Freedom Fighters as they have independent minds to choose what to do and, accordingly they have opted to go for war against Pakistan at the call of the great leader. Largely from the middle-class and poor families, these Freedom Fighters had the most sordid experience in 1971 with no food or drinking water, at times half-fed and no sleep and sometimes into the death traps of Pakistani soldiers and their collaborators. Freedom they snatched from the Pakistani army appeared as divine blessings when Yahahya’s blood hungry hyenas surrendered on December 16, 1971 at a place, from where Bangabandhu first declared “the struggle this time is the struggle for our Freedom, the struggle this time is the struggle for our Independence.” As ill luck would have it, the crude realities born out of the cheatings of such unscrupulous people have now appeared that Freedom is a kind of thing that its aura is divorced from other goings in this society. The fact is that Freedom is not merely breaking the shackles of bondage or breathing fresh air in an open place but it is a visionary concept to be carried forward to the years and eras to come by exploiting all the advantages of time.
Freedom can neither be dissociated from society and exist in a vacuum, nor it can be controlled as peoples’ Independence speaks clearly of their class, race, gender, resources and politics at large in a sovereign area. Therefore, Freedom Fighters are not merely a section of society, but have a connection with everyone enjoying freedom in a democratic country. The Freedom of Bangladesh did not come easily, rather the people of this part of the world had to shed immense blood and tears from age to age. The leaders and their followers over the centuries required fearless courage and true spirit to drive out the colonial as well as autocratic rulers from this alluvial soil in the Himalayan delta. From Shaheed Syed Nisar Ali Titumir to Shaheed Father Of The Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the freedom history of Bangladesh is largely featured by the life-long struggles of leaders and Freedom Fighters, who embraced deaths preceded by hardships, exploitations and inhuman tortures. After 1947, the need of the time demanded immense courage and sacrifice to devote one’s life to the cause of freedom of the motherland.
Except a few, everyone who lived under the Pakistani rule dreamt of an Independent Bangladesh and the Freedom came after long 23 years’ struggle, revolution, bloodshed, sacrifices and a crucial battle. Before the ultimate victory achieved on December 16, 1971, 30 lakh patriotic Bangalees, who possessed tremendous spirit and immense bravery, surrendered their lives to the martyrdom and also 2.5 lakh women and girls lost their dignity in the hands of Pakistani army, who left a trail of devastation allover the country resulted from the contemporary history’s worst ordeal. As the Freedom came at a very heavy price, unconditional respect for the Freedom Fighters was seldom seen due to their disunity and different political views. Perhaps for these reasons, the well-placed and high-ranking pseudo-Freedom Fighters have long been eating the vitals allocated for the real Freedom Fighters, who have been trying tirelessly to get rid of the clutches of evil cabal. On the surface, the independent thinkers may feel that this seemingly all powerful cabal has nearly reached their endgame goal of full spectrum dominance of the society. But the present government has caught them tightly by their collars, thus bringing an end to their massive consolidation of power gained through forgery, cheat and conspiracy.
These cheat Freedom Fighters, a powerful force working behind the scenes obviously to destroy the main spirit of the War of Liberation, are sometimes referred to as “white hats” by occupying positions in various government and non-government sectors. To many, the current move of the government may seem like wishful thinking, but the fact is, in nature, that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Since there are far more good people in the world than the few running the cabal, it’s not a stretch to believe that such elements would go untouched and unpunished. Since the cleansing of fake Freedom Fighters has started with initially withdrawing the prescribed facilities and advantages, there must be an immediate move to put them on trial and boycott them from all family and social functions. With this in mind, the government should immediately arrest these elements to set an example that the cheats, worse as criminals, they should have no place in this country. The perpetrators of such cheating must also be taken into book with evidence that will be presented leaving no conceivable room for doubt. Therefore, it is suggested that the government must stay calm but steady with its targeted goal during this cleansing period by arresting and punishing these thugs for their unpardonable crimes.
(Ibne Siraj is a contributor of The New Nation)
