AFVOA Newsletter May 2020

Section 3 - Memoirs Newsletter No. 1 / 2020 P a g e 63 | 101 I took a small break at that moment to pay homage to all our brothers in arms, who had lost their lives in the extensive belt of defensive minefields that had been laid at Akhaura. 2Lt Das of 14 Kumaon, of my course lost his life here, in these initial forays. God Bless his soul. We transshipped from our taxis to a bus that our tour operator Dhushor, had organized on the other side. While walking through the check post, we were cheered and garlanded, interviewed by their press and the news spread. Once we began our journey from Akhaura, we noticed a police escort vehicle in front of us, and behind us was a cavalcade of cars and scooters with a horde of people. Everyone was cheering and waving us on. We soon crossed the mighty Meghna River, which had a new road and rail bridge now. In ’71, the old bridge had been demolished and all movement across was by ferry from Bhramanbaria. The ferries do not exist now. We also visited a large grain silo, where the Pakistan Army had butchered thousands of urban elites and dumped their bodies in the silo. Visiting a Girls School En Route After an hour we were stopped at a school, where the local councilor wanted to give us a public reception. The entire girls’ school was lined up, with the Principal and teachers and they were just cheering. Finally, a loudspeaker was arranged, and the Principal told them that we were veterans of 1971 war, and we had come to visit them. The noise was deafening, and we were completely overwhelmed. How could the youth today pay such spontaneous respect to Army Veterans who fought the war to liberate them, 50 years ago? But it was very evident, that they looked upon us as liberators, and even after five decades gave us so much respect. We stopped for late lunch en route and finally reached Dacca by 7.00 pm, after negotiating traffic snarls across the city. Dacca was known as the City of Jams!! We were booked at Pan Pacific Shonargaon, Dacca’s most prestigious hotels. The Tourism Ministry had made an upgrade to our bookings and met the difference in cost. We were overwhelmed by the gesture. It was a lovely hotel, which had hosted all Heads of State who visited the country.