1971: Stories of Rahmatullah Bir Protik

Though the rest of the nation marked the victory on the 16th December in 1971, Khulna had achieved its victory on the following day. Naval Commando Lieutenant (retd) Gazi Mohammad Rahmatullah Bir Protik along with his companions captured Khulna at the early hours of 17th December by hoisting the national flag on the Circuit House ground and celebrated the day.

The story of the dauntless Rahmatullah bears the hallmark of being a freedom fighter. He was born in Goroikhali village under Paikgacha upazila of the Khulna on April 4, 1937. From his teenage life, he had the zeal for defence and devotion for patriotism which led him to Naval Forces after obtaining his Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) from the Khulna BL College in 1956.

He completed his Bachelor Degree from abroad. After joining the naval forces, Rahmatullah along with his teammates went to Turkey for getting well acquainted with Submarine Operation Training. From there they went to France and stayed till March 1971, according to reports.

From there, being informed about the virulent nature of the Pakistani soldiers, as a concerned senior fellow of the team, he fled from France and reached Barcelona, the capital of Spain. Day by day, the atrocities by the Pakistani soldiers gained ground.

On the other hand, the Pakistani naval academy also issued an arrest warrant against the fled commanders. Escaping from France, they went to Italy and tried to contact the Indian Embassy. Eventually it provided a ray of hope while the nation’s liberty was at stake.

The naval commandos were able to reach New Delhi on the sly, with the assistance of top brass of Indian Defence. The then Indian Prime minister Indira Gandhi came forward for the training of the naval commandos. At Murshidabad, M. A. G. Osmani, the commander in chief of the liberation forces and six naval commandos provided training to 100 youths. The training sessions were diversified which ranged from tying mines with bodies to stick a mine with a ship.

The naval commandos conducted various operations at Khulna, Chandpur, Narayanganj, Satkhira and the list goes on. One of the substantial operation among them is the Operation Jackpot, which is apparently regarded as the suicide mission.

Khulna is forever indebted to such a gallant personality. At the verge of his life, he served as the president of Sector Commanders Forum, Khulna and was affiliated with various social activities. His altruistic nature might have led to such high scale popularity.

The valiant soul departed on September 10 in 2016 at his residence due to old age complications.