1971 Bangladesh Liberation……. HAIDER KIDHAR HAI
“Haider kidhar? Kidhar Haider?”—Screamed the Pakistani guards when they started massacring Bengali officers and soldiers inside the Comilla cantonment. This was March 1971
Comilla cantonment became a bloodbath for the Bengali soldiers and officers of the Pakistani army during the commencement of Operation Searchlight from the 25th of March, 1971. This forced many Bengali officers and soldiers to defect, flee and later form the Mukti Bahini leadership to fight the Pakistani army occupation. Such was the story of the narrow escape of Captain ATM Haider from the Comilla cantonment during the commencement of genocide.
Captain ATM Haider was a Bengali Special Services Group commando in the Pakistani army. He was serving in West Pakistan till 1970 and as a Captain, he was transferred to the 3rd SSG Commando Battalion and was sent to Comilla cantonment. Yet, he was not being paid his regular salary in the months of January and February, 1971, and he had lodged a complaint. With promise of being paid his salary, he was asked to report back to his unit by the 20th of March.
Comilla cantonment also had the Rear HQ of the 4th East Bengal Regiment, alongside the 53 Field Regiment being posted. The 53 Field Regiment was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Yakub Malik and he was a staunch hater of the Bengali people.
Coming to Comilla, he realized that the situation inside the cantonment was extremely unsafe for the Bengalis. With the call for independence rising higher in Bangladesh, even Bengali soldiers supported the Awami League and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Meanwhile, it was clear that the Pakistani Armed Forces were planning to quell this rebellion with the force of arms. The Pakistani troops in the cantonment had established defenses, surrounding the Bengali troops and officers. And when asked about this sudden military preparation, the Pakistani officers would resort to lying.
On the 25th of March evening, Captain ATM Haider was sitting in the room of the 2iC of the 3rd Commando Battalion. There were a few Pakistani officers sitting in the room and were chatting and Captain Haider was sitting at one corner of the room. The 2iC didn’t notice him and suddenly said to the other officers that on this day, every Bengali soldier and officer will have to surrender their weapons. Hearing this, Captain Haider realized that even he might be targeted as well. He managed to get out of the room and saw Pakistani soldiers roaming around, with their weapons in hand. Weapons were also aimed at the residences of Bengali officers and soldiers who were residing in the cantonment.
He started calculating the situation. He noticed that the 3rd Commando had only 2 more Bengali officers including him—Major Mannan and a Medical officer. He knew that Major Mannan might just be on the side of the Pakistanis. Also, Captain Haider knew that it was impossible to fight the entire 3rd Commando if they turned against him. He understood that he had to escape. And for that, he had to at first make it back to the Officer’s Mess. Hence, for safety, he decided to wait for the 2iC of the Battalion to return.
At late evening, the 2iC came out, and Captain Haider met him and in his car, he safely came back to the Officer’s Mess. Coming back, he went to the dining room and met the Bengali Medical officer who has having a meal. Seeing him, he came closer to him and said—
“Sir! Here you are eating? Here, the situation’s extremely bad! Anytime they might attack!”
Saying this, he left the Medical officer and went to his own room and grabbed his revolver. Then, he entered the washroom and started opening the washroom window glass. Opening it, he pulled himself out and started crawling out in the grass and bushes, evading the Pakistani guards outside. Right then, he heard Pakistani military trucks entering the cantonment through the gate and stopped in front of the Officer’s Mess. The Bengali Medical officer was arrested by them and they screamed at him, saying—
“Haider kidhar? Kidhar Haider?”
Captain Haider was still crawling. He made through the up-downs of the terrain, through the grass and bushes and mud and dirt, hearing sudden sporadic gunfire breaking out inside the cantonment. After a few hours of crawling, waiting and evading the guards and searchlights with all hell breaking loose behind him, he had crawled over 2 miles and with his ripped shirts and pants and blood dripping, he had finally got himself out of the cantonment.
Captain Haider was the only Bengali officer from the Pakistani 3rd Commando Battalion to have made it out alive from Comilla cantonment. At Comilla cantonment, the Pakistanis had murdered 17 Bengali officers and 953 soldiers who were stationed there. The CO of the Pakistani 53 Field Regiment—Lieutenant Colonel Yakub Malik and Brigade Major Sultan, were the main organizers of this massacre inside the cantonment. The 4th East Bengal Regiment stationed there suffered the most, though a lot of the soldiers and their family members had still managed to flee from there, alive.
Captain ATM Haider had later escaped to the border town of Teliapara and then to India and had joined the Sector-2 area of Mukti Bahini operations as a sub-sector commander under Major Khaled Mosharof, and then had replaced Major Khaled. For his exceptional gallantry and leadership in the Bangladesh Liberation war, he was honored with the Bir Uttom gallantry award.
