Babla Bon mass grave in Rajshahi city needs care
BSS, Rajshahi
Proper preservation by the authorities concerned is required to protect and uphold the dignity of the historic mass graveyard 1971 at Babla Bon at Shreerampur in Rajshahi city. The graveyard is now occupied by locals and turned into an unknown land.
Family members of several Liberation War martyrs have demanded steps for protection and proper maintenance of the mass grave site so that people can pay homage to the great sons of the soil, who were buried there.
The Pakistani army with the help of their local collaborators picked up 17 people including intellectuals and politicians from their houses on the night of November 25 in 1971. Their bodies were found after local people discovered the mass grave near Boalia Club in the city on December 30.
Bodies of the 17 martyrs including Prof Mir Abdul Quayyum of Rajshahi University, Nawrose-ud-Doula Khan,Taslim Uddin, Abul Hossain, Alauddin, Taiyab Ali, Mirja Sultan, Azizul Haque Chowdhury and Aminul Haque Chowdhury were dumped at the site.
“I can still remember the day well when I went to the grave site riding a bicycle in the morning of December 30, 1971. I could identify my father’s body by seeing the ring on his finger,” said Asaf-ud-Doula Khan Gulzar, son of Nawrose-ud-Doula Khan who developed a transistor amplifier and supplied it to freedom fighters for use during the war.
Towfiqur Rahman Lavlu, nephew of martyred businessman Altaf Hossain, said he identified his uncle’s body after seeing his sweater. Thirteen of the bodies were tied up with a rope.
Family members of the martyrs and local people hold discussion in the city and gather at the gravesite on November 25 every year marking their abduction on this day in 1971.
Talking to BSS, most of them demanded protection of the site and trial of war criminals, particularly who were involved in the barbaric killing.
Prof Dr Mahbuba Kanij Keya, daughter of Prof Mir Abdul Quayyum, said the frightening genocide committed by the Pakistani occupation forces with collaborators at different areas of the city in 1971 still reminds of heinous atrocities of the war criminals against humanity.
The nation has achieved its independent 44 years back. But, relatives of martyrs still tremble while narrating the genocide and demand trial of the war criminals involved with the terrible genocide for peace of the departed souls, she added. He called for taking necessary measures for preservation of those for the future generation.
Dr Keya, a teacher of Psychology Department of Rajshahi University, said there are many other mass-graves in the city especially Upashahar and Tallaimari but unfortunately all those remained in uncared condition.
Mustafizur Rahman Khan, a senior-citizen of the city and brother-in-law of Prof Abdul Quayyum, said the assacres still tremble while narrating the genocides when the war criminals also burnt many dead bodies and houses to ashes, violated young girls and women in various areas.
The then occupation forces conducted door-to-door combing operations and caught many innocent but independent-seeking people irrespective of caste, creed and religion, set fire and looted properties,
violated and tortured hundreds of daughters of the soil, he said. But, unfortunately, there is no genuine list of the martyred families in the city. For this reason, they aren’t getting any financial support from the authorities concerned.
Fazley Hossain Badsha, MP, told BSS that there should be effective measures for protecting the site so that the young generation can avail the scopes of getting necessary information about the martyrs properly.
Intellectuals killing ignited heroism among Rangpur people
BSS, Rangpur
The planned genocide of intellectuals committed by the Pakistani occupation forces on April 4 in 1971 in Rangpur instantly ignited sleeping heroism in every Bangalee to sparkle the War of Liberation in the northern region.
Earlier, the Pakistani army got frightened witnessing heroism of thousands of Bangalees on March 3 in 1971 when they brought out procession breaking curfew here sacrificing lives of its three heroic sons Sangku Samajhder, Abul Kalam Azad and Omar Ali.
Noticing the insuperable heroism among Rangpur people since beginning of March, the Pakistani occupation forces with local collaborators started planning for cleansing local intellectuals along with innocent Bangalees of this volatile region.
The freedom fighters Rangpur told BSS that the Pakistani hyenas with their local collaborators, including non-Bengali Beharis, caught 11 brilliant Bangalee intellectuals from their houses in the city on March 27 in 1971 in a pre-planned manner.
The occupation forces forcibly took them to Rangpur cantonment and conducted barbaric physical torture in medieval style on them causing unbearable pains for their active role in noncooperation movement and uncompromising patriotism.
Fearing threat of patriotism from the intellectuals of this region, the Pakistani blood-hungry forces with collaborators took them to ‘Dakhiganj Shwashan’ in the city on April 4 in 1971 and gunned them down to make the Bengali nation talent-less.
Incredibly, one of them, then Awami League leader Dr Dinesh Chandra Bhowmick alias Mantu Daktar, who received severe injuries as eight bullets penetrated his body, escaped death.
Later, he joined the ‘Mukti Bahini’ getting proper treatments in neighbouring India and fought the War of Liberation to liberate the country by killing many enemy soldiers in the war fronts.
The martyred intellectuals are Advocate Mahfuz Ali Zorjes, Durga Das Adhikari, Dhirendranath Shanti Chaki, Khitish Halder, Gopal Chandra, Ehsanul Haque Dulal, Tofazzal Hossain Moharram, Rafikul Islam, Uttam Kumar Adhikari and Pagla Darbesh.
The killings of the ten intellectuals by the Pakistani occupation forces and their local collaborators here on April 4 in 1971 triggered heroism in every Rangpur people instantly inspiring them to launch stiff resistance for Independence.
District Muktijoddha Commander Mosaddek Hossain Bablu said the occupation forces got frightened witnessing heroism of three martyred sons of Rangpur on March 3 and killed the ten intellectuals on April 4 in 1971 to foil the War of Liberation.
The people of Rangpur factually started the War of Liberation from March 3 in 1971 through sacrificing three lives while bringing out procession breaking curfew during the noncooperation movement against the Pakistani junta.
After losing its three heroic sons Sangku, Kalam and Omar on March 3 in 1971 while breaking curfew in the city, the people of Rangpur spontaneously started mobilisng them to launch all-out resistance against the Pakistani occupation forces.
Later, abduction of 11 intellectuals on March 27 and their subsequent massacre made the Rangpur people extremely angry instigating them to snatch away Independence from the Pakistani occupation forces at any cost.
Being organised, some 30,000 Bangalees attempted to capture Rangpur Cantonment on March 28 in 1971 when 600 of them were gunned down by the Pakistani occupation forces at Nisbetganj further igniting the War of Liberation in the region.
Observing unprecedented heroism of the Bangalees since beginning of March in 1971, the occupation forces continued genocides of independence-seeker Bangalees en-masse irrespective of caste, creed and religion in the whole Rangpur region.
According to freedom fighters, academicians, historians and researchers, the occupation forces killed ten intellectuals in Rangpur on April 4 in 1971 as part of their deep-rooted conspiracy to make the Bengali nation talent-less.
After martyrdoms of intellectuals, massacres of 600 innocent Bangalees at Nisbetganj, 1,200 in Badarganj and thousands of other places in Rangpur region inspired the Bangalees to join ‘Mukti Bahini’ en-masse to achieve ultimate victory on December 16 in 1971.
