Skip to content

Profile of Bengal

The complete profile of Bengal

  • Home
  • History
    • Dossier
    • Eye Witness Account
  • FAQ
  • Current Affairs
  • Contact Us
  • About Us

Recent Posts

  • April 06, 1971: Telegram from the US con general in Dacca
  • April 03, 1971: The Slaughter in East Pakistan
  • April 04, 1971: Telegram from Department of State
  • April 03, 1971: Memorandum From Secretary of State Rogers to President Nixon
  • April 02, 1971 : Notification of the Special Team of Central Government Officers Deputed to East Pakistan

Recent Comments

    Archives

    • November 2015
    • September 2015

    Categories

    • Dossier
    • Eye Witness Account
    • Uncategorized

    Meta

    • Log in
    • Entries RSS
    • Comments RSS
    • WordPress.org

    Category: Eye Witness Account

    Manjuli Pramanik

    Name:   Manjuli Pramanik

    Husband:  Ishwar Jiban Krishna Pramanik(Killed in 1971 by the Pak Army or their collaborators)

    Vill: Jele Para, Kanikhali Union, Natore

    P.S. Natore Sadar, Dt. Natore.

    Education: Read upto class VII.

    Age in 1971: 25 yrs

    Occupation in 1971: Housewife

    Present Occupation: Housewife.

    Q.  Do you remember anything about 1971?

    A.  Yes, the elections were held in the year 1970. I voted for Sh. Mujibur’s ‘Boat’. Sh. Mujibur won. and then the war started. And my husband was killed.

    Q.  How did your husband die?

    A.  It was 2nd of the month of Baishakh. We had a rented house in Chowdhurypara. In the morning the landlord’s sister and younger brother called out my husband in order to take some medicine from him. He followed them. My husband was an office worker .He also practiced homeopathy medicine. He didn’t return till 10 am and I became worried. He said, he wiould be back soon and yet it was 10 am and he was still not back. I made some tea for him but he didn’t take it. Then I went to the landlord’s house. I had never been to their house before. I went that day. When I reached their house I thought the landlord’s mother looked unhappy.

    Q.  Was the landlord a Muslim?

    A.  Yes, he was a Muslim.

    Q.  What was his name?

    A.  His name was Shah Alam Choudhury. I told his mother, ’Aunty, my husband came here, I don’t

    see him, where is he?’ She said,’ Why should your husband come here?’ I said,’ Manik apa(sister) called him saying that her younger brother was ill and he needed medicine and so my husband came. Then she replied rudely,’ Your husband hasn’t come here. You better go home.’ Even after she said this I kept on waiting. Soon Manik apa returned and told me, ’Bhabi, you go home, there is no need for you to stay here. He has gone for some work, he will be back soon. After the work is done  he will return home. You can go home now’. Even then I kept on standing. I asked Manik apa, “Your brother, that is my husband, where has he gone?’ Then her mother scolded me, she said,’ I told you to go, why are you still hanging around? ’I returned home and stayed inside. The whole day passed, the dusk fell, even then there was no news of my husband. And then he returned. and I asked him where he had gone. Hs said he would tell me in a little while. He called me inside the room. Then he said, ‘They took me to the bank, and got checks signed by me for whatever money I had in the bank’. I asked who were those men and he said they were Nure Alam Choudhury and some others.’ And now they are demanding for your ornaments’ he said, ’I told them that the ornaments are with your father and my father. Then they took their names and addresses .I gave them wrong address.’

    Q.  Where did you keep your ornaments?

    A.  The ornaments were in our house. Before my husband finished talking, Manik apa’s brothers Madhu Mia, Dudu Mia and several others that we didn’t know came to my husband. They stayed in our house till about 11.00 p.m. I had no more talks with my husband. We couldn’t take any food. The poor soul didn’t have anything to eat during the whole day. I thought he should eat something. I called him several times from the other room. But neither they let my husband to come out nor did they allow him to take food. Then at about 12 midnight they left and my husband came to our room. I brought him some hot milk to drink but he didn’t take it. The night wore on like this. We didn’t sleep at all. In the morning my husband told me to take whatever little money we had and my ornaments and carefully fastened them around my waist. He said we would have to runaway  immediately from our house. And then he went to the toilet.  We didn’t have a chance to talk at night because there were people all around. We were afraid our conversation could leak out to their ears. When my husband picked the mug to go to the toilet someone kicked on the door. I opened the door and there were military men right in front. of me. I rushed back terror stricken. The military swiftly entered the house and caught hold of my husband and dragged him away. Two of the military men were in front and two were behind my husband. I couldn’t utter a single word. My daughter, only four years old then, started crying in shock and walking behind her father. At this stage Manik apa picked her up to her lap. The military men took away her father. I couldn’t do anything to get back my husband.

