Fifty years ago, 61 young officers of the First War Course of independent Bangladesh passed out on October 9, making the day a landmark in the annals of the Liberation War. The then acting president of Bangladesh, Syed Nazrul Islam, took the salute. The ceremony was attended by then Prime Minister Tajuddin Ahmad and his cabinet colleagues, members of the national and provincial assemblies, other Bangladesh dignitaries, and the Indian instructors. The ceremony was held at the Officers' Training Wing (OTW) of Mukti Bahini in the Murti Camp of the Alpha Sector under "Operation Jackpot" of the Indian Army. It was located on the foothills of the Himalayas in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal, and was far away from the public eye too, since its security and secrecy were of paramount importance. The area of Alpha Sector was fenced with high parameter wire. Sentry towers were erected to keep watch around the fencing, and the area was patrolled to ensure security.

I was a captain in 1971 and was selected to teach in the OTW. A team was constituted to study the curricula of the Indian Army's Officers Training Academy Chennai (OTS Madras in 1971) and the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun. I was a part of this team. The syllabus of tactics, field and battle craft, weapons training, physical training, and unarmed combat—termed military subjects—was compressed into a capsule of 16 weeks. Administrative subjects, military manners and etiquettes, ceremonials, and academics that were peculiar for the Indian Army Gentleman Cadets (GCs), were excluded from the syllabus of Bangladesh GCs, because they were being trained to lead guerrilla forces or act as platoon commanders. Drill periods were also reduced; yet, the total number of periods of military subjects turned out to be 865. This was in addition to physical training, weapons training, handling of explosives, etc. Fitting these many periods into 80 working days was a big challenge, which was offset by carrying out day and night training.

The facilities provided to GCs in Murti Camp were spartan. Bamboo tarza barracks with tin roofs, bamboo cots with no electricity, plenty of mosquitos, and the sultry heat of North Bengal made the living conditions miserable. The bed bugs added to the misery at night. During outdoor training in the forest, leeches hanging from tree leaves dropped on the GCs, latched on, and gorged on their blood, noticed only when they were detached from the victims' bodies. The Indian Army had devised drills for every problem. Weekly de-bugging parade was an essential part of the training. Each GC was made to carry salt water to apply periodically on exposed body parts. After returning to the barracks, an inspection of each other's bodies by buddies was essential before sleep. The food, although nutritious, was tasteless, because soldiers were doubling as chefs in absence of a proper cook, since civilians could not be employed.

The training was tough and prolonged, spanning over day and night hours. On top of it, almost all GCs were uncertain about their families in Bangladesh, with very little information about their well-being. The Indian Army instructors were told to engage the GCs in conversations during the off hours to distract them. All instructors, particularly those in captain's rank, and the GCs became good pals and discussed almost everything; jokes (including non-vegetarian) were part of conversation. I made some of my lifelong friends among the GCs. Sheikh Kamal, brother of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was one of the most affected. On August 4, 1971, the news of Yahya Khan saying that Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had committed "acts of treason, and acts of open war," and would be tried by a special military court for "waging war against Pakistan," came out. The commencement of Bangabandhu's trial was quite a chilling news for everyone. From the first week of August, there was a news item, almost daily, about the trial. It was a trying time for Sheikh Kamal. He was also worried that the Pakistani military junta might harm his mother and other family members who were under house arrest. However, he displayed tremendous courage and equanimity.

All the 61 young officers were commissioned into infantry. They went to their units and sectors during the war and created havoc in the Pakistani ranks with relentless raids and ambushes. Sheikh Kamal was posted as ADC to C-in-C Colonel MAG Osmani. We parted company, wishing well to each other. He invited me to visit Dhaka to meet his family. Somehow, I could not meet him or any other officer. On August 15, 1975, I heard the news of Bangabandhu and most of his family members, including Sheikh Kamal, being assassinated. I was astonished to hear about the end of a budding future leader's life. It was a personal loss to me.

After the military coup of August 1975, I was instructed to stop correspondence with my Bangladeshi friends. I could not meet anyone during my service, and did not have any news about them. After my superannuation, I, along with my son Hitesh, got an opportunity to visit Dhaka in December 2011, on the 40th anniversary Bangladesh's victory in the war. We received a tremendous amount of love and affection during the visit. At the Dhaka airport, I was received by Major Mizan, the older one of the famous Mizan-Munib twins of the First War Course. That evening, there was a get-together arranged by Major Matin Chaudhury, where I met most of the officers and their families. I also gave them photos taken during the training. Shaheed Lieutenant Mustafa's parents thanked me, because it was the only picture of him, since he never met them after March 26, 1971.

I was granted an audience with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on December 15, 2011. I presented to her photographs of her brother, taken at Murti Camp in 1971. During the meeting, I told her about my association with Captain Sheikh Kamal and the conversations we had. It was an emotional moment for her, but like her brother, she did not show it. I think such composure is a legacy of Bangabandhu, one of the greatest leaders of last century.

I also visited The Daily Star office, where the editor, Mahfuz Anam, told me an anecdote about his experience in the Second War Course. He recalled he had complained to the administrative havildar about not getting sleep on his first night at the OTW because of bed bugs. The NCO told him that he would get used to it after a couple of days. "I don't know whether it was the effect of de-bugging or I used to be too tired to notice a bit of pain from bug bites, but I slept well during the rest of my stay in OTW," Mahfuz told me. Over the last one decade, I have spent almost two months in Bangladesh and enjoyed the hospitality of Major Qayyum and Captain Tajul Islam.

All of us are now in the twilight zone of life. It is time that the ties were built between our next generations. I appeal to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to build a memorial at Murti Camp, where all officers of war courses and their family members should be invited on Bangladesh's independence and victory days every year. Murti Camp has an emotional link with the Liberation War, and that legacy must be passed on to next generations.

RP Singh, VSM, is a retired brigadier of the Indian Army, and a veteran of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, in which he was involved in different capacities from day one till the surrender of the Pakistan Army on December 16, 1971.