Remembering Mohiuddin Ahmed with Grief and Respect

It has been twenty-one years, and the tears have not stopped. The mourning poetry of the people of Mehendiganj is not ending. On this day in 2002, Mohiuddin Ahmed, the famous leader of Mehendiganj, went to the land of not return.

I first saw him at my home. He came to meet my grandmother with the boat symbol in the national election and seek blessings. Later, I realized that only one leader of Mehendiganj managed to become the leader of 'all' who loved the people of Mehendiganj like crazy and became a 'people leader' irrespective of caste, religion, and party affiliation. And he is none other than 'Mohiuddin Ahmed.'

The door of his house was always open for the people of Mehendiganj. He poured his all and tried to build an ideal, ethical, educated generation by establishing numerous schools, madrasas, mosques, and temples from that goal.

As a political leader, he was not only the president of Barisal District Awami League but also a member of parliament from this neglected township and a close companion of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Dr. Shammi Ahmed is the daughter of the great leader Mohiuddin Ahmed. She is the International Affairs Secretary of the Central Executive Committee of Bangladesh Awami League for the third time. Remembering her Father with grief and respect, she wrote on social media, 'How many children will you kill? All the children of Bangladesh are my children- this was the response of my Father, freedom fighter Mohiuddin Ahmed MP. In 1971, they threatened to kill his children if he did not cooperate with the Pakistani Army. We remember the martyrs of the February Language Movement. Today, we also mourn the death anniversary of our beloved Father.

He was sentenced to death by a Pakistani martial law court, and they fixed the date of execution on December 19, 1971. With the independence of the country on December 16, the brave freedom fighter Mohiuddin Ahmed was saved from that inevitable death.

Mohiuddin Ahmed's son Shahab Ahmed, the general secretary of Mehendiganj Upazila Awami League, requested everyone to pray for his Father. He said, 'There were days in 1971 when we didn't find any shelter and spent several days and nights on the boat.'

A letter written by Mohiuddin Ahmed to his beloved wife from jail on the day of his death has become a part of history. 'I don't understand why God still keeps me alive. Because the physical and mental torture we suffered by the military cannot be found in the history of the civilized world. It seems that Allah will not punish any sinner like this even on the Day of Resurrection. They broke two bones in my body. Starting with electric shocks, no torture was spared.'

Heroic freedom fighter Mohiuddin Ahmed wrote a letter to his wife from Dhaka Central Jail on October 16, 1971. Here are a few lines from the letter.

Pakistani forces captured Barisal Awami League leader Mohiuddin Ahmed in May 1971. Mohiuddin Ahmed was released on December 16. 

A few years ago, on the occasion of the Independence Day of Bangladesh, Washington D.C. Adnan Morshed, a professor of history at the Catholic University of America, organized the exhibition. 

Several photographs, posters of the Liberation War and its aftermath, posters of Concert for Bangladesh, original LPs, and magazines published from the United States, paper cutting, and books were displayed. 

Mohiuddin Ahmed's letters were open to all. A letter written from the prison to his wife on October 16, 1971, showed the brutality of the Pakistani Army. 

Mohiuddin Ahmed sent the letter to his wife through a man. On the first page of the four-page letter, Mohiuddin Ahmed wrote, 'Since being sent to jail, I feel like I have gone to heaven. They have killed hundreds of people. I never thought I would be alive.'

At the end of the letter, Mohiuddin Ahmed mentioned his wife coming to meet him in jail and wrote, 'You try to meet me once within 2/1 day. Meet the military officers with Dulabhai. You'll never go alone. You understand their character.' 

Barisal was a free zone until April 25, 1971. Then, after clashing with the Barisal Mukti Bahini, the invading forces captured Barisal. Mohiuddin Ahmed with his team went from Khulna to Hasnabad in West Bengal. 

After the capture of Barisal by the Pak army, the leaders of the Awami League, including Mohiuddin Ahmed, were declared 'enemies of Islam.'

In the first week of May, under the leadership of Major Jalil and Nurul Islam Manju, Mohiuddin Ahmed and his team loaded arms and ammunition in two launches. They started for the southern part of Bangladesh from West Bengal. Two gunboats of the Indian Armed Forces escorted them to the Bangladesh border. Two launches sank in the Burigualini River near Paikgacha in Khulna after coming under heavy attack by the Pak army, and the Mukti Bahini team dispersed in different directions.

With the help of Maulana Salam, a Jamaat leader and secretary of the Peace Committee, the Pak army arrested 19 freedom fighters, including Mohiuddin Ahmed. They were first taken to Khulna Circuit House and tortured. They were then taken to Jessore Cantonment. A few days ago, district Awami League general secretary Mashiur Rahman was beaten to death after being detained.

A few days later, 17 prisoners, including Mohiuddin Ahmed, were sent to Dhaka Cantonment by helicopter. Over the next few weeks, they were all subjected to electric shocks and physical abuse. After the death of Sirajganj Sub-Divisional Officer Shamsuddin Ahmed due to brutal torture, his body was left in front of the prisoners for a few days.

For the next few months, Mohiuddin Ahmed's life turned into hell. He had to endure inhuman cruelty. Pakistanis used to torture women prisoners throughout the night brutally. Day after day, they heard the constant screams of female prisoners.

He was sent to Dhaka Central Jail in November. The trial of Mohiuddin Ahmed began on December 6 in a military tribunal headed by a colonel of the Pakistan Army. 

After a short trial, the death sentence was announced on December 9 on charges of treason, aiding India in disintegrating Pakistan and helping the Mukti Bahini.

Mohiuddin Ahmed was scheduled to be hanged on December 19. Mohiuddin Ahmed was released after the surrender of Pakistani forces on December 16. On this day, we remember Mohiuddin Ahmed, the proud son of Mehendiganj, with mourning and respect.

The writer is a Ph.D. Researcher at RUDN University, Moscow, Russia