    Q.  How old was Manik apa?

    A.  Manik apa was a school teacher. She was grown up. Then I took my two children inside the room and bolted the door from inside, and  went near the window and was looking out side helplessly. It would then be around 12 noon. And then  Ankhi and a younger brother of Sufi came near my window. He was hardly about 14 or 15.yrs old. He said, ‘Boudi(sister-in-law) you run away from here immediately’. I said, ’Where could I go?’ ‘Any anywhere, anywhere’ he said with desperation. He insisted that I leave the house as soon as I could without wasting another second. I asked him if he knew anything about my husband. He said that the military had  shot my husband. ‘You run away from here immediately’, he insisted, ‘a gang of Biharis will come in a second and they will harm you’. He dragged me out of the room and then he hurriedly left.

    Coming out of room I was thinking where could I go. I was not familiar with the roads and then a couple of fellows came near me and said, ’If you want to see your husband, come with us to the hospital. I didn’t know where the hospital was and yet I was desperate and started walking towards the hospital with my children. I had no fear of anything on earth. Every one on the street kept me warning, ’Don’t go to the hospital, don’t go I didn’t listen to anyone, I was walking  towards the hospital. My eldest son  Jayanta was born in that hospital. My senses took me to the hospital. I found my husband, he was on a bed. He was operated upon. The doctor was standing in front of his bed. The doctor told me, ‘Boudi (sister-in-law) why are you here? You better go home’. When he said this my husband pleaded with the doctor to make some arrangement so that I could stay in the hospital. He also requested the doctor not to send me home. Then suddenly from nowhere some Bihari men arrived and 2 or 3 of them came close to me. It then dawned on me that I was a woman and it made me scared. I took my children and returned home. I found the landlord and his family members were there and also some Bihari men I had never seen them before. I didn’t see if anyone else was there. I entered straight into the

    Thakur Ghar(Hindu Prayer Corner). I had some money (hidden) in the room. I took the money, a wrist watch, a torch light and then holding the hands of my children left the house. A man tried to take my baby from my hold. I didn’t know if he was a Bihari or a Bengali. I ran aimlessly and I can’t  say in which direction or where I was heading for. I was terrified.

    Q.  Where did you go?

    A.  After I escaped I did not know where I was heading for. Suddenly an old man stopped me on the bank of a pond. He said,’ Take your baby son properly, his head is hanging downwards. How did it happen?’ I was without any sense. The baby’s back had received a cut wound, I didn’t know how it happened. The old man rubbed some sort of medicine on his back and put a bandage with a piece of cloth. And then he called in a rickshaw for me and asked,’ Ma (mother), where do you want to go?’ I told him I wanted to go to Hasla, my father’s home. He asked me who were there; I didn’t tell him that it was my father’s home. I said, I knew

    some people there. Then the old man covered the front of the rickshaw with a piece of cloth. I was riding the rickshaw. On the way it was stopped many times on the road. Those men asked such questions as whether I was a Hindu or a Muslim and where I was going etc. The rickshaw  puller cautioned me not to talk. He said he would answer on my behalf. He said, ‘if they ask you if you were a Hindu or a Muslim, you simply say that you are a Muslim. Don’t say anything more’.

    Q.  Didn’t you have Sindur (red vermilion powder) on the part of you hair, and Sankha(bangle made of shale) around your wrist?

    A.  The night before the military took away my husband he broke my sankha (bangle made of shale) and I never used sindur.  Manik, about whom I have mentioned before, had told me not to use sindur. We continued our journey and  reached Biprhalsa to my elder brother’s home. My  brother  hired a horse drawn cart  and took us to my father’s village. I told my father that I had visited my husband at the hospital before leaving home. My father sent a man, son of one Jamal member riding a bicycle, to inquire about my husband at the hospital. He couldn’t find my husband. Within seven days my father was killed.

