Name: Ahnaf Kabir
ID: 24201179
Course: EMB101
Section: 13
Title: Oral history with Muhammad Idris Ali, 2025 August 8
Author: Ali, Muhammad Idris, 1960- (actual birth 1957), Kabir, Ahnaf
Collector: Ali, Muhammad Idris, 1960- (actual birth 1957), Kabir, Ahnaf
Description: Muhammad Idris Ali introduces himself firstly as a freedom fighter way before
his academic achievements. “I am firstly a freedom fighter then a professor,” he says,
remembering how he wrote “freedom fighter” first on his visiting card. Some used to ask,
“why are you writing it first?” He replied, like Moinuddin Khan Badal, “Once and only once
a liberation war happened in Bangladesh. Taking part in it is a huge thing of happiness and
pride for me as it won’t happen another time.” To him the war of freedom comes before his
degrees and achievements, the identity he embraces with all the pride in the world.
Idris Ali was born in Sherpur mahakuma, larger Mymensingh, a village near the border of
Assam, in 1957 (later it was changed to 1960 by his school authority for bureaucratic
reasons). He clearly remembers the mass movement of 1969 and being in class 7 in 1970-71
when political events increased. In his early life he saw the injustice came from regional
interactions with the East Pakistan Rifles near the border of his village. The soldiers spoke
Urdu, sometimes hit local merchants with sticks in bazar and captured goods and foods.
These happenings from daily basis rooted anger and sparked the hearts of ordinary Bengalis
with hope for dignity.
When the crisis started to get deeper and deeper, Idris Ali didn’t wait for elderly approval.
While his parents were away and his elder brother went to his school to collect scholarship
money, he along with three other friends left home. He later admitted that he stole 50 tk from
his mother’s purse to spend in the journey. The border was just three miles away from his
home. They crossed the border and went to India to join the training camp. He reminisced
that escape with pride, “At the age when children used to be on their mother’s lap, I left my
home for the war, for our independence.”
He was at Indian training camp Turang and registered as serial #194 and his cousin was #195.
But at one point they got separated when the trainees split into two different trucks. HIs
cousin was sent to Shilang and he stayed in Turang. They met with each other 3 months after
the war ended. His training duration consisted of 21+9 days. Basic weapon training, which
involved SMG, LMG, SLR and .303, occurred for 21 days along with 9 additional days of
training mainly focusing on mines, pencil bombs, sabotage, bridge destruction and blocking
roads by cutting down trees. They were also trained in guerilla strategies and planting time
bombs in the ground.
The life in the camp was not at all easy but rich in tiny human details. The meal routine was
simple - teler porota and a mug full of tea as breakfast, chicken or mutton with rice for lunch
and two or three rutis with vegetables for dinner. The dining team included 5 to 6 people. He
remembers his struggle to fetch water one or one and a half kilometers away from the camp
where one day an ustad from West Bengal named Ainuddin said these are such heavy works
for “sweet kids” like them. He scolded the dining in charge and said never to make these kids
do this kind of hard work. Ainuddin, on a rainy day of June, brought two small pieces of cake
for them to eat saying the “chotto bondhus” reminds him of his little child. He also praised
them and said, “Sweet young kids like you have come to training to fight for the country and
free her. There is no force in the world which can stop your country from getting
independent. You will obviously make your country free,” Idris Ali kept such memories very
close to his heart.
Anecdotes from the camp resemble the blend of both hardship and humour in training life.
Idris Ali remembers when a captain in white t-shirt, shorts and socks asked, “What is
radius?” Many trainees couldn’t answer it but he did. The captain praised him in front of
everyone, “This little milk-drinking kid answered it but you couldn’t.” These moments
demonstrate how the senior officers viewed the young trainees and gave them respect among
all the grind.
Every company had a radio where they would listen to Shadhin Bangla Betar Kendra, songs
and news to feed their morale. By the time the weapons were being issued he got a .303 rifle
weighing more than 7 pounds. Surely it was heavy for a boy of 14 who could barely lift his
own weight. He asked politely for an SMG which was typically reserved for senior officers.
