Life and Death of an 'Unsolved' Hero

To mark the 41st death anniversary of Colonel Abu Taher, Colonel Taher Sangsad is organizing a commemorative program today. As a part of the event, theatre troupe BotTala will stage a special show of their brand new play 'Crutcher Colonel', an adaptation of eminent novelist Shahaduzzaman's novel with the same name, today at 6:30pm at the Teacher-Student Center auditorium of Dhaka University, Shahbag in the capital.

Directed by Mohammad Ali Haider, the play sheds light on the life of Colonel Abu Taher, one of the most decorated war heroes of the country. Abu Taher was a Bangladeshi military serviceman, adorned war hero, political activist and leader of the left wing Jatiyo Samajtantrik Dal.

He was responsible for an uprising which freed the then army chief General Ziaur Rahman who later on hanged Taher on charges of high treason and killings. However, a Bangladeshi court declared the execution illegal in 2011. Towards the end of August 1971, Taher along with three other Bengali officers: Maj Abul Manzoor, Capt Dalim and Capt Ziauddin defected from the Pakistani Army and crossed the border near Abbottabad, West Pakistan, into India.

After two weeks under Indian intelligence screening and debriefing, he was sent to Bangladesh to lead Sector 11. Taher lost his leg from a mine blast during a debriefing on 2 November 1971. For his valor in the Liberation War, he was awarded Bir Uttom after independence of Bangladesh.

Due to his left-leaning communist ideas of organizing the Bangladesh Army along the lines of the People's Liberation Army, he resigned from the army to form the Jatiyo Samajtantrik Dal. Taher became the head of its armed wing, the Gonobahini, that led a violent insurgency campaign against the government of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Historical figures like Matia Chowdhury, Siraj Shikder, Ziaur Rahman, and Khandoker Mustak are also presented in the play in a character-shifting style. The character of Khandaker Mushtaq provides somewhat of a comic relief in this otherwise serious play dealing with a critical time in the history of the country.

The play ends with the hanging of Colonel Taher in the 'kangaroo court.' The cast of the play included Imran Khan Munna, Kazi Roksana Ruma, Samina Luthfa Nitra, Toufique Hasan Bhuiyan, Pankaj Majumder, Ivan Riaz, M Sayed, Nfiz Bindu Manzarul Islam Roni, Golam Mahbub Masum and Nafiul Islam.