'Remembering a fallen hero'
I am writing regarding The Daily Star's Victory Day supplement of 16 December 2008. One of the unique features of this year's supplement is that it contains articles by three female writers. All of them have written about their personal experiences during the War of Liberation.
Of the three write-ups, the most evocative is the one by Ms Naseem Ahmed (Remembering a Fallen Hero ). This heart rending account of Ms Ahmed's anfractuous love for Lt Samad almost moved me to tears. While reading some parts of her narrative ( as to how short lived their love was, how she found no consolation from her own family in her hour of bereavement, how her lonely heart has striven to come to terms with her grief as she grew up, how she prayed for the safe return of her young love, etc) I definitely felt a lump in my throat. I take my hats off to this writer who has written about her personal tragedy in such a controlled manner and such crisp English.
As far as the 'hierarchy of grief' is concerned, there is no reason to think that the loss of Ms Naseem, and others like her, is in any way less painful or less worthy of respect than the loss suffered by the mothers, wives and sisters of the Martyrs of 1971. Ms Naseem, and other members of her sisterhood, deserve to be placed on the same pedestal as any other war heroine. There is no need for self-deprecation.
By coming out with the story of her love for Lt Samad, Ms Ahmed has very forcefully drawn our attention to a new class of war heroines: "young women who loved young men who went to war but never returned." Society needs to recognise their pain and sacrifice for the cause of freedom, whatever may be their number. As is evident from Ms Ahmed's writing this group of young women may have moved on with their lives, but the wounds in their hearts are still fresh and unhealed. We need to help them overcome their grief. We can do that only if we recognise their suffering for our independence. In this connection, I would like to suggest that The Daily Star undertake a project to find out as many of such young women as they can, collect their stories and publish them in their next Victory Day supplement ( 16 December 2009). May be Ms Ahmed could help DS do the job. It is understood that many of these young women would be in their mid- or late- fifties and may be reticent to come out as they have been living with their husbands, children and even grand children. In those cases aliases could be used to mask the identity of the real sufferers.
Yes, many of the dreams of our Martyrs of 1971 remain unfulfilled. But they have not been abandoned. We still dream of and strive for a secular, democratic, egalitarian and prosperous Bangladesh.
As for Ms Ahmed's question regarding the bead necklace Lt Samad gave her all those years ago, I understand that it's a rhetorical one ( not calling for an answer), I would, nevertheless, like to suggest that she could donate it to the Liberation War Museum authorities who could make arrangements for exhibiting it alongside the pen she had presented to Lt Samad.
Finally, I find that the story told by Ms Naseem Ahmed could be developed into a literary work ( short story or a novella ) of immense appeal. In the hands of a competent filmmaker the story of Naseem Ahmed's grief could become a powerful film a la 'The Cranes are Flying' or 'The Ballad of a Soldier.'
I have a few more comments to make on Ms Naseem Ahmed's write-up. But I think it would not be proper to make those comments through the columns of a newspaper. Would she kindly contact me at the email address given below.coolcapricorn100@hotmail.com
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