Peter Custars - A genuine friend of Bangladesh

Cutting fish is not easy for our Bengalis to eat fish. When it was 66 years old, it seemed like to eat the fish's gooseberry. The mind went out 41 years ago, when I met Peter Ketsers. We will have lunch at a typical restaurant in Dhaka. Peter came here with me. He made the order of rice and fish.

'Can you eat the curry?'

Peter's face smiles brightly.

'Do not worry, I can do well'.

Surprisingly, cutting out the hands of the hands, Peter plays rice and fish in Bengal, with deep satisfaction.

'Will the stomach be right?'

Again smile on Peter's face

'There are so many villages in the villages in Bangladesh, how many meals have been eaten. Now there are no problems. You do not have a saying, "The name of the body is my lord, which is my brother." Which fish are my favorite? '

We were like a friend of the same age. Still you would tell me Peter. As far as you remember, you used to say to everyone.
Sooter pajam on the face - ordinary slippers on Punjabi legs. Peter was seen to be dressed in that dress. The furry feet are red in the bites of mosquitoes.

'Do not pull the mosquito in the house?'

'There is no capability to buy the poor people's mosquito in the village. And mosquito bites in your country are no more malaria anymore. So do not use mosquito. '
Stunned by Peter's words. In the rainy season wetting his wet toes, he has been injured in the mouth. Peter saw the wounds on the feet of the poor people of the village working on the fields in the fields.

'There is no cheap medicine to cure this blow?'

In response to Peter's question, potassium permanganate may be confused if it is found. It works even if you put it in bat. But it is not always available. See him after din day. The fair feet are colored. Bright duck in the face of Peter.

'Your suggestion is great work. Parmangentate color prevents the blow well. I decided to buy potassium permanganate while going to the village. The poor will be very useful. '

Peter Castres left his home in Leiden on July 3, 2015, in his home country of Holland. Since then how many times I'll write something on him. The text was not written. In the old days, Peter's face smirked repeatedly on the screen of mind. Eyes are wet every time. Although Holand was a native of his own country, Peter knew the world as his own country. As did Che Guevara.

Manjurul Alam Palash did a very good job. He took Peter's interview. The video, taken on November 9, 2008 in London, is now on YouTube in six volumes of history. He was watching the video while writing this. In 1971, Peter was 22 years old. Peter recalled that time in that video. After doing MA in International Law from Leiden University, Peter was doing a three-year course on International Relations at Johns Hopkins University, USA, in the 1970s. Regarding the liberation war of 71, he said,

"At that time I studied mainly on Asian countries. I started contacting the Bengalis to fix the hearing of Pakistani army's torture. Through them, I learned about the struggle of the people of Bangladesh. [...] The work of hunger strike, and campaigning has begun. After Bangladesh became independent, I was still a student, some Bengali friends invited to visit Bangladesh. I was also very interested to visit Bangladesh. I joined Bangladesh for India in January 73 and traveled around Bangladesh for three months, till the end. On one side, I went to Jhalang, wherever we could go. In rural areas, I can understand the life of the people. "

In 1971, after seeing so much abandonment of Bangladesh, how did Bangladesh see in 1973, in response to Palash's question, Peter is profoundly speaking significant,

"The first thing is that we have seen such expectations in the minds of people till now, 'we will get new life, new society'. Wherever we go, people 's procession,' Joy Bangla '- boys are doing, girls are doing. Speaking to people, it is understood that the desire to be free from exploitation was still very strong in Bangladesh. Again, the political conflict remained, but it is very clear. Because the election campaign has started in March of March and there has been a lot of noise in different places. [...] I noticed people's doubts about whether future democratic elections would be held. [...] I came back from Bangladesh and decided to take the profession of journalism. I saw the possibility of working in Bangladesh. I went back to Holland and started writing in various newspapers. "

So Apurba Bangla said, how did it out - in response to Palash's question, Peter's face smiled calmly.

