Fight for Freedom By Rafi Nizam I looked up at the sky. Tilling earth was hard without an ox. I wiped the sweat from my brow. It was a sunny day, just like any other. Father had sent me out to do farm work before lunch was ready . I lived on a small farm in East Pakistan with my father, mother, and two dogs. We had some other farm animals as well. We made only enough money to get by. I went to a small high school about a mile down the road. I had never had to worry about war until now. East Pakistan bordered India. West Pakistan was on the west side of India. West Pakistan had rule over East Pakistan. West Pakistan spoke a different language and we were forced to speak theirs ; this is why the revolution started. “Hey. Come inside for lunch,� my father called. My father worked in the fields like I did, but because he was getting old he worked less often. I went inside. Our house was relatively small. It consisted of a kitchen, two bedrooms, and a bathroom. As I walked into the room, I could smell fish. How delicious and tantalizing. After taking a bite, I felt all the pains of working in the fields go away.
“Mother, you really have outdone yourself today,” I said. My mother was known to be a great cook ever since she was a child. I continued to eat until my father interrupted me. “War is coming.” This was the first time he had brought it up since it started. “Here?” “Soon. I don’t know exactly when. All I know is that it’s coming and we won’t be safe if we stay here.” One of my dogs, Midnight, came over and sat down next to me. He was a faithful companion. I had a second dog, Shadow. They were both black as night. “Do you have any ideas?” I knew what he meant. What he was thinking was too risky. “I don’t know if I should.” “Well it’s the only way!” “We can’t be sure!” We were talking about whether I should join the rebel forces. I didn’t want to. I could die. This was a fight for freedom. I had to decide if I wanted to put my life on the line in order to gain our liberation and I didn’t know if I was strong enough.
“I’ll...think about it tonight.” I had to decide by tomorrow. Otherwise we might lose precious time needed for my parents to escape to the refugee camps in India. This was a test of my courage.
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It was morning. I had made my decision. My father was sitting at the kitchen table, with breakfast ready. “I’ve made my decision,” I said. “So?” my father replied. “I’m joining the rebel forces.” I could see in his eyes the mixed feelings of sadness and pride. “It was the best choice for you,” he replied. “I want to take Midnight and Shadow with me.” “They’ll be in danger!” “So will you. I can’t bear not knowing if they’re safe or not. They can become military dogs and help me fight. At least then I have them under my protection.” “If you must.” We nodded in agreement. I quietly ate my breakfast. I would later have to go to the rebel camp five miles west near the Indian border. The current situation was that the rebel forces were collaborating with the
government and India to take down West Pakistan. At least we had support going into this war. *
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I approached the rebel base somewhat tired from the walk. I saw a man walking by so I stopped him. “Do you know where I can find your leader? I wish to join the rebel forces.” “Ah. You must go to the tent at the center of the camp with the rebel flag.” “Thank you.” I was on my way. I went into the tent and saw the rebel base leader. He was a tall muscular man with a beard. He was sitting down at a table with two others. “And who might you be?” he questioned. “I am here to join the rebel forces. I wish to aid in the fight for freedom.” “Well...we’re always looking for others to join our cause, but are you sure about this? Do you have the courage?” “I’ve thought long and hard about this. Of course I’m sure.” “Alright then. Follow this man and he will lead you to the weapons supplies tent. You can pick out two weapons that suit you. You can also go and set up a tent for yourself.” I followed the man outside and to the tent. I picked up a short dagger and a rifle. After I set up my tent, I went to see what jobs I could do. “Now that I’ve settled in, what can I do to help?” He looked hesitant.
“Well, soon we’ll be ambushing a war party five miles north of here. We’ll be leaving in two weeks, so you can just take it easy for now.” “Thank you.” I headed off back to my tent. Nightfall was coming. I decided to go to sleep and wait for what lied ahead. *
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This was my first real battle. We had done some combat exercises in the two weeks before we left, but that much training wouldn’t be enough to prepare me for a real fight. We saw the war party moving up the trail with a wagonload of supplies. We were waiting in the bushes behind them. They were following a trail that would go through another forest. It was near the border of India, in Calcutta. The place we were ambushing from was a patch of forest near some open plains. They were in plain sight. As our commander gave the signal, we jumped out and started shooting the enemy. We thought that they would be unprepared, but they weren’t. They returned the fire with nearly twice the strength. While we had taken down a few of them in the first onslaught, but we had lost nearly a quarter of our original forces. It was horrifying. Men just lying there, with no life left in their eyes. As the war party sped away on their trail, I saw a soldier gasping for air. There were bullet holes in his shoulder and chest. “Water...Water...” He pleaded. I took out my water canteen. I slowly poured the water down his throat. He graciously accepted it.
