Decoration: Arafat Karim
On the mound of Kamtuli village around which the battle of Dhundhuma was fought, Dayal Krishna came there the next morning and felt the roots grow at his feet. A broken leg hangs from the trunk of the tree. His eyes burned at the sight. He froze and stood for a while. He had no strength to move. Even though the surrounding ground, trees and even vines were shredded by the brutal impact of the bullets, only this one scene was fixed in his eyes forever. He had never seen such a sight in his life. The scene never left his eyes. Not even from the mind. The scene immediately entered the head and sat on the whole head. Then as the day went on, the broken leg separated from the scene that had once entered his mind and came down very slowly with an imperceptible speed and settled on his shoulder. So I understand that Dayal Krishna can understand that after a few days the head has become lighter, but what is the weight on the shoulders. Days pass, the burden does not fall. This is how he gets older. In that way, the leg went to fly in the sky by itself? Or flying and stuck in the tree trunk? who knows Could not get down from there. EPR’s khaki uniform was still a bit stuck on. As the child stretches out his hand to descend from a high place, he is looking towards him with longing. This is not just any foot, but one of the best feet in the world. But whatever he is, what does Dayal Krishna have to do with it? Does he know the importance of this foot? Only when Pa-ta poked him occasionally, these questions kept coming back to him: :
Who owns this leg?
What is his name?
Where is his house?
Who are his parents?
Unanswered, his questions once fell like a dehydrated sapling into an indefinite slumber. But does not die. Adam (village) of Dayal Krishna Chakma on the banks of Chenge River, on the east bank opposite Kamtuli village. The name is Vangamuro. He went out of the house to cut the old broken fence of the farm to cut bamboo. You have to go to the banks of the lake for bamboo. In the month of Chaitra, the water has dried up and the Chenge river has now entered between two steep banks and taken shelter. Broken banks on both sides. Muddy water flows through it. The water in the river is not less than two-and-a-half man-height. When the monsoons come, the existence of the river will be wiped out by the waters of Toitambu. When the sudden battle broke out on April 8, Dayal Krishna cut the bamboo and ran in fear to the nearby hill. He felt that all the bullets were bursting on his head. He saw the shoe and fell into a tree. He wanted to make sure that no one could see him by hiding in the bushes high up in the trees. Then the bullets came and started falling from somewhere nearby. One or two moved a short distance away to whistle past him under the branch on which he sat. An hour before noon, when the shelling stopped, he came down from the tree. He ran home without looking around. He was still afraid. Silence all around. Most of Adam’s people fled. Upon entering Adam, he encounters a group of strangers. Arms-ammunition in someone’s hand, someone’s shoulder. He does not know the name of any. From the top of the tree, Chenge saw them coming here from across the river. He understood that they were people of the Liberation Army. Bangladesh wants to be independent. If one or two of them recognize him by seeing him, the fog of fear surrounding his mind will be removed.
A week ago he sent a group of them to Naniachar. Now that responsibility has to be shouldered again. A group of hundreds of warriors. Dayal Krishna called his younger brother Jyotish Chandra. Two brothers set out as guides. Twenty-five years after this incident, the forgotten broken leg woke up inside him again. One day he got news that BDR people are looking for him. His mouth dried up after hearing the news. He tries to sneak in again and again; But the dry mouth gets stuck in the middle of the throat. Don’t go down. Thinking in mind, will give a run or not? A small sweat rises on the old forehead of Dayal Krishna. What will happen to him at this old age? He is not a peacekeeper. He never had any connection with the Peace Corps, nor does he have any. Even his children have no siblings or close relatives. He is somehow a poor farmer who makes ends meet. He is not involved with the government or anything anti-national at all. Who made such a big disaster? Who went to the army, BDR put against him? Thinking of the brutal prison life made his head spin. Washing can be done before gelling. But he will not be able to bear even one myr. Just die. That would be good. It is better to die than to live painfully with paralysis. The BDR team leader shows him a picture, and asks if he knows the man. Name Munshi Abdur Rauf. Dayal Krishna turns the pages of all the memories of life, but does not succeed. There was no way he could recall anyone by that name. He could think of very few Bengalis including Burighat Bazar or Naniachar Bazar or one or two well-known Bengalis from Rangamati or some fishmongers from Kaptai Lake, or tree traders or engine boat drivers. Now the leader of BDR reminded him of the war of 1971. Then one by one he describes who is Munshi Abdur Rauf. Why is he so important, why is the state looking for him today after so many years of his death. Dayal Krishna felt that his shoulders were slowly becoming heavy again. The broken leg of the benami has woken up. Pa-ta quietly said to him, ‘What old man, now you know who I am?’ Dayal Krishna went and showed the holy place of giving life to the hero. The place where he buried the broken leg. It was then that he began to feel extremely lightheaded. By now the leg had dropped from his shoulder.
Dayal Krishna’s life changed after this incident. His name was also associated with a hero in the pages of history. Assurances of various help-cooperation have started coming from here and there. Some money was also received. Some have proposed to the administration to add his name to the list of freedom fighters. Some have given up on him altogether. This matter of promise, though at first pleasant, no longer moves him. On various occasions, he sometimes gets a thousand or five hundred rupees in bakshish—that’s what he means by Kapal. The only thing he can’t stop is Pa-ta’s chattering. became more prominent than before. Every now and then he was told in his ear, ‘What old man, with me you too have opened your forehead, you have become famous.’ Maybe even smile while saying the broken leg words. Having never seen the face, Dayal Krishna can’t picture a smiling face in his mind. His eyes only saw the scene stuck in the mug. Dressed neatly, he stood up from his position on the steps of the tomb and replied, ‘Hush hush, look at the speedboats coming with flowers for you. Maybe I will get some cash in my fortune, that’s what I’m happy about.’