Rumi was only 19 years old and just out of college when he decided to join the liberation war of Bangladesh.

He stood third in HSC in the Pakistan Education Board in March of 1971 and got admitted in the then top most engineering institute of the region now known as BUET. He was also enrolled into the Illinois Institute of Technology.  But the youngstar decided to stay back and fight for his country, when the war broke out against East and West of Pakistan.

“If you force me go to America in this circumstance of the country, I might go in the end. But my conscience will keep me guilty forever.

“I might come from America being great Engineer with a degree but I’ll never able to stand in front of the frowning of my conscience.

Do you want that?”

This is how Shaheed Shafi Imam Rumi – the young patriot imbued with determination and passion for Bangladesh’s independence which was portrayed in famous memoir Ekattorer Dinguli, written by his mother Jahanara Imam.

Rumi then took guerrilla training at Melaghar, Agartala under Sector-2.

After his training, he came to Dhaka to join the Crack Platoon, a group that conducted major guerrilla operations against the Pakistani Army.

One of the major target of his group coming to Dhaka was to bomb the Shiddhirganj Power Station. During this time he had to conduct risky attacks, one of which was attack on Road No. 5 and 16  in Dhanmondi. There, a Pakistani army chased them. Saying, “Look, a jeep is following us”, Rumi smashed the rear window of the vehicle and fired with stengun.

After Dhanmondi Road Operation, Rumi became popular among his friends.

Rumi was captured by the Pakistani Army on August 29, 1971 from his home in Dhaka. His father, younger brother and a cousin were also arrested with him by the oppressors.

At the concentration camp, Rumi forbade other members of his family to admit anything, taking all the responsibility himself. He explained, “The Pak army is aware of his activities and he wants to take all the responsibility himself.”

Rumi with other co-fighters Bodi and Jewel were arrested the same night, and were never found. They became one of the hundreds of thousands of people massacred by the military.

Mentionable, Rumi was born on March 29, 1952 in the higher middle-class family of Jahanara Imam and Sharif Imam.

Jahanara Imam got designation of ‘Shaeed Janani’ for the martyrdom of her son Rumi.

Rumi was awarded with ‘Bir Bikrom’ – the third highest gallantry award in Bangladesh.

We pay our respect and love to the brave hero, Shaheed Bir Bikrom Shafi Imam Rumi.