The NAP-Communist Party-Students Union Special Guerrilla Forces ( bn, ন্যাপ-কমিউনিস্ট পার্টি-ছাত্র ইউনিয়নের বিশেষ গেরিলা বাহিনী, translit. ''nyāp-kamiunisṭ pārṭi-chātra iuniẏanēr biśēṣ gērilā bāhinī'') was an armed force active in the

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali ...

.''New Age''.
Chhatra Union celebrates 66th founding anniv
' It was organized jointly by the National Awami Party (Muzaffar) (NAP),

Communist Party of Bangladesh The Communist Party of Bangladesh ( bn, বাংলাদেশের কমিউনিস্ট পার্টি) is a Marxism-Leninism, Marxist–Leninist communist party in Bangladesh. History After the Partition of India, partitioni ...

and the East Pakistan Students Union (Chhatra Union). Its commander was

Mohammad Farhad Mohammad Farhad (July 5, 1938 – October 9, 1987), popularly known as "Comrade Farhad", was a guerrilla force commander during the Bangladesh independence war, and the President of Communist Party of Bangladesh and a member of Bangladesh Pa ...

,Sengupta, Arkaprava.
Red Guerrillas: The Forgotten Fighters of the Bangladesh Liberation War
' with Pankaj Bhattacharya serving as deputy commander. Per the account of

Moni Singh Moni Singh ( bn, মনি সিংহ; 28 June 1901, Durgapur Upazila, Netrokona – 31 December 1990, Dhaka) was a preeminent Bengali Communist politician popularly known as ''Comrade Moni Singh''. He was the founder of the Communist Party of ...

, the NAP-Communist Party-Students Union Special Guerrilla Forces had some 5,000 fighters at its peak.''Frontier Weekly''.
Left in Bangladesh Liberation War
'

Formation of the NAP-Communist Party-Students Union Special Guerrilla Forces

After the launching of

Operation Searchlight Operation Searchlight was the codename for a planned military operation carried out by the Pakistan Army in an effort to curb the Bengali nationalist movement in former East Pakistan in March 1971. Pakistan retrospectively justified the opera ...

by the West Pakistani government on March 25, 1971, popular militias started to emerge in different parts of Bangladesh. The

, and its related organizations like the National Awami Party (Muzaffar), the East Pakistan Students Union (Chhatra Union), the Krishak Samiti and the

Trade Union Centre A national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national trade union center, and many have more than one. In some regions, such a ...

supported the Bangladeshi government-in-exile and instructed its cadres to join the

Mukti Bahini The Mukti Bahini ( bn, মুক্তিবাহিনী, translates as 'freedom fighters', or liberation army), also known as the Bangladesh Forces, was the guerrilla resistance movement consisting of the Bangladeshi military, paramilitary ...

. Some 6,000 communists joined the Mukti Bahini. But when

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ( bn, শেখ মুজিবুর রহমান; 17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), often shortened as Sheikh Mujib or Mujib and widely known as Bangabandhu (meaning ''Friend of Bengal''), was a Bengali politi ...

launched the

Mujib Bahini The Mujib Bahini, also known as Bangladesh Liberation Force (BLF), was an armed force formed during the Bangladesh Liberation War to fight against Pakistan in 1971. The force was mainly composed of activists drawn from the Awami League and its st ...

as a special commando force of Mukti Bahini, the Communist Party revised its relations with Mukti Bahini and decided to build a guerrilla force of its own. The build-up of the new guerrilla force was kept secret, only Prime Minister

Tajuddin Ahmad Tajuddin Ahmad ( bn, তাজউদ্দীন আহমদ; ; 23 July 1925 – 3 November 1975) was a Bangladeshi politician and statesman. He led the Provisional Government of Bangladesh as its prime minister during the Bangladesh Liberatio ...

was informed of its existence.''Ekota''
ন্যাপ-কমিউনিস্ট পার্টি-ছাত্র ইউনিয়নের বিশেষ গেরিলা বাহিনী প্রসঙ্গে
/ref> Along the Indian border, with support from the

Communist Party of India Communist Party of India (CPI) is the oldest Marxist–Leninist communist party in India and one of the nine national parties in the country. The CPI was founded in modern-day Kanpur (formerly known as Cawnpore) on 26 December 1925. H ...