'No, there is some difficulty in speaking, but when I was a student, a friend of mine helped me to learn the language. When I went to Bangladesh, wherever I got the chance, I tried to speak in my weak Bengali. For that, I have finally mastered it. I can read, write skills too. "

In September 1973, Peter came to Bangladesh for the second time. Says,

"In September, Maulana Bhashani organized a peasant conference at Santang, Tangail. We met Maulana Bhasani with the help of friends. Many progressive people have been met. "

Responding to the question, how did the progressive thinking relate to Marxism, especially from the student community?

"When I was admitted to Holland University in 1967, student movement was overwhelming. You may have thought that the revolt of the students, revolutions of revolution in Paris. The effect was spread throughout Europe and Holland. Students in different cities have organized, organized, discussed. "

At that time, the United States foreign policy and Vietnam war must have had a great impact on the international environment, Peter said,

"Yeah, he argues with it all over the world. There was a deep and strong discussion among the students. With him Che Guevara's revolutionary attempts in Bolivia - we also discussed about it in us. I was instantly motivated, if I can work with Che Guevara's ideals in my life, then I would be very happy. "

Peter Ellen has dreamed of changing society like Che Guevara in Bangladesh. Che came to become a doctor, Peter Ellen became a journalist. As far as I remembered, two young foreigners came to my home in Colonel Taher's Narayanganj home in August of 74. They are American journalist Lawrence Liftzulz and Holland's journalist Peter Casters. That year was a big flood. They came and broke one knee water. They have heard that a retired colonel lost his legs in the Liberation War, thinking differently about flood control in Bangladesh. He has also written an essay on the newspaper. These two journalists were the major critics of the World Bank's plan for flood control. They came to know Tahar's thoughts about the flood. From that identity to Peter.

There are many things to talk about with Peter. Talk about social change, its way About two years ago in October 1972, the social activist, Jasd, was called by the call for social change. The leaders of this group are moving ahead with the strategy of holding power through the mass upsurge of Russia's October Revolution. Renowned left economist Dr. Akhlakur Rahman has been associated with them. In his research paper "Development of Riches of Bangladesh Agriculture" in his research paper, he has demonstrated how capitalism has emerged as the main controller of agriculture in the country's main economic sector. So China is not democratic revolution like country but socialist revolution will be the strategy of social change. The remnants of imperialism and feudalism that remain in the society, especially in rural areas, must be eliminated in the style of socialist revolution. At the end of 1974, I joined myself in the revolutionary politics of Jasad.

I think there was a difference between the level of the revolution, with Peter. The main idea behind the liberation of agricultural laborers and poor farmers of the village was his main concern. Against our views, he believed that the liberation of this huge population will be achieved through an advanced democratic revolution, as it has been in China. Maulana Bhashani and Peter Custars were not only close to the political thought of the Communist Party of the Russian-backed Communist Party, but in many ways, his revolutionary left revolutionary. As the main element of the revolution, they saw the struggle against imperialism and feudalism. Peter said of the desire of Bangladesh to change society. Although there were differences in the way we were following that desire, we never saw any hostility towards us.

What he remembered was that he used to say the importance of educating the illiterate poor of the society. So Peter took a number of initiatives to teach their education in an uncommon manner using agitated agricultural laborers and poor peasants. For this he also handled textbooks. I have requested to see the manuscript "Peter himself took the education of poor people from Latin America. A Brazilian intellectual named Paolo Freire wrote a book entitled 'Education of Niprajit'. In this he said as a way of social welfare, 'Education has to be created in villages.' Many people agree with Peter's acceptance of this opinion. Peter wrote a number of booklets related to the theory of Paolo Freire related to the Sociology of Bangladesh. Culture, society, He also wrote a number of pamphlets in evaluation of the economy. Selected several districts and took the initiative to set up schools there. "Organization of the Organization for Functional Education" was formed. Iftekhar Mahmud, 'Peter Custers - Friends of Bangladesh' [Prothom Alo, Holidays, 10 July 2010]. Many people will be surprised today, Peter published in the book "The Teaching of Women in Tebhaga" and "Women's Labor - Historical and theoretical Background", published in the book, published in Bengali.

State repression on Peter Casters came down in an independent Bangladesh, where he came from his country, family and family for the release of the common people. Before going to the context, the background of that time is not called.

