CONTINUED FROM LAST ISSUE.
1949.
Prisoners sat on hunger strike for 200 days out of 365 days in the year.
The Muslim League Party for their sake of power tortured the people.
Liaquat Ali Khan wanted to run the country inciting conflict between the Bengalis and the Panjabis.
Exactly what the British did.
Nurul Amin is Bengal's Prime Minister only by name.
Power lay in the hands of bureaucrats.
Nurul Amin just followed their instructions.
We were in jail.
Who would speak for us?
Mr. Suhrawardy gave a statement for us.
The newspapers published this statement.
Health of Mr. Shamsul Haq deteriorated.
Mr. Moulana's Ittefaq was shut down.
He asked journalist Manik Miah, whom I address as Manik Bhai, to run the Ittefaq.
Towards the end of 1950, Mr. Moulana and Mr. Shamsul Haq were released from jail.
Mr. Moulana returned to jail again.
I was placed in a single dark room in jail.
Why?
For giving me suffering and pain.
What a suffering it was.
Can anyone unless being a sufferer understand it?
They released me.
At the same time, they arrested me.
What barbaric thoughts can live in them!
There are many Hindusin this country who honour people as human beings.
They rushed to the people in danger.
1951.
The country witnessed community riots again.
I began hunger strike in jail by demanding my release.
Injustice was everywhere - in the workplace, in business and so on.
Now they started to impose injustice on Bengali language.
I went on hunger strike.
The jail authority pushed food by a pipe through my nose.
They will not even let me die.
My nose wasdamaged
I lost weight, and my heart was irregular.
I had no energy to get up from bed.
It was painful even to breathe
21 February 1952.
Dhaka experienced a heavy chaos.
'We demand for release of political prisoners'.
'We demand for the release of Sheikh Mujib'.
I was worried.
"How many people have died in Dhaka?"
It was difficult for me to know then.
It was a situation, when even numbers of students started to gather and chant slogans.
Under-aged boys and girls came out on streets to chant slogans.
It was an outcome of lacking in foresight.
Even a leader like Jinnah could not return without witnessing people's protest at his speech in favour of Urdu as the state language.
What will be the fate of Mr. Khawja and his allies in this situation?
A group is engaged in conspiracy.
These people in conspiracy were creating a situation to make a distance between Jinnah and the people.
Simultaneously his supporter Nurul Amin had been detached from the people.
Police had been out of order.
I can imagine the face of Renu.
What will happen to Renu?
She has nobody on this earth.
What will happen to our two small children?
I could not even see my children for once.
I can be alive at least for one or two days more.
Doctor came and said to me, 'Would you go if you get released?'
If I get released, I will go,
Otherwise, I will not go-
TO BE CONTINUED...
Bengali-Swedish writer Anisur Rahman's authorship is based in Bangladesh and Scandinavia and he sits in the board of the Swedish Writers' Union.
