Noakhali Correspondent

Firoz Mia, who was released on bail in the BDR mutiny case after serving 17 years in prison, has returned to his home.

During this long period, he has lost many relatives. After being released with the pain of losing his relatives, Firoz and his family members have demanded compensation in addition to reinstatement of his job. BDR member Md. Firoz Mia, who was released on bail, is the son of the late Abdul Hai of Padua village in Narottampur union of Kabirhat upazila of the district.

A joyful reception was given at the village home of former BDR and current (Border Guard Bangladesh) member Firoz Mia by the BDR Kalyan Parishad Noakhali branch today. Firoz Mia joined Peelkhana as a Lance Naik of BDR 13 Battalion on March 3, 2009 under the direction of the government. Then he was arrested on March 23 of that year in connection with the tragic Peelkhana murder case. At that time, Firoz Mia had to be imprisoned, leaving behind an 8-year-old daughter and a 5-year-old son.

Later, a departmental case was filed against Firoz Mia, along with a case under the Murder and Explosives Act. After being released from prison on January 23, he returned to his home in Kabirhat Upazila of Noakhali after 16 years. However, he had to lose many relatives at different times while in prison.

In a tearful voice, Firoz Mia said, "I was innocent and was in prison for almost 17 years. During this time, I lost a lot from my life. My sons and daughters were deprived of their father's love and affection. I could not take care of my children." Now, by the grace of God, I have come out, but I don't know how to feed my children, how to educate them, we have no income now, no one will hire us at this age, I want them to return us to our previous jobs and pay off all our debts or at least provide us with pensions, this is my request to the current interim government.

Since the only earning person was in prison for 16 long years, Feroz Mia's wife Nazmun Nahar took care of the family, including the education and maintenance of her sons and daughters. On the one hand, Nazmun Nahar had to work inhumanly to cover the expenses of her husband's case, and on the other hand, to cover the education expenses of her two children. Before they learned to understand, they had to raise their sons and daughters by burdening their chests with the fact that their father was away. Due to lack of money, Nazmun Nahar often had to struggle to provide them with three meals a day.

Visiting Firoz Mia's house on the spot, it is seen that a wave of joy is flowing throughout the village as he returns home after being released on bail after many years. Relatives have come from far and wide to meet Firoz. Tears of joy are also flowing from Firoz to be near his wife and children after 16 years. He is traveling with his son to visit various places with memories, as well as the graves of various relatives and his mother. However, despite having everything close by, he is not completely happy as there are still several others in Noakhali jail for the Peelkhana murder case, and he hopes that they will also be released very soon.

Recently released on bail, despite having the air of the open sky, Firoz Mia, who is financially distressed, is traveling with a look of worry on his face and eyes, searching for happiness for himself and his family.

Some BDR members who came to welcome him said, "We are very happy today, even after a long time, we can see this member of ours today, even though we have been in prison for a long time, many of our brothers could not come, now many of our Firoz brothers including many others have returned to us after a long 16 years, we are very happy about this, so we came to welcome him with flowers and we want the rest to be released as soon as possible, on the other hand, the real criminals to be punished." Fazlur Rahman Sanjit, son of Firoz Mia, said, "When I was a child, I heard from my mother that my father was somewhere far away. She never told us properly that my father was in prison. After learning to understand, I came to know that my father was in prison in the BDR mutiny case. When I was a child, I used to see different school children being taken away by their fathers, but we were deprived of that affection from my father. I used to cry with my mother, asking why our father did not come, when he would come. It was very difficult to walk our path without my father for so many years. My mother raised us alone." However, the people of Noakhali have stood by us in our time of trouble by providing various kinds of support.

Present at the reception were BDR members Lance Naik Manik, who had served various terms of imprisonment, Md. Anwar Hossain, Naik Sala Uddin, Naik Md. Nurul Hossain, Amena Begum, wife of BDR member Naik Shekantar Ali, who is serving a life sentence, Abul Hossain, Abdul Baker Roni, Imam Hossain and Abdul Qayum.