Playing Football for Swadhin Bangla*
artwork by amina
(Oral account of Amalesh Sen, 23 years old in 1971, footballer from Bogra) Late in March (1971), I took a train to the border town of Darsana. Other members of our family had left Bogra earlier. I knew a boy called Raju from Bogra whose father was a Customs officer at Darsana...I had to change trains a couple of times before I finally reached Calcutta. I took (a taxi) and arrived at my brother's rented house in Behala. Everyone was surprised and relieved… Then one day I read an announcement in a local newspaper asking Bangladeshi footballers among the exiles to report to the 'Bangladeshi Mission' at the given address. The place used to be the Pakistani Deputy High Commissioner's Chancery at Park Circus. When I went there in the morning I met 'Pratap Da', Kaikobad, Turjo (nickname of Kazi Salahuddin, currently president of the Bangladesh Football Federation), and some others. They told me that the Karnain Estate near Dharmatala Street had been allocated for us. "We are going to organize matches, make people aware of the situation in Bangladesh, collect funds, etc." The following day I moved to Karnain Estate. About a dozen players had already arrived. Later, many others turned up...about thirty were finally selected. The rest left for different freedom fighter camps. We began practicing. Clubs like East Bengal and Mohun Bagan let us use their grounds. We also rented a house and about twenty-five to thirty of us shared a single room, our bedding laid out on the carpet. It was a tight fit but we managed somehow. Later, we got beds, but even that we had to share. We had not brought along any equipment, like boots, etc., with us from Bangladesh, so we had to buy them. We also hired a couple of ball boys to assist us. (The) Indian government organized our food and board. We also received some clothes, and Rs 21.00 per week as pocket money. During breaks in practice some of us would go out see movies or whatever. I would visit my folks at my brother's place. The invitations to play began arriving--until we had problems accepting them all. After we had a fair amount of practice we played our first match. Our opponents were the Krishnagar XI at their home ground.The Bangladesh flag was flying high that day. No country had yet recognized us, not even India, but it was a matter of great pride that we could put up our national standard on foreign soil (with the result that the local Deputy Commissioner was suspended!). Many had tears in their eyes. We sang patriotic songs and the national anthem. Everyone in the stands stood up to pay their respects--it was spontaneous. After the match some of our players ran around the field with the Bangladeshi flag. The match ended in a draw; one goal each. It was a border district, and many refugees from the nearby camps had come over. We were also told that scores had also slipped across the border to watch the match! I don't know if they went back to Bangladesh. By then the Pakistanis were on a killing spree. Mohun Bagan played a major role in our support. We practiced with their senior players, including veterans. They organized our next match with Gostopal XI. Gostopal was a legendary player of a past era. Football star Chuni Goswami, who had retired from the game a few years earlier, played for Gostopal XI, and played well, even scoring a goal. Bolai, the star goalie of Mohun Bagan, also made their team. He had played for Mohammedan Sporting Club, Dhaka, before immigrating. He supported us a lot... We also played at Benares. There were lots of Bengalis there and many came to see the match. We lost the game by one goal and lady, an Indian, started crying. Hindus who had come over to India after Partition were very enthusiastic for us. Bus and tram conductors refused to charge when they found out about us... Salil Chowdhury, sports journalist, organized a match for us at Bombay. We missed our train so we took another one to Allahabad. We slept on the platform until the next one turned up. A number of celebrities and important people turned up at the stadium. The great Sachin Dev Burman, music maestro, was there. He was very old then. The Nawab of Pataudi played until half-time. His wife Sharmila Thakur also witnessed the game. The couple donated around Rs. 20,000 to our fund. Six players from the Indian national squad played against us and at one point we were down 1-2. But we leveled the score and finally won it, 3-2. Almost everyone suffered from conjunctivitis and scabies. Bangladeshi doctors came to treat us. We were invited to play at Burdwan. We reached a little after 12:00 noon and the game was at 5:00. We had lunch, then went to the Burdwan University. It was a grand building, probably a former zamindar's palace...We were given good receptions wherever we played. Although the arrangements were not always great there was no lacking in sympathy...We played at the Ram Krishna Mission ground at Narendrapur. We won by a few goals against the college XI. It was a good arrangement and the place was idyllic. On Eid day our Muslim players went to pray in a mosque in Dharamtala. I visited my family and other Muslim friends and celebrated just like we used to in Bogra. People who left behind their loved ones in Bangladesh became very emotional. We also organized an Eid feast. After 16 December half of our people started for Bangladesh almost immediately, getting up on trucks or buses that were going to Bangladesh. I stayed back for a while at my brother's house.
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