In the period of 15 August 1975, the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu was captured and killed by his family and killed four national leaders. Jasad also comes down to unlimited state repression. Mastak's Phetoya army killed hundreds of Jatiya leaders and activists in the name of arms rescue. On November 7, 1975, the success of a sepoy coup led by Colonel Taher and with the help of JSD, to save the country from their hands, failed. Consequently, the ruling Gen. Zia, in the confinement of the secret Marshal Law Tribunal inside the Dhaka jail, hanged Col Taher by hanging him in the name of trial. Jasad and Sainik organization members were given different sentences. I have been punished for ten years of rigorous imprisonment and fine. I am in Dhaka Central Jail. In the meantime, Peter was arrested and sent to jail. The sedition case has been set against him. I and my two Brother, Abu Yusuf Khan, Bir Bikram and Waraceat Hossain, Bir Pratikake have been accused in a few more. He has been dropped from the accused list because Col. Taher is not there.

A martial law tribunal led by a retired Pakistan Air Force officer, Peter and our so called trial began. On behalf of Peter, the country's prominent progressive lawyer, language soldier Advocate Gazil Huq conducted the case. There was no lawyer for our three brothers. We did not have any idea about this. During the prosecution, Advocate Gazi Huq told the Tribunal how the members of the Intelligence Agency persecuted Peter to give false confession in the case; Tell us about Colonel Taher and his conspiracy conspiracy with us. But they did not succeed. Peter did not agree to give false evidence.

So-called he remembers a fun incident during the trial. We had three brothers about this martial law tribunal, totally innocent. Because another tribunal just hanged Col. Taher a few days ago and punished us. And it is directed by General Zia. We were sitting on the chair and members of the tribunal and we were unhappy. We have said before that we did not have any lawyer One day, the tribunal chairman advised Advocate Gaziul Haq to assure us that he should give justice to us on behalf of the court, that we do not disrespect the court and do not show any of their backs. We accepted it.

Finally, in the judgment of the uproar, 14 years of Peter Castres and some others were sentenced to different periods. Our three brothers were given 'Khalash'. During the trial, the parents of Peter from Holland were present at the tribunal's estate. I still remember their worrisome appearance. They must have thought of Col Taher's execution at the direction of the military ruler General Zia, within 72 hours of a court ruling in Dhaka Prison, after the brutal death of Revolutionary Che Guevara on behalf of the reactionary army in Bolivia. After being punished for a few days, however, Peter was released and sent to Holland after an apology.

In the mid-1980s, I was sentenced to five years in prison. I joined the reorganization of my biochemistry department at Dhaka University. In Japan and the United States, higher education and research, Peter was disconnected for many years in all his busy years. But sometimes the news was that Peter Casters is working hard on Bangladesh. He is playing an active role in highlighting issues related to Bangladesh's interest in the European Parliament and in various international organizations based in Brussels. He also participated in protesting and campaigning against General Zia's Taher killings. One of them was Zia's visit to Belgium in 1979, while participating in placards protest protests and distributing her written poems to reveal the real face of the military ruler Zia.

On 21 July 2007, on the occasion of the 31st death anniversary of Colonel Taher, he was invited by Colonel Abu Taher Parishad in London. Peter Casters gave a lecture on "Colonel Taher's Unique Legacy - The 1975 Soldiers' Uprising in a Comparative Historical Perspective". His own personal experience on the coup, the fundamental difference of the previous conspiracy army coup with sepoy coups, Taher's basic thinking about the People's Army, debate about the Military Strategy in Bangladesh, He delivered the lecture on the comparative analysis of the seizure coup in Colonel Taher's execution in Bangladesh and the theory of Taher's legacy and contemporary politics of Bangladesh - with the death of the Easter coup in Ireland and his Chief General Leader Jaims Konoly. On the morning of August 15, 1975, Peter joined the radio in the morning to collect the news. In his speech on Taher, he said, "On the morning of August the 15th, I happened to be a silent witness to a confrontation, which took place at Dhaka radio, Colonel Taher and Mustaque Ahmed, the proAmerican wing of the leader Awami League As Taher realized immediately, sections of Mujibur Rahman's own party was either involved in the coup, or was willing to act in the young Turks. " I happened to be a silent witness to a confrontation, which took place at Dhaka radio, Colonel Taher and Mustaque Ahmed, leader of the proAmerican wing of the Awami League. As Taher realized immediately, sections of Mujibur Rahman's own party was either involved in the coup, or was willing to act in the young Turks. " I happened to be a silent witness to a confrontation, which took place at Dhaka radio, Colonel Taher and Mustaque Ahmed, leader of the proAmerican wing of the Awami League. As Taher realized immediately, sections of Mujibur Rahman's own party was either involved in the coup, or was willing to act in the young Turks. "

