Agartala case accused, blind rickshaw-puller get PM’s support
Dhaka: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday provided financial assistance of Tk 32 lakh to an accused in the historic Agartala conspiracy case and a blind rickshaw-puller of Feni who have been leading a miserable life for their financial hardship.
The Prime Minister sanctioned Tk 30 lakh for former flight sergeant Abdul Jalil, the No 29 accused in the Agartala conspiracy case, while Tk 200,000 for visually impaired Monir Hossain of Feni, who pulls rickshaw in Feni town with the help of her daughter.
The cheques for the financial assistance will be sent to Abdul Jalil and Monir Hossain within a day or two as per the directives of the Prime Minister, said PM’s assignment officer Shameem Mushfiq.
Jalil was sent on forced retirement by the then Pakistan government for his involvement in the Agratala conspiracy case along with 35 others, including Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Abdul Jalil joined Biplabi Sangstha (revolutionary organisation) of the Bangalee soldiers, inspired with the ideals of Bangabandhu, to liberate the then East Pakistan through an armed war when he was working in the Pakistan Air Force.
He set up a training centre at his house in Karachi for giving armed training to those committed for achieving independence.
Shaheed Sergeant Zahurul Haque, another accused in the Agartala conspiracy case, used to provide training on light arms and hand grenades.
During the arrest of Jalil in the Agartala conspiracy case, Pakistan police seized a grenade as an evidence which Jalil used for training . The grenade has now been preserved in the Bijoy Keton Liberation War Museum of Dhaka Cantonment.
Jalil could not join Bangladesh Air Force after the war as he was given the forced retirement by the Pakistan Air Force.
The 80-year-old Jalil is leading a miserable life for various physical complications and financial inability.
Meanwhile, he had to sell his ancestral property. Now he has no land in Dhaka city or other towns. Knowing his condition, the Prime Minister came forward to assist him.
Visually impaired Monir Hossain of Feni does not know any trade other than pulling rickshaws to earn a living. To do this, he has to take the help of his younger daughter, Afroza Faria. The poor man makes around Tk 150 a day, pulling a rented rickshaw for about three hours.
He had to sell the land he inherited for the treatment of his eyes but to no avail. Monir who lost his eyesight at the age of two now lives with his family on a 10-square-feet shanty on another person's land in Feni Sadar upazila.
His daughter, Afroza Faria, a second grader in a local primary school at Sundarpur in Feni, guides her father when he pulls rickshaw.