We have paid a lot of price to make a country independent. We have got the red-green flag by overcoming the history of self-sacrifice of 3 million martyrs and the sacrifices of 2 lakh mothers and sisters, the self-sacrifice and struggle of millions of Bengalis. Our liberation war was a people's war. Here people of all professions and classes united and embarked on the liberation struggle.Independence had to be achieved through nine months of tireless liberation war. The war that Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman called for, and under his leadership the freedom-loving leaders and activists of NAP, Communist Party and Student Union also jumped into the freedom movement like others.
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Today's article will highlight one of their war incidents. In the history of the war of liberation which is known as Betiyara war. During the war, a guerrilla group entered Bangladesh and was ambushed by Pakistani forces at Betiyara on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway in Chauddagram of Comilla district. Nine freedom fighters were martyred that day.
At the beginning of the war of liberation, the Awami League government and India were somewhat hesitant towards the left parties of Bangladesh. The Awami League was trying very hard not to lead the war. This hurdle was later removed after the signing of the Indo-Soviet Alliance. Despite being a capitalist country, India arranged for the training of leftist groups in Bangladesh. Everyone started arriving in Agartala, India in groups.In Agartala, the leaders and activists of the left parties used to stay at the Crafts Hostel. Among those who were active in organizing the war of liberation were Comrade Mani Singh, Mozaffar Ahmed, Mohammad Farhad, Matia Chowdhury, Gyan Chakraborty, Anil Mukherjee, Pankaj Bhattacharya, Matiur Rahman, Shekhar Dutt, Abdul Hadi and others. Women leader Begum Mustari Shafi and artist of Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra Mohammad Belal were also in the hostel for some time.
After that, Kartabari of Agartala was developed as a recruiting center. Workers arriving from Bangladesh would find shelter in this center. Their basic training was compulsory after the initial selection. Fighters for guerrilla warfare were then selected from among them. The next step was to send them to the Tezpur camp in Assam for guerrilla warfare training. At the end of the training they would return to the camp and from here their induction would be arranged inside the country.At that time another camp was set up. Munjurul Ahsan Khan, Yafes Osman, Nizamuddin and Mahbubul Haque were given the responsibility of running this new camp. New recruits were given military training here. After the guerrilla training from this camp, the guerrillas were martyred in Betiya during induction inside the country.
November 10, 1971
The evening is approaching at the base camp of the freedom fighters near Agartala. Each tent is lit. The light inside the tent is trying to get out of the darkness. Throughout the camp, there is a lot of noise today. Highly trained guerrilla freedom fighters from Tezpur in Assam are facing when to enter Bangladesh.Team leader Yafes Osman is frequently walking back and forth. The gunpowder of excitement then peaked. The next morning there will be an induction, meaning that the guerrilla forces of the Communist Party-Student Union will cross the border and enter Bangladesh. The freedom fighters have become restless to enter the country, to fight and make the country independent.The overall responsibility of the team has been given to Yafes Osman (current Minister of Science and Technology), son of the then VP of BUET and renowned poet, time-honored fiction writer Shawkat Osman. Nizamuddin Azad, the then student leader of Dhaka University, was appointed as the Deputy Commander.