Brig Gen (Retd) Asrarul Haque: Missing you my friend!

Mushtaque Chowdhury
Published : 19 August 2019, 08:43 PM
Updated : 19 August 2019, 08:43 PM

Brigadier General (Ret'd) Asrarul Haque breathed his last at the Combined Military Hospital in Dhaka in the early hours of Aug 10, 2019. He was suffering from some protracted illnesses for the past several months. With him I lost a best friend and the country a great soldier.

Asrar, as we called him, was born in Sylhet in the early 1950s to an illustrious family. His father, Azizur Rahman, was a senior public servant in undivided India and had retired as Assistant Director of Land Records (ADLR). Because of his honest and diligent services he was awarded by the then government the title of Khan Sahib. Asrar was admitted in Sylhet Government Pilot High School in Class III. I joined him three years later in 1962, when my family moved back from Moulvibazar to Sylhet. He was among the first few class-mates that I had befriended. Incidentally our two families knew each other since long (they lived in adjacent houses in Sylhet's Ambarkhana area in the early 1950s before we had moved to Moulvibazar). His elder sister Ara and my elder sister Lily are still close friends. However, I first met him in the Sylhet School and our friendship continued until death parted us a few days ago.

In his school and college days, Asrar had a particular love affair with bicycles. I myself didn't know how to ride one so I was always a 'doubler' and often, I was on his favourite Asiabike. I still remember very clearly how we together (sometimes along with Nurul Amin, who had joined the Navy to become a Commodore in later life) attended our private teacher Arjumand Ali Sir for Math lessons before the SSC exams. Rain or shine, he would be there to pick me up on the way to our lessons. Without such devoted help and friendship, I would have difficulty in pursuing my studies. At MC College where Asrar and I did our HSC studies, we became part of a bigger group, and used to have a lot of fun together. Those included in this group were Nurul Amin, Najmul Bachhu, Lutful Kabir Lutu, Ali Ahmed Shemu, Pijush Choudhury, ASM Babla, Fakhruzzaman Khasru, Kamal Yakub, Mehbub Paitara, and Delwar Hussain. Visit to the 'Arzoo Restaurant' in Sylhet's Bandar Bazar every afternoon had become a ritualised practice (akin to Manna Dey's Coffee House adda). During winter time, we used to take the bikes to Shalutikar, across the river Chengarkhal (about 6 miles from Sylhet town) to buy 'cheaper' Indian oranges. Occasionally we also went on long-ish trips to Sunamganj and Moulvibazar (not on bikes, of course). In each of these, Asrar was a central character, with full of enthusiasm and life, often taking the leadership role. One of the popular pastime of our MC College group was to watch English movies in the Rangmahal Cinema Hall, skipping some of the boring classes.

Asrar and I were also very close to our other friends Masrur Choudhury (founded the Nandan Group) and Shekhar Chowdhury (later a medical doctor). Both of them were known for their interest in music – Masrur in Rabindra Sangeet and Shekhar in Bollywood songs. Asrar had particular interest in Hindi and Urdu songs and both Asrar and Shekhar (often joined by Najmul Bachhu) used to sing Mukesh and Kishore Kumar during class-breaks. In 1968-69, some of the songs from Urdu films became very popular. One of Asrar's favourite songs was Rangeela's Ga Mere Manwa Gata Ja Re from the film 'Diya Aur Toofan'. I have been listening to the song on YouTube since his passing – really makes me feel connected to Asrar!

Asrar and I had many things in common. We both were followers of Bangabandhu and his uncompromising struggle for Bangladesh. It was April or May 1969. Bangabandhu was coming to Sylhet for the first time since his triumphant release from the infamous Agartala case. The local students decided to erect welcome gates in many places on his way to Sylhet. Asrar and I spent almost a whole night helping erect such a gate in South Surma. In the evening, we both listened to Bangabandhu's magical speech at the Gulshan Hotel.

During the mid-1960s, the students of HSC classes at the MC College carried out a unique literary activity through the publication of an annual journal called 'Ushashi'. Initiated in 1964 under the editorship of Abu Hena Mustafa Kamal, the baton was passed on to us for the fifth edition in 1968. Others who had served before me as editors included AK Abdul Momen (currently Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh), Shamim Azad and Syed Ataur Rahman. Asrar and a few of my class-mates including Azam Choudhury, Rezina Choudhury, Ziauddin Iqbal, Mahbubul Alam and Shahabuddin joined in this effort. We were faced with dual challenges – getting good quality writings and procuring advertisements. There was no financial support from the College administration so we had to mobilise the entire cost through adverts. Fortunately, the district administration was more sympathetic. M Mokammel Huq (later Secretary to the Government of Bangladesh) was the Deputy Commissioner and he readily gave us Rs 400 which met nearly half of the entire cost. Asrar and I also met his father, Poet Mozammel Huq at the DC's Bungalow who kindly sent us a message of felicitation. Poet Begum Sufia Kamal wrote a poem for us – "Shefalir Jonnya'. Such gestures inspired us tremendously and were major moral boosts. Asrar had a deep sense of responsibility and played a critical role in mobilising resources for the Ushashi. Two or three times a week, we would visit different shops and businesses seeking adverts riding on his Asiabike. It was all voluntary on our part.

From his school days he grew a passion for the Army which became very apparent in his behaviour, decorum and ambitions. He was perhaps inspired by General MAG Osmany who happened to be his cousin. Asrar joined the 46th Long Course of Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul and was commissioned in 1971. Soon afterwards, he was confined along with other Bangali military personnel at Sagir Camp, and later repatriated to independent Bangladesh in 1974. In the Bangladesh Army he rose quickly through the ranks. He was sent for the staff college training in Malaysia, NDC in China and management training in the United States. He also commanded the UN peace keeping forces in Rwanda and Uganda. While in the Army, he served as Brigade Commander in Cumilla and Chittagong Hill Tracts and was private secretary to the Army Chief of Staff General Nuruddin Khan. Prior to retirement as Brigadier General, Asrar was the Logistics Area Commander, a coveted posting.

We had deep affection and respect for each other. I was proud of his Army career and he appreciated my BRAC work. When Parkinsons started to show its ugly face in him, his wife once told me, 'Bhai, please do come to visit him. He is so upbeat about you that whenever you are on the news or some of your work is published he feels so happy and shows it to his children and to his other friends'. Alas, I couldn't do it as often as I should have which will haunt me for the rest of my life. Asrar left behind a beautiful family. His wife, Rabu Bhabi is a gracious lady. Both of his children were educated in the USA. His daughter Shahleena is a university teacher in Dhaka and his son Sadaf works as a Data Scientist in the Washington DC area.

I end this part of the story of my dear friend remembering a lyric from the Rangeela song:

One day the cage will be empty, O' the mankind

One day you will have to leave, severing all the ties of this world

Keep on singing, my mind…Ga mere manwa gata ja re…

Keep on singing, my friend!