Month of Victory
<i>Days in the life of poor FF Surat Ali</i>
Freedom fighter Surat Ali of Magura Sadar, now pulls van as he continues to fight against poverty.Photo: STAR
Freedom fighter Rabiul Islam alias Surat Ali is passing his days amid utter poverty as the monthly allowance he receives from the government is not enough to maintain his family. He now lives in a thatched house on a small land owned by his younger brother at Barashia village in Magura Sadar upazila. The house is made of dried jute sticks and its roof covered with polythene leaks badly in the monsoon. Though Surat Ali, now 66, is not fit for physical labour, he has to pull rickshaw van to maintain his family, comprising three members. His daughter got married while son, aged 6, is a class one student of a local primary school. Surat Ali gets Tk 2,000 as monthly allowance and draws the allowance once every six months. He hires a rickshaw van and pay half of his daily earnings as rental to the owner. “We often pass the days half-fed or unfedhe as my scanty income is too small to meet the daily needs,†he said. Son of a landless late Moksed Molla of Barashia village, Surat Ali joined the Liberation War at the age of 28. “I received military training at a training camp in the Indian state of Bihar, came back to the country and fought against Pakistani occupation forces and their collaborators in Sector No 9 under the command of Major Abul Manjur,†Surat added. Surat also claimed that he fought against Pakistan army in different areas of Sreepur and Mohammadpur upazilas under the leadership of valiant freedom fighter Akbar Hossain Mian and Enamul Kabir Khokon. Freedom fighters Moshiur Rahman and Abdul Aziz of the same village told this correspondent that Surat Ali fought against the occupation forces at different battlefields in the district. He is in dire need of help to build a permanent house at the village, they added.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments