<i>Hapless freedom fighter lives at cremation ground </i>
Freedom fighter Abul Khair sitting in front of his hut erected on the corner of a cremation ground at Shyamkur village in Moheshpur upazila of Jhenidah district.Photo: STAR
Valiant freedom fighter Abul Khair lives in a shabby hut on a cremation ground at Shyamkur village under Moheshpur upazila of Jhenidah, working as a day labourer to survive with his five-member family. "A neighbour grabbed our land during the Liberation War. My family members including mother, wife and two grandsons are passing days half-fed or unfed. We are living in the cremation ground. Often we have to bear with the bad smell coming out from the dead bodies," said the freedom fighter. Khair, who had to discontinue study after primary education due to poverty, joined the Liberation War when he was 22 years old, he said. On completion of training in India, he joined Sector No 8 and took part in several fights against the occupation forces in Chowgachha of Jessore, Moheshpur of Jhenidah and Jibonnagar of Chuadanga. "Our unit defeated Pakistani troops in an eight-day fight at Husherkhali field in Moheshpur upazila and killed around 200 Pakistani soldiers. "After my joining the Liberation War, local collaborators of the occupation forces tortured my father. When I returned to my village after the final victory, I found that neighbour Jalil occupied our land and house. My father had sold a small piece of land to Jalil during the war but the man deceitfully grabbed all our landed property including the house," he said. With the meagre Tk 30/35 a day that he earns as a day labourer, Abul Khair finds it difficult to meet both ends meet for the family. Sometimes he has to stay at home due to respiratory problem and then they have to pass days unfed or half-fed, said the freedom fighter, now 61.
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