“Don't leave me alone, make sure I am with you”, that was what Lieutenant Mokhtar Kamal Chowdhury told Second Lieutenant Ibrahim.

“No-No, don't think I do not understand when you say how would I make Dacca (Dhaka) into a heap of rubble”, explained Khaled Musharraf sitting in front of his Toyota Jeep and at the back seat where Shahadat Chowdhury (the then editor of Bichitra magazine) was sitting.

On the occasion of the 48th Anniversary of Independence, we reprint below a segment of a piece written by an eminent journalist and the founding editor of The Daily Star, the late S M Ali. The article was published in a book titled, “After the Dark Night”, in 1974.

When the Bangladesh Government was busy in mastering resources to organise the sectors and brigades, many irregular forces often emerged in the far-flung areas, and took the names of their leaders or the regions from where they originated.

When we look back at the war of independence, it is filled with stories of heroism on the battlefield and the war effort on the diplomatic front.

By early June,1971, the Provisional Government of Bangladesh had realised that it would be very difficult to overcome the Pakistan Army with only the Freedom Fighters (FFs), consisting of rebel Bengalis of Pakistan Army, the para militia and other civilians, due to acute shortage of trained army officers.