Sports Desk:  The stadium also became a protest in the struggle for the liberation of Bangladesh. The language of protest was various. They may not have had weapons in their hands, but in the great liberation war, foot football became as sharp as a weapon. The language of protest was mixed in their game. Under the banner of Swadhin Bangla football team, these footballers played 17 exhibition matches in different cities of India including West Bengal, Bihar, Benares, Mumbai. Hundreds of thousands of Indian rupees received from the matches were deposited in the Liberation War Fund. Raising money by playing friendly matches abroad for the independence of the country is rare in the world arena.

There were 35 players in the team. However, the number is 31 in the official gazette published on October 25, 2003. All these 31 people were recognized as freedom fighters. Sports journalist Dulal Mahmud’s book “War of Liberation on the Playground”: In the fortnightly “Kridarajagat” in 1980, the captain of the team Zakaria Pintu announced the results of 14 matches played by the independent Bengali football team. In which Swadhin Bangla Dal has won 9 matches, lost 3 matches and drawn 2 matches. Co-captain Pratap Shankar Hazra informed “Kridarajagat” about 3 more matches in which the independent Bengali football team won.

The fruit was not really big then. The main objective of this football team was to create public opinion for the independence of Bangladesh. The group’s residential camp was at the Karnani Estate Building, known as the Coca-Cola Building on Park Street in Kolkata. The practice was at the Park Circus ground. The young footballers Kazi Salauddin and Nowsheruzzaman played a friendly match in the country on 13 June 1971 under the Bangladesh Sports Association formed on Indian soil. The name ‘Swadhin Bangla Football Dal’ has not been officially announced yet.

Welcoming the Bangladesh Sports Association, Kolkata’s Anandabazar Patrika wrote, “Another Mujib Bahini.” The footballers hoisted the flag of Bangladesh on Indian soil. The deputy commissioner of Krishnanagar also had to be punished for flying a foreign flag.

The independent Bengali football team has to overcome the obstacles and move forward. In October 1971, on their way to Bihar, locals attacked the footballers’ train with the slogan ‘Inquilab Zindabad’. Zakaria Pintu is still joking about the mosquito bite in a hotel in Bihar. Sheikh Ashraf Ali, one of the members of Swadhin Bangla Dal, cannot forget the memory of hoisting the flag of Bangladesh by lowering the flag of Pakistan at the office of the Deputy High Commissioner in Calcutta.

But he also has a regret, ‘As a member of the Swadhin Bangla Dal, we have got a lot. But Swadhin Bangla Dal did not get the Swadhinata Padak. ‘He demanded,’ Let the textbook talk about Swadhin Bangla Dal. Then the next generation will know this proud history. Gosthapal XI won 4-2. The legendary Indian footballer Gosthapal said that day, ‘We are also friends of Bengal. I have only become human in this Bengal. ‘

Before going to India, many Bangladeshi footballers fell victim to the cruelty of Pakistanis. One of them, Pratap Shankar Hajra, co-captain of the independent Bengali football team, retreated, saying, “The Pakistanis set fire to my house in Dhaka. My wife’s Benaresi saree was burnt. Somehow I left the house on top of the wall. ‘

In the 50 years of independence, Pratap Shankar Hazra has occasionally lamented, “Cricket has come a long way in our sport. Shooting, archery advanced. Hockey has improved but could not be sustained. But football has lagged behind. Bangladesh also lost to Bhutan. ‘

Footballers have fought for independence on foot. On the golden jubilee of independence, they want nothing more. The only wish is the bright future of the country’s football.