50km for 50 years

As the Liberation War marks its 50th year, the number of people who lived through those are being increasingly outnumbered by those born later. In such a time, it is important to establish practises that remind later generations of the spirit of the war.

An initiative by cycling collective Cycle Travelers of Sylhet aims to do just that. For three years, they have been walking across the city's mass graves in commemoration of the war.

What's more, every year, they walk as many kilometres as the corresponding anniversary of the war. For example, when they set out to walk yesterday, they walked 50 kilometres as it's the 50th year from 1971.

Kazi Sahi, coordinator of the walk, said, "We used to travel to many places on our cycles, but in 2018, we decided to start visiting mass graves around December. Though we are cyclists, we decided to walk and dedicate one day to the memory of the Liberation War."

In 2018, their 48 kilometre walk followed the path to mass graves at Khadimnagar and Chiknagul. For 2019, they walked to more mass graves at Sylhet Weather Station, Lalmatia and Balaganj upazila's Adityapur.

Starting at 6am from the city's Rikabibazar area, yesterday's walk followed a route that included Liberation War mass graves at Tarapur's Star Tea Garden, Malnichhara Tea Garden, Tilagarh and Lalmatia.

Finally, the walk concluded at the Martyred Intellectuals' Graveyard at Chowhatta area in the city.

Walking such a long distance is no easy task, but the group is considerate of this limitation and allow anyone to join however they want, and for as long as they want. Along with those who walked, yesterday's event also had several others who didn't complete the walk but only joined for shorter sections, and even some who rode on bicycles to accompany the walkers.

While these walks prove to be a rejuvenating experience, therer's one particular thing that cause the walkers grief. "On our visits, we always see that the mass graves are not maintained well enough, and sometimes they don't even have the minimum security required for such historically significant destinations," Kazi Sahi told this correspondent.

The walks have inspired the organisers to embark on similar endeavours. For example, earlier on March 17 this year, Kazi Sahi walked 100 kilometres from Tungipara of Gopalganj to Dhanmondi 32, in commemoration of the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Among others, yesterday's was attended by cyclists Nurul Islam, Morshedul Islam, Abdullah Al Muhsin, Toufiqul Islam, Sajib Hridoy Ahmed, Moheb Bin Emdad, Partho Dey, and Tomistra Tithi.