Dhaka desk: Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman holds a special place in the hearts of Liberation War widow Kohinur Akhter Begum and her children.
Kohinur’s husband Mohammad Mostafa Kamal was martyred while fighting against the Pakistani forces in 1971. At that time, Kamal was fighting in Sector-2 in Noakhali, commanded by Khaled Mosharraf.
A resident of Palpara village in Noakhali district, Kamal was the sole breadwinner of his family and his death had left his widow and three orphans struggling to make ends meet.
It was during this personal tragedy that Bangabandhu shone like a beacon of light in their lives. Bangabandhu had written three letters to the bereaved family, expressing his heartfelt sympathy and recalling the “selfless, supreme sacrifice of a great patriot in our struggle for independence”.
The letters provided Kohinur the much-needed courage, encouragement and strength to raise her children, two boys and one girl.
Along with the letters, Bangabandhu had sent three cheques of Tk 2,000, Tk 2,000 and Tk 1,000 as a token of help for the martyr’s family.
Touched by the gesture, Kohinur preserved the letters so carefully that they still remain fresh with the signature of Bangabandhu in his own pad.
Now Kohinur’s elder son, AKM Fakhrul Islam, has inherited the letters sent between 6.4.1972 and 22.6.1974.
“I was just four or five years old when my father was martyred. He was killed while fighting the Pakistani junta in a battle at Chandraganj Bazar in Noakhali on November 17, 1971, just before the final victory of Bangladesh,” Fakhrul told The Independent.
“I feel proud to be the son of a martyr,” said Fakhrul, who is now a chief engineer in the department of shipping (DoS).
His younger brother, Shahidul Islam, stays at their village home, and sister Sufia Begum has died recently.
“Our expectation is to implement the dreams and ideals of my father, who sacrificed his life for the nation,” he added.