    Q.  What happened  to your husband?

    A.  He died in the hospital. After my father was killed we went to India. We did not know then whether my husband was alive or dead. After we returned after liberation I went to the doctor who operated on my husband. I went to his house. On seeing me he kept silent. I knew  then that my husband was dead. My father-in-law was with me. He took me home. I was  three months pregnant when the war started. My son was born in India. His name is Harshchandra. He couldn’t see the face of his father.

    Q.  After liberation did your family get any help and cooperation from the government ?

    A.  Yes we did. The government gave me one thousand taka and a letter. On our return we

    lived for some time with my father and my brother. Later on we moved to a rented house. My brothers helped us. I did some private tuition. We had been through very hard times. Then my children grew up. My daughter is the eldest among them. The children also went through school. My eldest son is also a tutor. We some how managed to survive. Recently my youngest  son died in a road accident. I have not yet been able to marry my  daughter. She is working in BRAC (an NGO reputed to be the largest in the world.) Her name is Mala Rani.

    Interviewer:  S.M. Abu Bakr.

    Date of Interview: July 14, 1997

    Translator:  Faruq Aziz Khan

    Posted on November 13, 2015Categories Eye Witness Account

    Taramoni

    Name:  Taramoni

    Father’s Name:  Sarat ( Killed in 1971 by the Pak Army).

    Vill:  Habra-Chandipur, P.O. Habra

    P.S. Parbatipur, Dt. Dinajpur

    Education: Illiterate

    Age in 1971: 16 yrs

    Occupation in 1971: Housewife.

