It is truly shameful how various media outlets are misrepresenting two brave soldiers of the Bangladesh Liberation War as 'fake freedom fighters' due to their absence in the list of 640 people from Gopalganj district. In reality, the said list was published through a gazette notification in 2021 for the screening of applicants for the new freedom fighter certificate.

The biggest profitable area in Bangladesh politics is to achieve their own vile interests by selling the great Liberation War and its spirit, name and title. Whenever a government comes to power, they play dirty politics with the great Liberation War and the freedom fighters. As a result, the debate over the Liberation War, real and fake freedom fighters has not ended even after 55 years of glorious victory.

According to reports published in various media outlets, there are allegations that approximately lakhs of fake freedom fighters are among the current list of freedom fighters. When someone becomes a freedom fighter with a government certificate as a war-hero without participating in the Liberation War, then will the freedom fighters and the children of the martyred families who sacrificed their lives during war accept them? As a result of such activities, nothing is left but hatred for the government, concerned ministries and those who identified the fake freedom fighters in the country's governance system.

To ensure the respect of freedom fighters and the transparency of the list, the government has taken a strict stance against fake inclusion. In light of this, there has been extensive writing about fake freedom fighters in several leading media outlets of the country recently. Just as these reports are demanding punishment for identifying fake freedom fighters; in some reports, there is an attempt to prove some real freedom fighter as a fake and somewhere else, the children of freedom fighters are being victimized.

Although there has been controversy in the past about the list of freedom fighters, the context this time is completely different. There are hundreds of fake freedom fighters here. And while taking action against these fake freedom fighters, unfortunately, the real freedom fighters are in an existential crisis today due to the red tape.

Recently, a news report published in various media outlets said, "A supervising Engineer of Civil Aviation Authority has been employed for 25 years with a fake freedom fighter certificate." This news has also been trolled in the digital media, and is still being trolled. A special fact-finding team of ‘The Finance Today’ has taken up the field regarding the news report. First of all, the members of this team confronted the accused supervising engineer of the 'Civil Aviation Authority’ Md. Shariful Islam.

He firmly told ‘The Finance Today’ that my father is a frontline freedom fighter and my uncle is a guerrilla freedom fighter. A group is trying to prove my father's freedom fighter certificate to stop my job promotion by putting a fake freedom fighter tag on it. Whatever their plan is later, their main goal is to stop my promotion by creating controversy.

Meanwhile, considering the importance of the ongoing controversy, FT Team decided to go to the remote Chandradighalia village of Gopalganj district, which is steeped in the memories of the Liberation War and investigate the list of real freedom fighters on the spot.

55 Years of Dispute

At the beginning of the investigation, a list of 640 freedom fighters was mentioned as the basis of news published and circulated in several leading media outlets, and since the name of Md. Shariful Islam’s father, freedom fighter Md. Mosharraf Hossain, was not included in this list, the victim’s father was called a fake freedom fighter. While investigating this list, ‘The Finance Today’ came across some sensational information.

According to the information received during the investigation, the list of 640 people from Gopalganj district on the basis of which an attempt is being made to prove that a son of the nation is a ‘fake freedom fighter’ is actually the list of verification and selection of freedom fighters who applied for the post in 2021.

However, the comprehensive list of freedom fighters of Sadar Upazila of Gopalganj district published in the gazette form by the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs alone contains 2161 names. In the said list, serial number 171 is Md. Mosharraf Hossain Molla (ID No. 1350005094); Father: Lokman Molla, Village and Post Office: Chandradighalia, Upazila: Sadar, District: Gopalganj and known number in the Red Liberation Letter List of Freedom Fighters - 109010278 and in serial number 1230 is his younger brother Md. Enayet Hossain Molla (ID No. 01350009830); Father: Lokman Hossain Molla, Village and Post Office : Chandradighalia, Upazila: Sadar, District: Gopalganj and known number in the Red Liberation Letter List of Freedom Fighters - 0109010196; his name is recorded. Md. Enayet Hossain's name is also in serial number 4983 of the Indian list and serial number 192 of the Civil Gazette.

Despite the inclusion of his name in the three lists, the controversy is not desirable. Many have expressed their anger on this issue. Several freedom fighters expressed their regret that the concerned reporter needed to do more verification and selection before publishing news about a heroic freedom fighter. They also called on the media to play a more responsible role in publishing news on sensitive issues like the great liberation war of Bangladesh and the heroic freedom fighters.

It is worth noting that the freedom fighter certificate of the two brothers was signed on October 26, 1999 by Abdul Ahad Chowdhury, Chairman of the Central Command Council of the then Bangladesh Muktijoddha Sangsad, and countersigned by the then Gopalganj Sadar MP and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the main sponsor and chief advisor of the then Muktijoddha Sangsad. So much controversy surrounds this certificate.

Meanwhile, in the village of Chandradighalia, while investigating the source of this report, ‘The Finance Today’ came across two brothers, Md. Mosharraf Hossain Molla and Md. Enayet Hossain Molla. In the initial conversation, the locals introduced these two brothers from the traditional Molla clan of Chandradighalia village as brave soldiers of the Liberation War. They told FT Team that in 1971, many people from the family of this Molla clan participated in the Liberation War. Among them, Md. Mosharraf Hossain was a front-line fighter and Md. Enayet Hossain actively participated in the Liberation War as a guerrilla fighter. Later, the members of the ‘The Finance Today’ team went to the houses of these two brothers and exchanged greetings.

