Tuesday | 14 January 2025 | Reg No- 06
বাংলা
   
Tuesday | 14 January 2025 | Epaper

A Personal Chronicle

Our struggle, our independence

Published : Saturday, 16 December, 2017 at 12:00 AM  Count : 634
Khurshid Alam
PRE-1971
I first went to Ankara, Turkey in 1967 to study at the Orta Dogu Teknik Universitesi (popularly known as Middle East Technical University: aka METU).  Having never been out of Dhaka much, let alone abroad, it was a big leap straight from Notre Dame College to Turkey. Arriving in Turkey I was shocked with the realization that I was the first undergraduate Bengali / East Pakistani to be admitted there on a scholarship whereas Pakistanis (from West Pakistan) had been studying there since 1956!  We simply didn't know of this university and the opportunities of studying there. This was another eye-opener of the type of discrimination/deprivation imposed upon East Pakistanis, rather Bengalis, even in the sphere of education. But I must acknowledge in all honesty that there were some Pakistani students who were very helpful though most were unhelpful if not disdainful.
As a humble first step towards remedying this inequity I started sending cyclostyled handwritten info sheets in Bengali, naming it "Bongobashi" to colleges in all the sixteen districts and the universities in East Pakistan.  The newsletter provided information about METU and its various departments, and how to apply for admission, where to take the admission tests, eligibility for scholarships, etc. This resulted in slow intakes/arrivals of Bengalis.
After me, Galib Khan and Quamrul Islam arrived in 1968 but Quamrul returned to Dhaka the year after. The largest intake of Bengali students was in 1969, with the arrival of four undergraduate students namely Rafiqul Islam, Ahsanul Habib, Muhammad Tahseen and Shahadat Hossain and five graduate students AKM Habibullah, Rezaul Karim, Shafiqul Hafiz, Khairuzzaman and SS Jangi. [After Habib's arrival, he designed a letterhead keeping the name "Bongobashi" which we had printed and used thereafter.]. Zahid Hossain, Imran Rashid Chowdhury, Dulal Talukdar and Rokenuddin Ahmed were the last four undergraduate students who came in 1970, resulting in a total of 15 Bengali students at METU in 1971 whereas the West Pakistanis numbered around 100+.  Two non-Bengali students did come to METU from East Pakistan but upon arrival they immediately aligned themselves with the Pakistanis.
In a short course of time I came to be known in the Pakistan student community as rebel and an anti-Pakistani and this was set in stone in their minds particularly from 1969 when I cited my nationality as "East Bengal" while visiting the CENTO HQ in Ankara. As soon as this came to their knowledge they called a special meeting of the "Pakistan Students' Group (PSG)" at METU to chastise me; at the meeting there were eight Bengalis and around 40 Pakistanis. They decried my action and threatened me physically and almost everyone started to spring out at me but fortunately a few saner Pakistani students sheltered me from their onslaught and shortly a melee and fist fight broke out. At the conclusion of that meeting I declared that the Bengali students would no longer remain members of the PSG and most of us walked out of the meeting, forever leaving PSG.  Habibullah however remained with the Pakistani group and was named President of PSG but used to ask for my frequent assistance in writing/editing newsletters or Infosheets.
It may be mentioned here that I had made very good friends and close allies in the METU Students' Union ( ODTU Ogrenci Birligi ) which was controlled by leftists/Revolutionaries  (Devrimci) and also with my forward-thinking liberal fellow students. They provided me moral and physical support whenever I needed such, and there were quite a few instances, all throughout my stay in Ankara till early 1972.
Another very important episode was in 1970. I had organized a black ribbon protest at the Pakistan Embassy Eid reunion to protest and vent our anger at the Pakistan army and the government for their lackluster response and inaction to the terrible human toils and infrastructure devastation inflicted upon by the recent cyclone that had killed thousands. Couple of Pakistani students empathized with us. This thoroughlyinfuriated the Pakistani diplomats and the embassy staff resulting in throwing me, Tahseen, Habib and Imran out of the gala.
SAGA  OF 1971
1971 was a watershed year for us living and studying in Ankara, Turkey. We were challenged from two sides.
METU became a hotbed of revolutionary anarchist activities, sort of a center for all leftist students in Turkey. Skirmishes between highly organized student activists and Turkish armed services, Jandarma (para-military force) and police, took place fairly regularly. Bank robberies and bomb attacks started in earnest from 1970 and 1971 was the culmination. The METU Students' Union was purportedly a breeding ground and the university itself was rocked by these and classes were suspended several times. While everyone was struggling with this background, the events of 1971 in the then East Pakistan jolted us to the bones.
All the while, a lot of anarchic activities were going on inside Turkey at the time.  The US Ambassador's car was set on fire in front of the METU Rector's office. This created a political panic both at the university and inside the government, hardening their already bitter attitude towards the Devrimciler. It was only a matter of time before tough actions were to be launched against the students.
 (To be continued)
The writer completed BSc in Chemical Engineering and Post-Graduate Diploma in Fuel & Energy Engineering from the University of Leeds, and worked for Petrobangla. He later obtained a Master of Engineering degree in Natural Gas Engineering from Texas A&M University-Kingsville, USA, where he was also elected the Vice President of the University Students' Association. Now he lives in Atlanta.






LATEST NEWS
MOST READ
Also read
Story of the magnificent Bangladesh
My metaphysics
Our struggle, our independence
Question put forward to an excuse
Coming
Story of the magnificent Bangladesh
Our struggle, our independence
Grains of sand
Editor : Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury
Published by the Editor on behalf of the Observer Ltd. from Globe Printers, 24/A, New Eskaton Road, Ramna, Dhaka.
Editorial, News and Commercial Offices : Aziz Bhaban (2nd floor), 93, Motijheel C/A, Dhaka-1000.
Phone: PABX- 41053001-06; Online: 41053014; Advertisement: 41053012.
E-mail: district@dailyobserverbd.com, news©dailyobserverbd.com, advertisement©dailyobserverbd.com, For Online Edition: mailobserverbd©gmail.com
🔝
close