    Present Occupation: Day Laborer

    Q.                What did you do in 1971?

    A.                 I was a housewife.

    Q.                What do you do now?

    A.                 I work for a living. I sell vegetables.

    Q.                Did you see the elections of 1970?

    A.                 Yes, I did. Everybody voted for the ‘Boat’.

    Q.                What happened later on?

    A.                 Fighting started between the Bangalis and the Biharis.

    Q.                Were you ever attacked by the Pakistani soldiers during 1971 liberation war?

    A.                 Yes, I was.

    Q.                How did it happen?

    A.                 They forcibly took me away along with my father and husband.

    Q.                They took you away forcibly?

    A.                 Yes.

    Q.                Who were they?

    A.                 Khans and Biharis.

    Q.                Were there anyone else with you?

    A.                 Yes a cousin, daughter of my elder uncle.

    Q.                Your cousin sister?

    A.                 Yes.

    Q.       What is the name of your cousin sister?

    A.        Samabala.

    Q.        What was the name of your husband?

    A.        Hareswar.

    Q.        Where did the Pakistani soldiers take you all?

    A.        Parbatipur.

    Q.        What did they do to you after they took you to Parbatipur?

    A.        They kept us together on a verandah.

    Q.        Your father and your husband?

    A.        Yes.

    Q.        Where did they keep your cousin sister and you?

    A.        First they kept us on the verandah and then they took us to a room.

    Q.        Did the Pakistani soldiers also bring some others like you from other areas?

    A.        Yes, they did.

    Q.        How many women were there?

    A.        We two were the only women they brought.

    Q.        There were no other women with you then?

    A.        No.

    Q.        How many days did they keep you in Parbatipur?

    A.        One day and one night. Next day they let us free, around 8/9 am in the morning.

    Q.        Next day they let you go?

    A.        Yes.

    Q.        What did you see in Parbatipur?

    A.        There were lots of soldiers, machines and weapons.

    Q.        What was your feeling then?

    A.        I was scared, very scared.

    Q.        Did the Pakistanis torture you and your sister?

    A.        Yes, they did.

    Q.        Did the Pakistani soldiers dishonor (rape) you?

    A.        Yes, they did.

    Q.        Did they also rape your sister?

    A.        Yes.

    Q.        Did they take you inside a room?

    A.        Yes.

    Q.        How many of them did this to you?

    A.        Two or three of them.

    Q.        And then what happened?

    A.        Next day they let us free.

    Q.        They let you go the very next day?

    A.        Yes.

    Q.        After they let you go, where did you go?

    A.        We returned to our village home.

    Q.        What did you see there?

    A.        There was no one in the village.

    Q.        What did you do then?

    A.        We went to India.

    Q.        You went alone?

    A.        No my cousin was with me. I left my husband and father behind at Parbatipur.

    Q.        They confined your husband and  father?

    A.        Yes.

    Q.        What did you do then?

    A.        We, both sisters went away to that village.

    Q.        Which village?

    A.        Khashpara.

    Q.        What did you do then?

    A.        We found our uncle there.

    Q.        You found your uncle?

    A.        Yes. Then we left along with our uncle.

    Q.        Where did you go?

    A.        To Bharat.

    Q.        Where exactly in Bharat?

    A.        Mollardighi.

    Q.        What did you do there?

    A.        We took shelter on a verandah of a fellow.

    Q.        How long did you stay there?

    A.        Almost one year.

    Q.        After you returned did you find your husband?

    A.        No, I never found him, not till to-day.

    Q         When you returned what was the condition of your village?

    A         No house, no room, absolutely nothing.

    Q.        What did you do then?

    A.        We stayed under a very desperate condition.

    Q.        After liberation did you go for a family life again?

    A.        Yes, I did.

    Q.        You married again?

    A.        Yes, I did..

    Q.        How many children do you have now?

    A.        Three daughters.

    Interviewer:  Bhabendranath Barman

    Date of Interview:  Nov 13, 1996

    Translator: Faruq Aziz Khan:

    Posted on November 13, 2015Categories Eye Witness Account

    Keramat Ali Biswas

    Name:  Keramat Ali Biswas

    Father’s name:  Late Imarat Ali Biswas

    P.O:  Chuadanga, Municipality: Chuadanga

    Education: H.S.C.

    Age in 1971:  18 yrs

    Occupation in 1971: Student

    Present Occupation: Business and Music.

    Q.   What do you know about 1970 general elections and the flow of subsequent events?

    A.   I was a student of Chuadanga College  at the time. Before the elections in 1969 there was a very big political movement in the country. Chuadanga had also felt the impulse of that movement. In those days people used to listen to Bangabandhu Sh. Mujib very seriously. Whatever instructions he gave were obeyed by everyone. I had noticed that with the exception of the Muslim League supporters, every one else obeyed Bangabandhu. There were not very many parties then and the Muslim League was not very acative. Leaving aside the Awami League the only other active party was NAP(National Awami Party). The Communist Party was banned. Among the students’ political parties only the Students’ Union was active alongwith the Students League. The Students’ Union was split into two parts; one was the Menon Group known to be the followers of China(Peking panthy)and the other was known as Motia Group who were followers of the USSR (Moskow panthy).

    These two parties were more less active. On the question of establishing our rights, they had identical views as of Bangabandhu.

    In the 1970 elections the Awami League won a massive victory. But as the rulers of those days were not inclined to hand over power to the Awami League, the situation in the country became very hot. A fresh political movement started in the country. And then on Mar 7, 1971 Bangabandhu addressed a huge public meeting held on the Dhaka  Race Course and delivered a historic speech. In his address Bangabandhu urged the nation to face the enemy with whatever implements they can lay their hands on. He declared,’ this struggle is the struggle for independence this struggle is the struggle for freedom’. Those of us who were reasonably conscious and those who were educated and active politically could sense that a change in the country was imminent. After Bangabandhu’s speech, in different areas of Chuadanga committees were formed and volunteer corps were organized. We had very little knowledge about weapons, we thought a lathi (stick) was a big weapon. We thought we could drive out the Pakistani army from our soil with sticks. And then we learnt how to make bombs. We used to break electric bulbs and make bombs and test them. We thought if the Pakistani army really attacked us we would throw these bombs on them. Not only us, the common people also thought in similar lines like us. I remember the villagers were sharpening their scythes. He who had a spear sharpened it. To be frank,  none of us was aware of the ferocity of modern warfare. In a situation like this, the Pakistan army launched an all out attack on us.