, district youth camps were set up on Indian soil where some 20,000 people were trained for armed struggle. The main training camp of the NAP-Communist Party-Students Union Special Guerrilla Forces was located at

Tezpur Tezpur () is a city and urban agglomeration in Sonitpur district, Assam state, India. Tezpur is located on the banks of the river Brahmaputra, northeast of Guwahati, and is the largest of the north bank cities with a population exceeding 10 ...

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

. There was also the Panighata camp in

Siliguri Siliguri, ) is a major tier-II city in West Bengal. It forms "Twin Cities" with the neighboring district capital of Jalpaiguri. The city spans areas of the Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts in the Indian state of West Bengal. Known as the ...

. Whilst some 5,000 of the youth trained in the camps became active in the NAP-Communist Party-Students Union Special Guerrilla Forces, the training camps also supplied the Mukti Bahini with some 12,000 fighters. The Guerrilla Forces were active in

Dhaka District Dhaka District ( bn, ঢাকা জেলা, Dhaka jela) is a district in central Bangladesh, and is the densest district in the nation. It is a part of the Dhaka Division. Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, and rests on the eastern banks o ...

Comilla District Comilla District, officially known as Cumilla District, is a district of Bangladesh located about 100 kilometres south east of Dhaka. Comilla is bordered by Brahmanbaria and Narayanganj districts to the north, Noakhali and Feni districts to th ...

Noakhali District Noakhali ( bn, নোয়াখালী, , New canal), historically known as Bhulua ( bn, ভুলুয়া), is a district in southeastern Bangladesh, located in the Chittagong Division. It was established as district in 1821, and officia ...

Chittagong District Chittagong District, renamed the Chattogram District, is a district located in the south-eastern region of Bangladesh. It is a part of the Chattogram Division. The port city of Chattogram, which is the second largest city in Bangladesh, is l ...

and

Rangpur District Rangpur ( bn, রংপুর) is a district in Northern Bangladesh. It is a part of the Rangpur Division. Geography Under the Rangpur Division (one of eight divisions) composed of eight districts of northern Bangladesh, the District of Rangpur ...

, as well as other parts of northern Bangladesh.

Laying down arms

On January 30, 1972, a month after the end of the war, a ceremony was held at Dhaka National Stadium in which the communist guerrilla forces, led by Farhad and joined by Osman Gani of CPB, Pankaj Bhattacharya of NAP(M) and Mujahidul Islam Selim of the Students Union, handed over their arms to President

.''New Age''.
AD upholds HC verdict to recognise guerrillas as freedom fighters
'

Dispute over recognition

Fighters of the NAP-Communist Party-Students Union Special Guerrilla Forces were awarded official recognition as freedom fighters. However, on October 29, 2014 the government removed the names of 2,367 ex-guerrillas (including

, Muzaffar Ahmed, Mohammad Farhad, Osman Gani, Mujahidul Islam Selim and Bhattacharya) from the official list of freedom fighters, on the grounds that the guerrillas had applied for recognition collectively. On September 9, 2016 the High Court issued a verdict after hearing a writ petition by Bhattacharya, declaring the removal of the 2,367 ex-guerrillas from the freedom fighters' list as illegal. The High Court verdict was challenged by Ministry of Liberation War Affairs, but in January 2017 the Appellate Division upheld the High Court verdict. Additionally the Appellate Division asked that the government provide the ex-guerrillas with all benefits and honours given to freedom fighters.

References

{{reflist Communist Party of Bangladesh National Awami Party (Muzaffar) Bangladesh Liberation War