DHAKA – Shafiqul Islam was studying business at Dhaka College in 1971 when a bloody and brutal war for independence ravaged Bangladesh.
After undergoing guerrilla training in India, he returned to fight against Pakistani soldiers. “It was a time of total destruction,” he said. “Our bridges and roads were destroyed, our women were raped, towns were under siege.
Thousands of homes and shops were torched.” Nine months after it began, the war culminated in the country’s independence. Fifty years on, 67-year-old Islam presides over Arrival Fashion Ltd., a new-generation garment factory spread over 2.5 acres and surrounded by lush paddy fields on the outskirts of the capital, Dhaka.