    Q.   When did the Pak army attack Chuadanga?

    A.   I do not remember the exact date. Most likely on 16 or 17 April they attacked Chauadanga and captured the town. There is a place called  Bishoykhali near Jhinaidah town. Here a big battle was fought between the Pak army and a unit of local defenders. I also took part as an aide. Most likely on April 14 Bishoykhali fell to the enemy. After the fall of Bishoykhali the Pak army slowly advanced towards Chuadanga. In the mean time Pakistani war planes dropped bombs on Chuadanga twice causing extensive damage. Some people were killed and many homes were destroyed and damaged. After this air attack a large number of people left for India out of panic. Our family was somewhat large, so we couldn’t go to India. While I was inside Bangladesh I tried to contact my friends who had already left for India.

    Alaul Huq Khokon and Shaheed Abul Kashem were my friends. I had several other freedom fighter friends. But I was stuck up in a place from where there was no way to go to India. Later on I was arrested by Pak army and was ruthlessly treated by them.

    Q.   How did the Pak army arrest you?

    A.   I will have to answer this question in details. My elder brothers were doing business in Chaudanga since 1970-71. My father was also a businessman. After the Pak army captured Chuadanga our business was closed down. Later on when the situation became somewhat normal my father returned to Chuadanga. We had medicine business. When my father returned he found everything was gone. There was no medicine in the store. Just before the Pak army came to Chuadanga my father had hidden some medicine with which he started doing business again. We are four brothers. None of us had come back to Chuadanga town. We were still hiding in the village. I think at one time Pak army had received some report against us. In our area only we four brothers belonged to Students’ League. We were the better educated in the locality. There were also some non-Bengalis in our village. It was quite likely that they had reported against us to the army. I was also a music artiste. I could sing very well: specially those songs which give inspiration to the people. This is the reason the Biharis used to brand me as pro-Indian.

    In the beginning of May some police men came to our house and took my father to the police station. They asked my father how many sons he had. My father replied, “I have four sons.” Then they asked my father to produce all his sons to the thana (police station), or else he would have problems. My father then sent message to the village and three of my brothers presented themselves to the thana. I was away from home and no one could find me. Then the thana people told my father that if I could not be presented to them then my three brothers would be handed over to the military. Some of the Biharis also gave my father the same message. Then my father frantically started looking for me. I  was then staying in my elder sister’s house. No body knew this. I was then frantically trying to cross over to India.

    But I was not getting any one to help me. And then I was afraid of traveling alone because if the Pak army found a young man he was immediately taken into custody. A sense of fear was working in my mind. My father frantically looking for me everywhere finally came to my sisters house.

    It was the month of July. My father told me everything. Then he took me to Chuadanga town. Before this happened my father talked to the members of the peace committee of Chuadanga. They told my father, “Bring your son, there would be no problem.”

    The day after we reached Chuadanga my father took me to the thana. I found most of the policemen were non-Bengalis. A non-Bengali policeman kept me waiting. The officer-in-charge of the thana was a Bengali and there was another sub-inspector who was also a Bengali. I was kept in the hajat(thana prison). There were another 13/14 men in the hajat. I was kept in the hajat for about 28 days. There was no torture or repression on us. While I was in the hajat the  O.C. and the sub-inspector helped me in some ways. My food used to come from home everyday and I was allowed to have it although it was out of thana rule. But they let me take it secretly.

    On 28th day O.C. Mr Daud Hossain told me, “Keyamat, may be you will be released”. But later on I came to realize that it was just consolation. Pak army had a temporary camp near the present Chuadanga Hospital.  The Chudanga Sub-divisional hospital was not yet operational then. The O.C told me that I would have to shift to that camp. There was another boy with me in the hajat who was known to me. His name was Sentu; he was the younger brother of the F.F commander of Mongla port area. A few police men took Sentu and me in a rickshaw to this temporary camp. As soon as we reached the camp we were subjected to terrible torture. At the gate a sepoy started hitting us with the butt of his rifle. Then they took us to a place that I cannot recall to-day. Both of us were unconscious. When we came to some kind of sense we found ourselves in a small room. Sentu got a little less beating but they did not spare me. Sentu did a little bit of nursing to me and somehow I regained my senses. I felt there was pin-drop of silence all around. Then I could sense that I was brought to an army camp.

    As the sun went down, a sentry brought a small bucket full of water and some bread in a pot and pushed them towards us. We thought we were only two persons, what would we do with so much of bread! Then soon we sensed that we were not the only occupants of the room; there were so many others, their faces bore the clear marks of torture. The room was dark. We spoke to each other in a very low voice. There were 47 of them and with two of us we were 49 in total. They split each bread into two pieces. There was some spiced liquid in the bucket. We were told they got used it; we also joined them and shared the same food.

