We may know the name of the University of Illinois. Illinois is one of the top five universities in the United States. There is no need to say again how talented you are to get a full fund scholarship there. Rumi finished third in the SSC examination in Pakistan in 1966. After completing HSC in 1970, he was admitted to BUET. He was a cadet of BNCC. Became a sergeant. Classes at BUET have not started yet. Meanwhile, the coveted letter from the University of Illinois - 'Dear Shafi Imam Rumi, we are delighted to offer you a full funded scholarship at our university'. It was a bloody 1971.
What a beautiful life was waiting for Rumi. Illinois degree, then the best job in the world, maybe a happy family with a beautiful wife and the pride of parents. But he despised all this for the independence of the country! He said ‘first the independence of the country, then the journey to higher education’. Many in the family were disappointed. In particular, his own uncle wrote him several letters from the United States, in fluent English. ‘Dear Rumi, you are only 20 years old. Prepare yourself first, then serve the country. Rumi wrote in reply to the letters in more fluent English, "Who wants to live without freedom, who wants to live?"
Rumi went to India and took guerrilla training. He came to Dhaka in May and formed 'Crack Platoon'. There is no other example of such a great guerrilla unit in the history of the world. All its members were young in age but very talented. Everyone is a child of an established family. Day after day, they carried out guerrilla operations in such a way that the Pakistani army was in a 'leave mother, live in tears' situation. Pakistani officers shuddered when they heard the name 'Crack Platoon'. May to September - Crack Platoon shook the whole of Dhaka. But the last was not saved. With information from the Razakars, the Pakistani army detained all the members of the group. There is no limit to what he did after that. The barbaric Pakistanis did not spare anyone in the crack platoon's family. Their parents, brothers and sisters were also subjected to inhuman torture. Badi was one of Rumi's comrades. Rumi and Badi decided to save others at the cost of their own lives. Rumi gave a statement, "I have carried out all the operations on behalf of the crack platoon." The Pakistanis killed all but Rumi and Badi. Rumi and Badi were separated from the others for extreme punishment.
Rumi will be shot dead in the firing squad. The file of the convict went to the table of the President of Pakistan General Yahya Khan for final approval. General Yahya was shocked to see Rumi's brilliant result. The general offered that if Rumi himself or his parents begged for his life by admitting the child's mistake, their child would not be sentenced to death. But Rumi, the baby tiger, did not want forgiveness, and his parents thought that a dignified death was better than a humiliating life for their child. Rumi's father Engineer Sharif Imam and mother Jahanara Imam went to the jail and talked to Rumi. "Our children have done nothing wrong by taking up arms for the independence of the country," he told Pakistanis. There is no question of apologizing. Today we call Jahanara Imam 'Shaheed Janani' for pushing her child on the path of martyrdom with her own hands.
Rumi could not be found after that. Various sources have confirmed that Rumi was killed on September 30, 1971. Despite many attempts, no one in the family could even see his body. I often wonder if we are not insulted every day by those who have sacrificed so much with their lives, youth and blood to liberate this country, to liberate us, to protect the honor of our mothers - by killing innocent people in corruption, political violence, murders and accidents. I'm doing! Should we be a little ashamed?
Today is March 29, the birthday of Shaheed Shafi Imam Rumi. He was born on this day in 1951 in the holy land of Sylhet. Deep respect from the bottom of my heart for his memory. May such a talented and brave child be born in every house of Bengal. Every independent citizen gets a taste of true independence of independent Bangladesh ...
