Brigadier General Akbar Yusuf Photo: Courtesy

On August 21, 2021, I lost a course mate, a fellow freedom fighter and a dear friend of mine, Major Muqtadir Ali, which was shocking to me, as he had always maintained a healthy lifestyle. But before I could even reconcile with his passing, I was shocked to hear the news of another course mate of mine passing away on September 18, 2021—Brigadier General Akbar Yusuf, who was also a fellow freedom fighter and a dear friend.

The monumental tragedy of Akbar Yusuf's personal life mirrors the depth and enormity of the sacrifices this nation made for its independence. It is also a cruel manifestation of the savagery perpetrated by the Pakistan army in an attempt to bury the aspirations of our people in the grave, once and for all.

A brilliant student, Akbar Yusuf, like all young men, was looking forward to a brighter future. After passing his HSC exam with distinction from Chittagong College in 1970, he enrolled in the East Pakistan University of Engineering and Technology (EPUET), now Buet.

Following the general elections held in December 1970, which was overwhelmingly won by the Awami League, the Pakistani military-politico clique started hatching conspiracies to deny the Bengalis political power on the one hand, and launch a genocide on its people, on the other. As the political and security situation started heating up with sporadic attacks on the Bengalis, Akbar Yusuf left Dhaka for Chattogram to be with his family—following the Pakistan Army's crackdown in Dhaka on March 25, 1971.

The security situation in Chattogram was not any better. Anticipating the gravity of the situation, Akbar Yusuf's whole family—father, mother, six brothers, one sister and an uncle—decided to leave Chattogram and escape to their village home in Mirsharai. Accordingly, the family left Chattogram on April 6, trekking through a lane passing by a Bihari colony. Akbar Yusuf, with his younger brother on his lap, two other younger brothers and his uncle were some distance ahead of the other group. As the group behind them wasn't catching up with them, Akbar Yusuf stopped to look back and found that they were surrounded by a group of armed Biharis. Sensing imminent danger, Akbar started to go back to rescue them, but his father gestured for him not to come back and to proceed onwards towards their destination. But Akbar didn't have the heart to leave half of his family behind and persuaded his uncle to move without stopping. He gingerly climbed on a tall tree to watch what was happening with the group that was captured by the Biharis. To his horror, he watched with his own eyes how his father, mother, two brothers, and his sister were brutally butchered one after another by those human-faced hyenas.

Frenzied by the horror of what he saw, Akbar climbed down from the tree and started rushing towards them. But he was prevented by the villagers who had gathered around him, for they feared that he might be their next victim.

Despondent and stricken by the intense mental agony of his loss, Akbar spent the next month without knowing what to do. As he gradually gathered his composure, he made a vow to exact appropriate revenge on the enemy and join the fight to liberate the country. He consulted with one of his cousins and shortly afterwards crossed the border to join Sector 1 under Major Rafiq, Bir Uttam. After receiving the necessary training, he joined the guerrilla group that conducted a series of offensive operations against the Pakistani troops, some of which were quite impressive and noteworthy. His display of dedication, patriotism and courage impressed his superiors and he was selected, through a process of interviews, to be trained as an officer in the Mukti Bahini.

In the first week of November 1971, Akbar joined a batch of 69 other freedom fighter officer cadets (popularly known as 2nd Bangladesh War Course, BWC II), for a three-month crash course at a makeshift officer's training camp in Murti, an Indian mountainous valley straddling in between Sikkim and Bhutan, under Jalpaiguri district.

I was also a member of the BWC II and became quite friendly with Akbar. Soon, the story of the tragedy that befell Akbar became known to the other cadets, eliciting their sympathies for him. But everyone was cautious and sensitive not to raise the topic in front of him or show any curiosity, lest it rekindled the grave agony that was subliminally buried in his heart. But what was more dignified, courageous and the manifestation of his subdued mental, emotional and moral strength, was that he was neither outwardly consumed by the pain nor was he seeking sympathy. He kept it completely private and if he wept he did so in solitude and not in public. On the contrary, during our training, which by definition was gruelling, physically tough, bone-crushing and a real test of the power of endurance, Akbar was always the most active and enthusiastic volunteer to participate in any challenging tasks. By nature, he was amiable, always smiling and perhaps sought to seek solace in singing songs and playing the flute.

While the training was going on in full steam, the country was liberated on December 16, 1971. However, the training programme was not discontinued. The cadets returned to the liberated country in February 1972, and after a process of three months' attachment to different infantry units followed by another three months of training in a dedicated training camp in Dhaka cantonment, we were commissioned in the Bangladesh Army as Second Lieutenants. Second Lieutenant Akbar Yusuf was posted to the 2nd East Bengal Regiment. Meanwhile, he visited the site where his family was murdered, and with the help of the villagers, found the dead-bodies buried in a single grave. He gave them a formal burial with the necessary religious ritual.

While he put his heart and mind into building his career in the army, at the same time he also focused his attention to the welfare of his remaining family members. He used to regularly send money for the upkeep of his orphaned siblings from the meagre monthly salary of Tk 400 he received as a junior officer. He continued to do so until each of them established themselves properly in society.

Akbar was able to prove his worth in the army by dint of his merit, motivation and hard work. During the progression of his career through various ranks and attended responsibilities, he held several key posts both at home and abroad. He was a founder member of the Army Staff College, commandant of NCO Academy, director of DGFI, and successfully commanded several infantry units and brigades. He also served as defence adviser in our mission in Ankara, Turkey. He was promoted to the rank of Brigadier in 1996. Upon his retirement in 2007, Akbar, who was a deeply religious and pious person, and had performed Hajj twice, devoted his post-retirement life to the betterment of society through various philanthropic works.

He passed away on September 18, 2021, due to certain lingering complications following an attack by the killer coronavirus. In his passing, he left behind his wife, a son, a daughter and a large number of course mates, friends and well-wishers.

On October 3, friends, course-mates and family members of Brigadier General Akbar Yusuf and Major Muqtadir Ali held a memorial and prayer meeting over Zoom. Several speakers reflected on the lives and work of the two deceased freedom fighter officers and prayed to the Almighty for bestowing His mercy upon them.

Major (retd) Ashraf ud Doula is a freedom fighter, a retired secretary and has served as Bangladesh's ambassador to several countries.