Though initially being denied Ainuddidn, the ustad, intervened and he was granted an SMG.
After a short rest of three days, the time came for their posting. He feared being posted in
Kamalpur where an enormous number of freedom fighters died and a lot of trucks were seen
carrying the dead bodies. Instead he was posted to Pora Khashia under Commander
Mohtasim Billah Khurum. The commander tested Idris Ali’s stamina and confirmed if he
could run away fast enough after bombing or destroying bridges and roads.
His unit’s main duty was to cut down trees to block roads, blowing up bridges in guerrilla
style. He recalls that he and his unit completed two or three operations successfully. As his
posting was near his home, he often visited his home. He remembers his mother keeping
fresh milk and good food for him during his visits. Though his elder brother was a bit strict.
He used to say, “It’s good to have courage. But it is not good to have wild courage.”
Idris Ali observed both the good and bad of his countrymen. He states that majority of
ordinary people gave shelter to the fighters, warned them about the Pakistani’s movements
and provided them with food and water. But on the other hand there were those who opposed
the war. He says about 80,000 union parishad members in the whole Bangladesh were against
the war, at least most of them. They were called “angels of Ayub Khan”. He says that they
formed shanti committees who used to reveal the names of the freedom fighters to Pakistani
forces, loot villages, rape and torture the women and so on. In other regions the names like
Al-Badr, Al-Shams and Razakars were more known. Idris Ali describes Al-Badr as illiterate
foot soldiers often used by the local leaders to loot livestocks, while Al-Shams were
considered more literate ones. He names such leaders like Golam Azam, Matiur Rahman
Nejami and Kamruzzaman who brainwashed collaborators to loot and betray. Overall, he
asserts that the majority of Bengalis were helpful to the fighters and also mentioned without
their help, food and shelter the war might have not survived longer.
Idris Ali also showed empathy toward the speech of March 7 by Bangabandhu and his
leadership. He says, “No matter how much today’s generation tries to defame him, his speech
on 7th March was all in all. It combined direct directions, resistance and the overall idea of
the whole liberation war. It was the declaration of independence and there is not any single
doubt about that.” He remembers collecting and printing Sheikh Mujib’s photos from the old
calendars by being mesmerised after hearing Mujib’s imprisonments and sacrifices for the
people of Bangladesh.
Idris Ali praises Indira Gandhi and his country’s role in ground breaking political and military
support: opening the borders for the huge number of refugees and fighters, portraying the
refugee crisis internationally and eventually being involved in the war with Pakistan. He
narrates stories of India’s diplomatic pressure, and also recalls the announcement from Zahir
Raihan on 16th of December: “I am Zahir Raihan. Now the country is free.”
When the war ended he returned home, completed his graduation and pursued higher
education in Chemistry, completed his Phd and became a professor - an achievement
accomplished with dedication. After all of his success he insists that his main identity is him
being a freedom fighter: “You are not a freedom fighter but I am.” He recalls the time when
young men had to flee from home. He also recalls stealing some money to cross the border
and taking a few clothes- two lungis and one shirt.
Idris Ali is dissatisfied with how the history of liberation is later portrayed. He expressed
concern that today's gen-z perhaps knows less than 10 percent of the real and authentic
history of our liberation war. He is deeply sad about how many historical sites and symbols
are being treated, citing the demolition of Bangabandhu’s house of Dhanmondi 32 as an
example. He also criticized how some politicians defiled and changed history for their own
need and benefit. He doubts that a lot of historians wrote about the liberation war without
even being part of it to satisfy their profitability. Idris Ali also named some political
intellectuals he thinks as problematic. He worries that the nation will suffer in the long run
because of this failure to teach authentic history to the new generations. Yet he remains
ambitious that the truth will turn around itself: “You can't forcefully press down history, no
one could around the world.”
Topic: History
Language: Bengali
Physical Description: 1 audio file, photographs, NID copy, Freedom Fighter certificate,
Freedom Fighter ID, trainee records from training camp
Imprint: Chittagong, Bangladesh, August 8, 2025
Genre: Recorded interviews
Identifier: liberationwar_Interview_2025_8_8