Peter's testimony is important because some self-proclaimed researchers question Col. Taher as why he went to radio. Who killed Bangabandhu killer, who came to power, know that Hasanul Huq Inu and went with me to Taher Radio. It was important for Jasad's political decision to take this deep crisis. Taher very early in the morning realized that the pro-US part of Awami League under the leadership of Mustaq is directly involved in this fight or they are cooperating with the killers. Taher also realizes that in his opportunity to come to Betar, Farooq-Rashid gives general sepoys the idea that Taher is with the killers of Bangabandhu, so Taher quickly withdraws from Radio. Taher also mentioned these in his secret judicial statements. Yet these so-called researchers do not specify those information,

In August 2007, on the grounds of the clash between students of the Dhaka University campus, I was blindfolded, along with a colleague, remanded to the remand, and later protested against the arrest, torture and punishment of other teachers - Peter Casters Basically, due to his active activities, a strong proposal for immediate release of prisoners and students in the European Parliament has been passed.

Peter Castres played an important role in the creation of public opinion in favor of war criminals in Bangladesh. Against this trial, the strong zeal of Peter's strong opposition against the powerful campaign of BNP-Jamaat-BNP was very effective.
Honorable Prime Minister of Bangladesh, one of the many blessings of the daughter of Bangabandhu, is to honor those foreign dignitaries who have contributed to Bangladesh. In 2010, the Bangladesh government called 'Human Rights Defender and Friend of Bangladesh'. Peter Custars is honored.

Since 2010, Peter has been regularly receiving emails with email. There have been several times in Bangladesh also. Particularly in the gathering of information on the trial of war criminals abroad to inform the world. He got together with our family, took pictures, returned to the country and sent those pictures again. His basic book 'Questioning Globalized Militarism (Tulika, New Delhi / Merlin Press, London, 2007)' - wrote the role of noted economist Samir Amin - Honored with me

On March 23, 2011 a special day for the greater Taher family. The High Court of Bangladesh, in a landmark judgment, declares Col Taher's sentence and execution as illegal and unconstitutional by the secret marshal-tribunal, calling it a cold head murder. General Ziaur Rahman was blamed for this killing. Taher is said to be honored as a unique patriot and restore his lost respect.

Send congratulating Peter email message. Said: "Dear Anwar Bhai, this is my warmest congratulations to you, to Mrs. Lutfa Taher and the entire Taher family on the verdict honoring Colonel Taher by the High Court. I am intensely happy reading the news in today's Dhaka press, and wish you all a great celebration of this historic victory! "

On April 7 this year, I received great pleasure from receiving emails from Peter. He wrote about Naim Mohaimen, a PhD researcher at Columbia University in the United States. This nephew of the literary Syed Mujtaba Ali planned to make a movie on Peter Ketser's Bangladesh Experience (1973-1976).

In reply to this letter, some pictures of Colonel Taher were sent. Peter also sent his answer. That's the end. Then, on September 3, the country's uncommon friend Peter Custars left the country without returning to the country. Did Naim Mohaiman show Peter his creation?

"You are not at the point of sight, you have taken the middle of the eyes."

Remembering the writings of Peter, such a poet might have written such a way.

Small people crave for big people In the name of the research, they also create cinematography. But it quickly disappeared. People do not remember it. Peter, in your favorite Bangladesh, there have been such anti-propaganda against you. You know it too. But the ridiculous mockery of those smallest Because of the other realization of poet Rabindranath Tagore,

"The fact that solid
kathinere bhalabasilama
he does not ever deprivation."

You have caught yourself deep into your heart. Like the truth, you will remember the people of Bangladesh, people of the world.