The curtain dropped on a different warrior four years ago. Freedom fighter, writer, and activist Begum Mushtari Shafi passed away at 84. While many knew her as ‘Shaheed Jaya’ (the wife of Shaheed), this title does not fully capture her lifelong efforts for upholding the spirit of Bangladesh’s independence and for women’s-rights movement. She had been active at Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra until the Bangladesh Liberation War victory on December 16, 1971, and is also remembered as Shabda Sainik for her voice on the war radio.
This scribe has a few personal memories of Mushtari Shafi, mainly due to family bonding that helped him to reach her on several occasions and talk mostly about Muktijuddha or the War of Liberation. On one occasion, the now-defunct Weekly 2000 decided to publish reviews of selected books on the liberation war by eminent writers. I was assigned to speak with Mushtari to obtain her review of the first volume of Sriti Ekkator (Memory of 1971), edited by Rashid Haider and first published in 1988 by Bangla Academy. In total, 13 volumes of the book were published up to 2000, with memories of more than 300 martyred intellectuals in 1971 across the country. The memories were written by their wives, children, and close family members.
Since Mushtari Shafi lived in Chattogram, I called her on a landline and asked if she could write a review for Sriti Ekkator. At first, she said no because I needed it within three days. I insisted, reminding her that as her ‘grandson’ (she was my paternal grandfather’s cousin), she should help me. I also suggested she could dictate her thoughts over the phone, and I would write them down. She agreed, and asked me to read the draft to her before it was published. She took two days to go through the book again and refresh her memory.
Two days later, I called Mushtari Shafi at night, and she began speaking. She was a wonderful speaker, and our conversation lasted over an hour as I wrote down her words as quickly as I could. I sometimes had to pause her to keep my notes accurate, and she waited patiently. I turned my notes into an article and read it to Mushtari Shafi over the phone the following day. She liked the draft and made a few corrections. The article was published in the magazine the following week.
The first volume of Sriti Ekkator also included memories of her husband, martyr Mohammad Shafi. On April 7, 1971, as the Liberation War began, dental surgeon Mohammad Shafi was abducted and later killed by the Pakistani military. His brother-in-law, Mushtari Shafi’s younger brother Ehsanul Haque Ansari, was also abducted and killed at the same time.
Although Muhammad Shafi was not involved in politics, he joined the non-cooperation movement in 1971. At the start of the war, he became a key organiser and helped set up the Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra with staff from Chattogram Radio Station. Planning for the radio centre began at Mushtari Lodge in Enayet Bazar on March 26, led by Belal Mohammad, Abdullah Al-Faruk, Abul Kashem Shondip, Kazi Habibur Rahman, and Rezaul Karim. The day after, a large chest of ammunition was also hidden in the house for the Mukhtibahini to collect later. (Banglapeida Online, 2021) These activities were definitely reported to the Pakistani army and their collaborators, putting the family in serious danger and leading to big sacrifices for the country.
In 2007, I wrote an article about her and her works for Prothom Alo, a leading daily newspaper in the country. The piece, titled Hathte Hathte Onekdur (Long walk of Mushtari Shafi), was well received. She called me and said happily, “You have done such a thing! Since the early morning, I have been receiving a series of telephone calls from well-wishers.”
After her husband and brother were killed, Mushtari Shafi and her three sons and four daughters escaped that night to Mirer Sarai, heading toward Agartala. This marked the beginning of her life as a refugee, like millions of other Bengalis.
At the Agartala refugee camp, she learned first aid and started helping as a nurse at the camp hospital. She also managed accounts and helped distribute relief items to refugees. (Dhaka Tribune, December 18, 2017). In August, she moved to Kolkata and began working with Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra under the pseudonym Umme Kulsum. She performed in radio dramas and recitations and also worked for Akashbani. She described her experiences from 1971 in her book Swadhinata Amar Roktojhora Din, which is considered her most important work and has been translated into English as Days of My Bleeding Heart.
The book is actually the journal Mushtari Shafi kept during the difficult days of 1971. She recorded events in detail, even though it was hard work. She never gave up. More than one and a half decade later, she published her journal as a book, and it became a must-read about Bangladesh’s liberation war. She was honest and did not hide unpleasant events from the war, especially those at Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra. Some people were upset by her honesty, but they could not deny the facts. Later, a few tried to undermine her contributions to the liberation war.
Another important work by Mushtari Shafi is Chiti: Jahanara Imamke (Letters to Jahanara Imam), published in 2004. The book tells the story of the Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, a group formed to demand trials of 1971 war criminals. The committee was first led by Jahanara Imam, a well-known writer and activist, and the movement had a big impact on the country. Jahanara Imam’s son Rummy, a freedom fighter, was killed in 1971. Her own wartime diary, Ekattorer Dingulee or The Days of Seventy One, was published in 1986 and is considered a classic about the war of liberation.
Mushtari Shafi also joined the movement and, in 1992, became Convenor of the Chattogram branch of the committee. After Jahanara Imam died in 1994, the movement’s leaders became divided, and the committee grew more political. While Mushtari Shafi tried to keep the movement going, others blocked her for their own interests. Eventually, they removed her from the committee in a way that was unexpected, disrespectful and illegal. It is sad to note that Shahriar Kabir, who called himself a freedom fighter, led the effort to humiliate her. Several so-called progressive and pro-liberation intellectuals on the committee stayed silent. Most of them support the Awami League.
Begum Mushtari Shafi was born on January 15, 1936, in West Bengal, and her family’s ancestral home is in Faridpur district. In 1952, she joined the language movement as a student. In the 1960s, she started a women’s group called ‘Bandhabi Sangha’ in Chattogram. Through this group, she edited and published a regular magazine called Bandhabi and started a printing press named Meyeder Press. The press was set up on the ground floor of her home in Enayet Bazar, but in 1971, Pakistani forces looted and destroyed it along with the rest of her house.
When she returned from Kolkata in January 1972, she found her house looted. She began a long struggle of rebuilding her life and joined Bangladesh Betar. She continued to take part in social and cultural activities and writing until her death on December 20, 2021.
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