Year 1971 was very important for us Bangladeshi people because in this year we tasted both the glory of freedom and the sorrow of losing our beloved ones.1971 will be remembered for ever as long as there is a country named Bangladesh. We Bangladeshi people love our country like every other country in some case may be more. In 1971 we were weak in strength but we fought with courage and love for our country, everyone did their part in that time by doing anything possible like singing, writing, donating money, and of course by fighting in the front line. We the current generation of Bangladesh respect them from the deepest place of our heart. Our people fought with guns, grenades, bombs, risking their life to save of what is called today as Bangladesh. However, 31…… they fought the war in their own way called……… Football. And Shadhin Bangla football team was born. Shamsul Haq was one of them, he wanted people to know about our country so he tried it in his own way and he formed a sports association called Bangladesh Krira Samity. On that very day they decided to form a football team that would go on to tour around India in order to raise awareness of the situation. They began broadcasting an announcement on Akashbani (Kolkata radio), urging players who were near the border to come and join the team. Around forty players showed up, from which twenty-five or twenty-six were selected after try-outs. Most of them were players from first division of Dhaka and 5 or 6 of them were from Mohammedan. A few other well-known names were later added to the list as players travelled from Dhaka to join the team. The captain of the team was Jakaria Pintu. Before he joined the team, Jakaria Pintu was a fitness instructor at a camp in Balurghat sector, providing physical training to freedom fighters before they were sent off for further training. “When Bangabandhu asked us to join the war with whatever we had in his speech on March 7, I thought to myself, I have nothing but football to offer,” recalls Pintu. He crossed the border thinking he could play in India in order to raise funds, but once the war started, he became an instructor at a reception camp near the border. “I was prepared to join the war, but then my wife told me to form a team and contribute in the best way I could. So I went to Kolkata, where I found that some players were already thinking about forming such a team,” he adds. The team had their debut against West Bengal’s Nadia district at the Khishnanagar Stadium on the 24th of July against Khishnanagar ekadosh as Jakaria Pintu led the team as a captain. It ended in a 2-2 draw. Impotents of this match was that for the first time our green and red pride our flag was waved in it. As a consequence the people of the world saw a presence of a new nation and they saw how much a group of people can love their country because every player was kissing the flag. But it was not that easy Indian football Authorities did not let them play with our flag but they refused to play otherwise. After thirty minutes of argument, the authority finally let them hoist our flag. Hazra, who later became the vice-captain of Shadhin Bangla reminiscences from that event, “We sang 'Amar Shonar Bangla' and then paraded the field with our flag and heads held high”. Later, the DC, DK Ghosh, was suspended for allowing Shadhin Bangla to hoist the Bangladeshi flag. The second match was played against the famous West Bengal team, Mohonbagan, which had to play under a different name for fear that it would be suspended by the IFA. The IFA, meanwhile, was under pressure from FIFA. The Indian teams and the IFA had to bend a few rules in order to allow the team to represent the yet to be free Bangladesh. Shadhin Bangla Football team played 16 matches in India and collected Tk 0.5 million which was donated to buy arms for the freedom fighters for the first time The players also remember the last match they played in Bombay, organised by the Bharat-Bangladesh Maitry Samity, where celebrities like Sharmila Tagore and SD Burman came to show their support. The then cricket captain of India, Nawab Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, played in the football match and even scored a goal. The Nawab donated Tk. 20,000 to the Muktijoddho Fund, which, at that time, was a considerable amount. Apart from collecting money for the Muktijuddho Fund, one of the main objectives of the football matches was to increase the awareness of Indians, especially Indian Muslims, about the Liberation War. “Many Muslims there believed that the war was being instigated by Hindus in East Pakistan; they couldn't accept that Bengali Muslims wanted to be free from West Pakistan,” says Hazra. He remembers a match that the team played in a Muslim populated area, when people gathered around them and asked them to recite ayats from the Quran to prove that they were Muslims. They soon realised that of the 22 players, only 4 were Hindus and the overwhelming majority were Muslims. “Before that they were against us, and wanted to stop the match, but once they realised that Muslims were also involved in the war, the spectators began to cheer for us and support us,” recalls Hazra. The footballers consider themselves to be freedom fighters. As Amlesh Sen, the current manager of Abahani and a team member of Shadhin Bangla, says, “Our names have been included in the Freedom Fighter's Gazette. We were already in camps, preparing for the war, when the High Commission urged us to come and join the team. Thirty of us were selected, and the rest went back to fighting in the war. We joined the team on the country's appeal, so I feel proud to be a part of it.” Pintu, however, urges the present government to honor the contribution of people like DK Ghosh (the DC who was suspended), Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, Bangladesh-India Maitry Samity's Shishir Ghosh, who helped organise the matches, and Topon Chatterjee, a photojournalist, who travelled with the team and captured their photos. Shadhin Bangla Football team is a remarkable name in the world football because it is the only team who played for their nation’s liberation. But very few people know about it and it is very heartbreaking for us. As a Bangladeshi we all should know it and be proud of it. We should have the same passion as they had in 1971’s Liberation War. Bangladesh is not only our country it’s our mother, our pride, our love we are always going to remember those who bravely fought for it and gifted us a beautiful country. And as far as we are concerned about Shadhin Bangla Football team…… there’s going to be a lot of football teams in Bangladesh but it will be remembered as the national heroes who waved our Red and Green pride outside our country which encouraged Bangladeshi people during war time a lot. Form our part many many thanks and respect towards them for showing us what we should do for our country when needed. Their step towards freedom e.g. playing football, singing and writing might be seen as insignificant but we have to remember ‘small drops of water makes an ocean’ and in this case that ocean is today’s Bangladesh and it is unquestionably a huge thing to accomplish. Before we end, we can only do a little favor towards those brave heroes and that is saluting them on behalf of whole nation….. A Red Salute to those legends.