How Cyclone Remal and amateur radio brought two 'dead' Bangladeshis in India to life
It was about four years ago when Md Milan, a man in his 30s, from Doulkha Union in Cumilla's Nangalkot, went missing.
He had two children, now aged 9 and 16, and his wife, Fancy.
The family had very little hope of Milan ever coming back. All this time, they were under the impression that Milan was no longer alive.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
And they had their reasons to believe that.
Milan, a fish trader, left home with a large amount of cash before he went missing. He intended to buy fresh supplies. It was very likely that he had been robbed and murdered by criminals.
In a great twist of fate, this very Milan was traced to Namkhana in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas last week, during the evacuation of people from riverine and coastal areas to cyclone shelters further inland, preceding Cyclone Remal.
Anup Sasmal, a civil defence volunteer from the district, was involved in the evacuation process just hours before Cyclone Remal made landfall. It was then, at the Sasmal Bandh area of Namkhana, that he spotted Milan.
Despite the harsh weather, Milan seemed indifferent, sitting calmly next to the embankment. As Sasmal approached him, he realised that the man was suffering from a mental disorder.
He couldn't offer a name or an address. All that escaped his lips were whispers about Bangladesh and fish.
Sasmal convinced Milan to go to a cyclone shelter. After the storm, he stayed at a roadside government rest house under Sasmal's protection.
Finally, Sasmal contacted the West Bengal Radio Club (WBRC), an organisation of amateur radio operators known for their acumen in reuniting lost individuals with their families.
Coincidentally, the South 24 Parganas district administration had also requested the WBRC to deploy a team to Sagar Island before Remal's landfall to ensure communication links remained intact in case other methods failed.
Ambarish Nag Biswas, the secretary of WBRC, recounted that once they received Sasmal's call, they attempted to communicate with Milan, only to find him incoherent.
However, by that time, two things became as clear as daylight: Milan was from Bangladesh, and he was involved either in fish trade or fishing.
That prompted them to contact their fellow amateur radio operators in Bangladesh. And they swiftly located the family in Cumilla who's missing son matched the description provided.
"Thanks to extensive cooperation from officials at the Nangalkot Police Station, we confirmed that the man, who had so far been unidentified, was Md Milan. He was the son of Rustom Ali from that village," Biswas shared.
After this, WBRC also connected Milan with his family through a video call. The said video call turned out to be a rather emotional affair, as Milan's wife and cousins wept seeing Milan after so long.
Milan's son, who had been around five years old when Milan disappeared, also recalled how his father promised him a bicycle but never came back.
As Milan couldn't provide any information, how he arrived in West Bengal in the first place remains a mystery.
Interestingly, Milan is not the only Bangladeshi national whom amateur radio operators across the border have been able to connect with their family following Cyclone Remal.
On Sunday night last week, during Cyclone Remal, when there was heavy rain and thunderstorms, two young men in the Chhaygharia Panchayat area of Bangaon, West Bengal, saw a young woman running barefoot towards them.
"You are like my brothers. Please take me to my parents," the young woman with dark circles under her eyes pleaded.
The two young men took her to the local Panchayat member for shelter.
It was soon revealed that the young woman, Shathi (not her real name), originally hailed from Bangladesh. She used to live in a rented flat with her father in Dhaka. Around four years ago, she was coaxed into coming to West Bengal by some of her friends and then taken to Howrah.
There, she was detained, tortured day after day, drugged heavily and forced into sex work. At one point, the abusers were also planning to sell off her kidneys. That was when she decided to flee and reached Bangaon.
Shathi also informed that she was married and had a child who couldn't speak.
Upon hearing her story, contact was soon made with members of the amateur radio community. Later, the news reached Rudraprasad Ghosh, a Bangaon member of amateur radio.
From there, the news was relayed to members of amateur radio associations in Bangladesh such as the Amateur Radio Society Bangladesh (ARSB) and Amateur Radio Association of Bangladesh (ARAB).
Anup Kumar Bhowmick, general secretary of ARAB, went down to trace Shathi's family and found success soon after, thanks to the information provided by her.
Following this, Shathi was also able to speak with her family members in Bangladesh through a video call. Her family had considered her dead after she had been missing for so long.
Ambarish Nag Biswas informed that efforts had already begun to obtain documents from the Ministry of External Affairs, the government of India and the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata, to facilitate the repatriation of both Milan and Shathi to their homeland.
"We hope the humanitarian efforts of the two countries' amateur radio operators will continue in the coming days as well," said Biswas, who has so far contributed to connecting 27 missing Bangladeshis in India to their families.
"But I would urge the amateur radio community in Bangladesh to be a bit more united among themselves for the sake of humanity," he added.
Amateur radio operation is widely popular in both Bangladesh and West Bengal, with enthusiasts, often referred to as hams, engaging in two-way personal communications using radio frequencies designated for the amateur radio service.
The Bangladesh Amateur Radio League (BARL), established in 1977, is the national organisation for amateur radio operators in Bangladesh.
Essentially, these amateur radio operators communicate with other operators locally or globally to take part in contests, experiment with technology, and explore different modes such as voice, Morse code, and digital formats.
But what sets them apart is their ability and willingness to offer voluntary emergency communication assistance during natural disasters and calamities, as exemplified by events like the recent Cyclone Remal.
In such times of crisis, they offer real-time weather updates, aid authorities in monitoring and responding to severe weather events, coordinate evacuations, and manage shelters for people in distress.
