When I was a grade 5 student, I read an article in the Bangla book, based on the martyred intellectuals of 1971. I came to know about Dr. Fazle Rabbee there. Later, in 2005, his daughter Nusrat Doolittle wrote a tribute article in Daily Star on the victory day of Bangladesh, where I came to know about Dr. Jahan Ara Rabbee, wife of Dr. Fazle Rabbee. I remember, that day, I showed the article saying “Ma Dekho, eta Dr. Fazle Rabbee er Meyer lekha”.
Despite I was born 2 decades after the liberation war, but Dr. Fazle Rabbee was among the martyred intellectuals whom I respect a lot. I must say, we wouldnt have seen development in medical field here in Bangladesh without him. He pioneered many things here. Specially the ECG machine. ECG machine was not available once here. He brought it here. Despite being a meritorious doctor, a brilliant student and an asset to the country, he always maintained a friendly behavior with everyone.
However, last year, I read some articles written by Nusrat Madam paying tribute to her parents, precisely two assets of our country. There, I came to know about more about Dr. Rabbees . I became more interested in them, I found that these articles were taken from the book “Spirit of 1971” , written by Dr. Nusrat. I was telling one of my friends about the book. Suddenly a few days back , I received the book surprisingly from him.
I started reading the book and my respect towards Dr. Rabbees increased more than before. We are unfortunate that we lost an asset back in 1971, just 24 hours before Bangladesh became free. After the independence, from the book, I came to know how Mrs. Rabbee took care of her three children despite losing her beloved husband. Besides her prestigious career, she never compromised with her kids. She is also an inspiration.
I am a grandchild of a martyred in 1971. From my father, I always heard about the liberation and still doing the same respect as I did before. I can understand the pain of Rabbee family.
Dr. Nusrat, biostatistician in USA, served as the star witness to the intellectual killing trials held in Dhaka in 2013.
