My Family history of 1971 1

71’ Through the eyes of a teenager

Abu Naim Bukhary Bhuyan

Brac University

HST 103

STID 21105016

Submitted to : Ms.Salma Khan Rini

Date : 22/12/2022
My Family history of 1971 2

Abstract

Mr.Somir Uddin Akanda who is a brave freedom fighter talks about his struggles and how
Bangladesh was formed. He talks about different social aspects of the war such as the general
lifestyle of the Muslims and Hindus, the festivals at that time, their food habits and so on. He
also talks about other factors such as how he goes to war and his motive behind it and formation
of Mukti Bahini and Razakar forces. We can also read about the post war period of Jamalpur
from him. He concludes with giving a short yet significant message to the new generation
Bangladeshis.
My Family history of 1971 3

Mr. Somir Uddin Akanda is a heroic freedom fighter from the Jamalpur Sadar upazila. He was a
resident of the Helencha village, which was under the Seven Number Union. He was a student at
Ashek Mahbub College. Belonging to a middle-class business family in the area, Mr. Akanda
was only nineteen years old and in the second year of his intermediate studies when he heard that
Bangabandhu had been arrested a few days ago. It was sometime around March 27th.Hearing the
news, Mr. Akanda started to feel anxious about the future of his family and his area. Mr. Akanda
was married around January of that year at the age of nineteen and wanted to work at his father,
Mr. Ayen Uddin Akand’s business after finishing his H.S.C. to support his newly formed
family.A few weeks went by, and a full-fledged war was starting to spread across the country.
Uncertainty started to get to him, and then, with the inspiration of his paternal uncle, he decided
to participate in the war as he thought that, for the better future of his family and this country, it
was the only option.

Many people in his village started to flee to India for shelter, but his family decided to stay back
in the village. Inspired by his maternal uncle, Mr. Akanda, he went to India with his
brother-in-law and seven to eight other friends to take training. During training, they were taught
to use rifles and throw grenades. Mr. Akanda was given a Sten gun, which he used to fight in
Sector 11. He said that he kept his gun with him even after the war was over, and he, along with
his fellow fighters, used to rally in their village with the guns. He had to return his weapon
before making his Freedom Fighter card. Although no direct combat occurred in his village,
Punjabis (Mr. Akanda referring to the Pakistani military) did visit his village while he was in
other parts of Sector 11.They were looking for freedom fighters in the village, as they knew
earlier from the local Razakars, people of which houses were fighting the war. Failing to find Mr.
Akand in his house, the military burned down his house along with some other houses in the
same locality. Fortunately, none of his family members who were left behind were killed.
Although he didn't experience any members of his family being killed, some of his fellow
freedom fighters were shot, and some were even killed. He witnessed his close friend Abdul
Motalib of Mymensingh die, being shot in the shoulder.He said that event struck fear in his heart
because his friend was to his right when he was shot. His hatred for the occupation forces ignited
the fire within him to continue fighting. Peace committees were formed in the next village as
My Family history of 1971 4

mentioned previously. They used to provide all the information about the Mukti Bahani to the
military. The peace committee that was formed was a part of the Al-Badr organization. 4 to 5
Local students of a residential madrasa who predominantly belonged to lower middle-class
families formed a committee. The peace committee was led by Kamal Khan, a student, and
included Yousuf, Shamsul Haque, and Yousuf's brother, who was also a teacher at the same
madrasa.

Mr. Akanda said that there were only two Hindu families in his village, and both the Hindu
families fled to India. One family fled in the middle of April, and the other family came after one
to two months before the occupation forces came. Both the families were very poor, and they
usually didn’t perform any sort of puja. The houses of the Hindu families were not owned by
them, but they were also not taken over by anyone. When they returned to Helencha, they started
to live where they used to. Which tells that as the number of Hindu families were low they
weren't affected by looting or takeover.

During the whole year, according to Mr. Akanda, the prices of daily goods in his locality were
very low. When asked, "There was a shortage of food and goods in the country back then, and
people used to starve." Mr. Akanda replied, "I had to travel to different parts of Sector 11."
"While traveling, I saw that the prices of goods were low compared to the value of money back
then, although the income of people was not much, and the prices of goods didn’t increase." He
also said that there were no formal hat bazaars that used to sit weekly. People used to come out
of their houses and return quickly to their houses after getting their goods from the local shops,
as the military used to torture seeing people gather. Farmers in different regions stopped
cultivating, fearing the military. But Helencha and many villages around it didn’t have to suffer,
as they were reliant on themselves because cultivation and agriculture were unaffected. Jamalpur
Sadar residents were spared famine.
My Family history of 1971 5

Festivals were not the same as they were before the war. People couldn't celebrate because fear
was instilling fear in their hearts.During the Eids, there weren’t any big jamaats in the fields;
only a handful of people used to go to their respective local mosques and perform the Eid
prayers. At most, some families used to cook beef and prepare payesh. But that was only among
the wealthy families. Mr. Akand said, "I used to be in the hilly regions of the sector, and there
was only one road that led to different villages." . “While traveling through different villages and
fighting the Punjabis, I saw that people used to hold small functions to get married.” Upon
further questioning, it was known that these functions used to consist of only a handful of people
(15–30), and Mr. Akand only saw 3-4 marriages in that year. Social functions did continue to
take place but only in a small scale.

Mr. Akand used to struggle through his days, hoping for good news.It was the 8th of December
when Mr. Akand’s force, along with Mitra Bahani, liberated Nandin (Nandina) village and began
long-marching towards Muktagacha. By the time they reached Muktagacha, Muktagacha had
already been liberated. Mitra Bahani was fighting Pakistani forces in various parts of the country
at the time.Suddenly, when Mr. Akand comes to know that Mymensingh has been declared
independent, Mr. Akanda said, "Still to this day, I can't explain the happiness I felt when I heard
that my Jamalpur and Mymensingh are now free." He further said, "The experience of freedom
gave us such joy that we celebrated the entire day singing and dancing." He was further happy
that he was alive, and now he could be with his wife, whom he had married just one and a half
months before the war broke out.

According to Mr. Akanda, the Pakistani forces destroyed many culverts, bridges, and other
necessary establishments before leaving. This disrupted the communication between many
places. And after the country was liberated, people’s lifestyles deteriorated as there were
shortages of many supplies. The policing system and thanas were destroyed and also not
reorganized, which led to an increase in crimes in many regions. Even after the war, Mr. Akanda
and his fellow freedom fighters worked to maintain social security and peace in their respective
My Family history of 1971 6

villages. But that was only for a few months until the policing and governing systems were fully
reformed and stability came back to the country.

Mr. Akanda, in his final statement, says, "From the mentality that we have liberated this country,
I hope that the next generation understands more about the struggles that millions of people had
to go through and protects the sovereignty of the country." He also said to work for the country
because, irrespective of people, the country gives us so much that we cannot repay. From this we
can say that the stories of all people from that time are different and unique which teaches us a
lot about our history.