A Tribute: The Unsung Hero Sheikh Kamal

At the time of the birth of Sheikh Kamal, the eldest son of Father of the Nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatunnessa Mujib, Bangabandhu was busy with politics away from his family and home. The father of the nation has spent a long time in prison as a political prisoner in the movement for the liberation of Bengalis. Bangabandhu in his "The Unfinished Memoirs "mentioned how Kamal got deprived of love and affection at very tender age by citing an interlocutor between Hasina Apa and Kamal.

Talented young Sheikh Kamal passed secondary from Shaheen School in Dhaka and higher secondary from Dhaka College. He later obtained his bachelor's (honors) degree from the Department of Sociology, Dhaka University. Then, on August 15, 1975, at the time of his martyrdom, he took the final year post-graduate examination.

Shaheed Sheikh Kamal played a heroic role in the mass uprising of 1969 and the great liberation war of 1971. On the night of March 25, 1971, just before the occupational Pak forces attacked Bangabandhu's residence at Dhanmondi Road No. 32, he left his house and took part in the great war of liberation.

He was trained in the first war course of independent Bangladesh and was commissioned in the Mukti Bahini and served as the 'ADC' of General Osmani, the Commander-in-Chief of the Liberation War. After independence, Captain Sheikh Kamal retired from the army and concentrated on his studies. He was a member of the central executive parliament of Bangladesh Chhatra League.

Sheikh Kamal introduced modern football in the country by establishing 'Abahani Sports Club'. He brought the first foreign football coach to the country. Cricket was also very dear to him, he fast bowler. Sheikh Kamal played for Azad Sporting Club in the first division league at that time. Under his leadership, the basketball team at Dhaka University remained undefeated.

Sheikh Kamal also had a bright foothold in the cultural arena. When Ayub Khan banned Rabindra Sangeet in the country, Sheikh Kamal was also vocal in protest along with others. As a student of Chayanat's instrumental department, he regularly learned to play the sitar. Not only did he practice music himself, but he also encouraged others to do the same.

He formed a cultural organization called 'Spondon Shilpi Gosthi'. Sheikh Kamal, who used to perform regularly, has also been acclaimed for his performances on the Kolkata stage. He was also a pioneer in the revolution that started in drama circle through the Group Theatre Federation movement after independence. He was one of the founders of the famous drama troupe 'Dhaka Theatre'.

Sheikh Kamal was one of the pioneers of the modern sports and culture movement in Bangladesh. The great liberation war, student politics, cultural activities, from the playground to the stage of drama - everywhere he had a brilliant presence.

The untimely death of Sheikh Kamal caused an extraordinary and irreparable loss not only in the field of sports and culture of the country, but also in the country's politics.Sheikh Kamal was generous and humble as a man with multidimensional qualities. Despite being son of the Father of the Nation, the prime minister, and the president, he had no ego. He had an extraordinary quality of being able to adopt others as his own brother very quickly.

Young Sheikh Kamal had innate leadership qualities. After independence, when the tide of joy was flowing, he landed in the role of a skilled organizer. In the hall of fame, his brilliant presence was on the stage of the play ground, in the music world and in the dram circle. He was a pioneer in the field of games. He was also proficient in political activities. This young man with unique organizational skills knew how to keep the organization alive.

Even today, when I think of Kamal, my eyes fill with tears. I had the good fortune to work with him in all the cases like the general election of 1970, his re-integration into the student politics after his liberation from the army after the liberation war, the election of the Dhaka University Central Students' Union (DUCSU) in the seventies, the reorganization of the mainstream student league after the split of the BCL.Today, the smiling face of an ever cheerful Sheikh Kamal, who had a  only lean and upright body, is coming alive for me again and again. I was active with Chhatra League till I came out of university.

As a young colleague of martyr or Shaheed Sheikh Kamal, as a brother, as a friend, I have never forgotten his words for a day, I will never forget.Bangabandhu's politics reached a new height after the 6-point struggle for the independence of Bengalis. I became an activist holding the hand of Sheikh Kamal. Today I am working as a worker of AL. His love, sincerity, affection and cooperation will remain with me eternally.

Shaheed Sheikh Kamal has been and will always be in my memory, in the memory of our friends, in the memory of my political comrades-in-arms. May the memory of Shaheed Sheikh Kamal live on and become brighter and brighter. It is true that the bullets of the assassin caused the physical death of Sheikh Kamal, but he has been victorious in the liberation war, sports and culture of this country.

Today, on his 72nd birth anniversary, I pay my deep respects to the memory of this outstanding organizer, multi-talented heroic freedom fighter. Sheikh Kamal was an unsung hero, who excelled in sports, culture and in politics. I would call him a real gem and if alive, he would have materialised all the dreams of his father Bangabandhu.  But unfortunately, the assassins killed my friend, my mentor, and my political compatriot who was a dreamer of a real Golden Bangladesh.
 
 
Omer Sher is a retired Professor of Economics at Algonquin College, Ottawa, Canada and a researcher on politics on South Asia.