At PAF Shaheen School [now Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) Shaheen College], Dhaka, in 1967, everybody took a glimpse of a tall, well-built student with a light moustache, unkempt hair, wearing thick black spectacle in school uniform khaki trouser and a blue shirt.
Every time I saw the senior student during breaks, he was practising cricket [a game not played by many Bangalees in the 1960s].
He was none but Sheikh Kamal, the eldest son of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was in prison accused of treason by the military dictator General Ayub Khan for conspiring to bifurcate the eastern province of Pakistan into an independent state, Bangladesh. In fact, the dream came into reality in less than five years.
Kamal was an avid promoter of Bangla-speaking students joining regular sports, especially cricket. Shaheen School fared very well in inter-school competitions in basketball, football, cricket, and other sporting events of his active involvement.
The sports in Shaheen School were dominated by Urdu-speaking students, whose parents and guardians had migrated from India after the 1947 partition, or their parents were serving in the Pakistan Air Force, PIA, and civil bureaucracy even in business and commerce.
Kamal visited the junior classes to recruit students who had a flair for music, dance, and drama.
Many others — liberation war historian Afsan Chowdhury, acclaimed photographer Dr Shahidul Alam (Drik), Mohammad Ismail (of Rahimafrooz), heritage archive specialist Waqar Khan, Captain Sheikh Naseer Ahmed who was briefly managing director of Bangladesh Biman, Flight Engineer Faizul Islam, Tarique Islam (bagged the gold medal in the All Pakistan School Science Fair) – refrained from any games and sports.
Instead, they were more engaged in school addas during tiffin breaks, reading books, and discussing watching English movies in Naz, Modhumita, and Balaka cinema halls.
He appeared for the SSC exam in 1967 and left the school. He continued his studies at Dhaka College and then joined Dhaka University, also organising the East Pakistan Chhatra League.
The de facto student leader of the Bangla-speaking school students, he organised cultural programs on state-run Pakistan Television (now BTV) through his rightful connections.
PTV Dhaka Centre used to broadcast dance, music, and drama which were participated by Shaheen School. Titumir’s “Basherkella” drama, directed by Sheikh Kamal, was also broadcast on BTV in 1967.
The school under his encouragement got the best singer and dance choreographers. Singer Munni Begum and Alamgir Haq, who shot into fame in Pakistan, were born in Bangladesh and studied at Shaheen School. Similarly, Afroze Jilany made her debut in the dance programme on PTV and is now a choreographer in the United States.
Fortunately, Sheikh Kamal’s proactive initiative yielded positive results. Nearly a dozen footballers and cricketers in the national team had studied in Shaheen School. Amongst them was Kazi Salauddin, who is presently president of the Bangladesh Football Federation.
Most exciting were Tanveer Mazhar Islam Tanna (SSC 1967) and Jahangir Shah Badshah (SSC 1969) who played cricket in the national team after the independence of Bangladesh.
Days after the birth of Bangladesh, Sheikh Kamal with other friends and footballer Salauddin founded Abahani Krira Chakra in 1972.
Well, the sports enthusiast Kamal played football, cricket, basketball, and hockey. He also excelled in athletics. Indeed he was a brilliant organiser. He loved open-ended “adda” and sang songs.
Before he was recruited in War Course to become a Mukti Bahini officer, he was a member of the Shadhin Bangla Football Team, which held football matches across India to raise funds for the 10 million war refugees during the Liberation War in 1971.
During the bloody war of independence, Lieutenant Sheikh Kamal was aide-de-camp (ADC) to General MAG Osmani, chief of Mukti Bahini (Bangladesh Liberation Force), which later became the Bangladesh Army.
At least 16 students joined the Mukti Bahini from the 1967 to 1972 batches. Sarkar Kamal Sayed, a Liberation War veteran, led Shaheen School in 1969 to grab the basketball championship in the Inter-School Sports Competition. He earned the Sword of Honour in the 2nd BMA (December 1975) in Bhatiari, Chittagong.
Ishtiaq Aziz Ulfat joined the “Crack Platoon”, the guerrillas which made a shiver run through the spines of marauding Pakistan troops in Dhaka. Similarly, Salim Akbar (1971 batch) received the gallantry award Bir Protik for his contribution.
Unfortunately, after 10 days after his 26th birthday and a month after his marriage with Sultana Kamal Khuki, they were brutally murdered by rogue military officers of the armoured corps when they assaulted the private residence of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on August 15. The military putsch killed the entire family member. Sheikh Hasina and her younger sister Sheikh Rehana survived the massacre. Hasina’s husband Dr Wajed Miah was pursuing PhD while her sister was also living with them in Germany.
May they rest in peace!
Saleem Samad is an independent journalist, media rights defender, recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He can be reached at saleemsamad@hotmail.com and on Twitter @saleemsamad