Voice of the Veterans

When asked directly about the days of the Liberation War, the brave freedom fighter Md. Mosharraf Hossain told this correspondent that the brutal torture, killing, rape and looting of the Pakistani occupying forces inspired me to go to war. At that time, I was an intermediate student of BL College. After March 26, 17 innocent villagers were brutally killed by the Pak Army and Razakar forces in the villages of Chandradighalia and Guhala in Gopalganj. I could not sleep for several nights to avenge this murder. At that time, I was a second-year student of BL College in Khulna.

He said the Pakistan army often attacked the poor villages and captured young men. Many of whom could not be found later. The villagers were often subjected to many atrocities. Meanwhile, we used to spend the night in the boat going to the river night after night. One day, a few friends and I decided to participate in the liberation war and accordingly we decided to flee to India. After a few months, we crossed the border through Harpara in Jessore and went to Kakuria in Bihar. After staying there for some time, we participated in training.

He also said, "initially we were assigned to Sector No. 9 under Major MA Jalil. Later, about 80 of us participated in training under MA Manzoor in Sector No. 8. Lieutenant Mofiz (my close relative) of Tokipur Camp in India supervised our accommodation and training through kinship. I took training at Tokipur Camp in Hasnabad, North 24 Parganas, India. After training, we returned to Bangladesh in August."

"After returning to the country, we were under the command of Sobhan Saheb in Sector No. 8. At that time, the Pak Army used to patrol the Fukra Bazar area regularly by launch. We observed their movements for a few days. Later, in September, Commander Sobhan said that we would have to attack the Pak army. After making a plan, we prepared for the attack and attacked the Pak army at the right time. After completing the operation successfully, we returned to the secret hideout," he added.

Brave freedom fighter Md. Mosharraf Hossain told this correspondent that this was the first operation of our group. After that, we did not have to participate in much frontal fighting. However, there are many incidents of the Liberation War that still shine in the memory. Many memories have been lost due to age.

Stating that he is now 72, he expressed his regret and said, those who never fought the Liberation War are now great freedom fighters. They are the ones who are now tarnishing our Liberation War. They beat the freedom fighters with shoes. They put shoe garlands around their necks. Is that why we fought the Liberation War? Was this what we owed? He cried saying this.

It is worth noting that freedom fighter Mosharraf Hossain joined the T&T in 1974 after the war. Then in 1979, he passed the recruitment exam and joined the Khulna Division as Master Superintendent.

Authentic Heroes Demand Cleansing of Chandra Dighalia's Roster

Regarding real and fake freedom fighters, Md. Mosharraf Hossain told this correspondent, "I hear stories that district and police station commanders have created many fake freedom fighters through documents. Through a small job in T&T, I have educated my children with great difficulty and raised them. They are now working in big positions based on their qualifications. One of my sons, Mohammad Shariful Islam, is working as a Superintendent (Chief) Engineer of the Civil Aviation Authority. As a freedom fighter, I feel very sad today when some controversial people raise questions about my liberation war. My sacrifice and contribution in the liberation war have now become an obstacle to my talented son's job."

He also said, "my liberation war certificate is signed by Abdul Ahad Chowdhury, the then chairman of the Central Command Council of the Bangladesh Muktijoddha Sangsad. The certificate was attested by the then MP of Gopalganj and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. If there was even a hint of doubt against me, he would not have done so."

"Besides, an attempt was made through the Supreme Court to tarnish my freedom fighter certificate, but that attempt also failed. I am a true freedom fighter. The Honorable Court also recognized me in my favor after verifying all my documents. This is a show of respect by the Honorable Court towards a freedom fighter. Despite all this, today there is a group desperate to prove that my freedom fighter certificate is fake," he added.

Meanwhile, during the initial investigation of ‘The Finance Today," many elders and villagers of Chandradighalia village referred to the two brothers as real freedom fighters and at the same time expressed strong condemnation and anger at the audacity of those who called them fake freedom fighters. At that time, senior citizens of the Chandradighlia village also provided a complete list of fake freedom fighters to the correspondent of ‘The Finance Today’. However, this correspondent didn’t find the name of the accused freedom fighter in that list.

When asked about this, an elder of the village said that it is not possible to identify a freedom fighter just by age. Most of the fake freedom fighter certificate holders are 60-70 years old. And it is difficult to identify a real freedom fighter even with paper. After the war, many freedom fighters did not try to collect the certificate because they fought out of sheer patriotism.

They also said that due to bureaucratic complications and unwanted controversy over the Prime Minister's signature, a malicious group is trying to achieve their own personal interests by establishing a real freedom fighter in the society as a fake. At this time, they demanded that those involved in defaming a freedom fighter and distorting history be identified and that legal action be taken against those responsible after proper investigation.

In the second part of the ongoing debate on "Freedom Fighters and Fake Freedom Fighters", a special investigative report of ‘The Finance Today’ will highlight the fake freedom fighters of Chandradighalia in detail