“Thank...you...” He then let out a final breath. He was alive no more. I began to weep. I had never seen death like this before. Sure, we had to kill animals for our food and to sell, but I had never seen another person die before me. It was nerve-racking. I couldn’t stop crying. Until the mission leader came over and helped me back up, I was just lying there. I then realized something. I couldn’t be like this if I was going to fight in a war. I had to be stronger. I couldn’t break down every time someone died. I stopped crying and manned up. The next mission was in a week. I had to prepare myself. *
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I was at the camp when all of a sudden a man in a shrouded cowl approached me. He looked mysterious. Then he started to speak. “I see that you are new here. My name is Mai-iq.” He had a thick accent. “I am new here. How did you know?” “It’s always the newcomers who weep at the first death they see. It was the same for me.” He seemed to know a lot about war. “I can see that you have experienced much since this war began,” I replied. “I was here since the start, not just the start of the war. I was fighting ever since we realized we were being oppressed. I was part of the Language Movement.” I was amazed at how experienced he was. I still had one question.
“Then tell me this--why are we fighting this war?” He had a solemn look on his face. “That seems to be a question many are asking. It has a very simple answer. It is because we are not truly free until we are allowed to make choices. We choose to have a different language-They see it as an uprising. When they decide to fight we do not lie down and accept the consequences. We fight back. If we do not, then we lose everything.” I thought about what he said. He was right about this war. It was true about any war. Our next mission was going to be in 5 days. I had to think about what he said.
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We approached the battle field silently, winding through the jungle. I had Shadow and Midnight near me. They would help sniff out the enemy when needed. The jungle was dense. Thick leaves made it hard to see. This is what gave us the advantage. While the enemy was marching out rank-and-file, we were hidden in the terrain, just waiting to strike. We saw enemy troops approaching. We started firing at them. Soon gunshots were being heard all around. Someone almost snuck up on me but I quickly knifed him. I was making sure to keep Shadow and Midnight safe. Soon the casualties on their side outnumbered ours.
“Quickly! Find the rebel leader, and kill him!” That was one of the enemy troops speaking. The East Pakistani troops were silently killing off the enemy, one by one. Our guerrilla tactics proved to be more than a match for them. Since this was my first guerilla battle I had never realized how ingenious our tactics were. We took them down one by one. I saw Shadow finishing off downed soldiers off to the side. That would ensure that they could do no more harm. I was focused on breaking through their front line when all of a sudden an enemy soldier came from the side. He was about to shoot me. I thought it was all over. Then the unthinkable happened. Midnight jumped in front of me. He took the bullet meant for me. I lashed out in rage. I shot the man who tried to kill me. I was angry. I checked to see if Midnight was okay. He was wheezing and could barely breathe. “No! Please stay alive. Please. You can’t leave me.” He died in my arms. The dog I had grown up with. Gone. I went on a rampage, killing many of the enemy troops. Shadow was in a rage as well. He was even more relentless than me. They retreated after most of the troops were dead. Afterwards I brought back Midnight’s body to the camp. I had to bury him. I went to the rebel base leader to ask. “Sir, I would like to know if I could return home to bury my fallen companion. He meant a lot to me. “I’m sorry, but you’ll have to wait until this war is over.”
“Why?” “We need everyone’s help if we want to win.” “I understand.” Four months passed. Many battles happened. We finally had freedom. It seemed like an eternity had passed. I returned home, where my family was waiting for me. “I heard what happened,” my father said. I brought him the bag in which I had Midnight’s body. Our funeral was silent. None of us shed tears. Not even Shadow. We knew we had to be strong. Freedom was gained, but there was a cost. The cost of a friend.
Author’s Note The Bangladesh Liberation War took place in 1971 from March to December. To the people of Bangladesh this war was more important than any other. The major event that led to the war was the Bengali Language movement, which took place on February 21, 1952.
Before these events took place, in 1947 the country of Pakistan was formed. It was split into two regions--West Pakistan (now known as Pakistan) and East Pakistan (now known as Bangladesh). In between of them was India. West Pakistan was completely in control of East Pakistan. In 1948, Urdu was declared the official language of Pakistan. Many people in East Pakistan were angered. People in East Pakistan had a different culture. The Language Movement was started because of this. About 20 years after the Liberation War started. On March 7, 1971, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the opposition leader at the time, declared independence. It was a gruesome war. Mass genocide took place. Many intellectuals were killed. The battle that took place in this story was not a specific battle. These characters are purely fictional. Their stories, however, were not uncommon for that time. Many families had to flee to safer places like India for refuge. After the war Bangladesh was left in a disheveled state. There was a huge debt to pay. Buildings had to be rebuilt. It seemed as if there was no hope of recovering. Even now they still feel the effects, but it was not in vain. They no longer are oppressed by Pakistan. This war showed the determination of people when they want to accomplish something great. It represents how people can overcome oppression and defeat oppressors.
-Rafi Nizam
Works Cited Ministry of Foreign Affairs Bangladesh. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Liberation War of Bangladesh.â&#x20AC;? Independent Bangladesh. N.p., 23 Mar. 2008. Web. 23 Jan. 2012. <http://www.independentbangladesh.com>. This helped me learn about the political science behind the Liberation War.
Nizam, Ali. Personal interview. 8 Feb. 2012. This interview gave me many specific details on the war.