    Three or four days later an officer came to our cell who probably belonged to the Intelligence Branch. There was a Bihari fellow with him. I knew him. I was somewhat relieved. I thought since he was around I would get some help from him. The intelligence man made all of us sit alongside the walls of the room. Then he called rolls. When he was calling rolls he said to me, your name is Keyamat Ali, tum Keyamat Ali(in urdu). But he did not say anything to Sentu. Then again he said your name is Keyamat Ali, then in Urdu he said,” Toom gana gata hai, (You are a singer), all right you come here.” I did not say anything. Then he said, “Tom kitna Bihari…How many Biharis have you slaughtered? You are a Mukti (FF)”. I did not reply, I refrained from replying.

    The non-Bengali man who was with him was a member of the Razakar force. He was dressed in Razakar tunic; uniform of a commander. Razakars used to be dressed ordinary clothes. But those who were given status of a captain or commander had dress like those given to the Rakshi bahini after liberation, of dark brown color. I thought the intelligence fellow was giving him importance. Then this non-Bengali Razakar started interrogating me. I have said before that I knew him, he was like a friend. He asked me,” Keyamat, hen did ye come back from India?” I said,’ I did not go to India. Why ye(slang of you) are saying this?”

    He said he saw me at some place drinking water from a tube-well. He thought I was then returning from India with another fellow accompanying me. I told him why he was telling lies. I said,’ It is wrong for you to talk like this.”

    When I was talking like this the man from the intelligence branch slapped me very hard on my face. My ear became blocked with his slap. He said, ”Osko respect karo, …Show him respect.” “He is like a friend of mine,” I said, “I always talked to him like this. It has become my habit. How can I change now? ”The intelligence man gave me another slap, this time on my ear. Both my ears became def. Then he asked me where the muktijoddhas were camped, where I had taken training, what kind of training I had received etc. He said he would release me if I gave them the information. I said again that I did not go to India., I didn’t even know where the training was given. Then he asked the sentry outside the room to bring a lathi (a hard stick). The sentry brought a stick. It was a green branch of a tree. In front of me he took off the skin of the branch. I thought they were trying to scare me, may be they won’t beat me.

    But it is a matter of regret that the Razakar commander who was known to me was the first man to start beating me up. He was hitting me with all his strength. He first started hitting on my back and then he was indiscriminately beating all over my body. He was not least bothered where he was hitting me. I tried to save my face. When he became tired, the army intelligence man took off his belt and started hitting me with it and dragged me into another room. There were three rooms side by side, at the end of the hospital building, in a residential quarter. They took me into a room and told me to take off all my clothes.

    Q.   What about he others who were with you?

    A.   They ere watching. They were all sitting close to the wall and scared. Sentu was also watching. They took off all my clothes and started beating. In the beginning I was feeling pain but after some time my whole body became numb and I could not feel anything. I was only trying to protect my face. Then I noticed my whole body was bleeding and soon I lost my senses. I do not remember anything more. When I regained my senses I saw other prisoners all around me. There was no water there. It was rainy season . It rained everyday. The others stretched out their palms through the window, collected water and sprayed on my face, eyes and lips. When I regained sense I felt terrible pain all over my body. I could feel muscles around my buttocks and back had become spongy. I still bear those marks on my body left by the cruel treatment given to me by the Pakistanis. I couldn’t lie down. I couldn’t sleep through out the whole night. There were no pillows in the room. The floor was bare. The moment I tried to lie down I was feeling terrible pain all over my body. There were 5/6 others from Saratganj in the cell. They stretched out their legs throughout the whole night and I somehow  managed to sit on their legs.

    The following 3/4 days they didn’t torture me. I was very lucky. Within 3/4 days I was feeling better without any medication. I became well again. I had a yellowish Panjabi(like a shirt) on me made of khadi(course cotton) material. It turned almost black by soaking blood oozed from my wounds. It was torn at 2 or 3 places due to beating.

    After four days that very intelligence man came back. He said, how are you? I said , I am well. Then he said,” Tom cigarette peeta.., Do you smoke cigarette?” I said, I don’t smoke cigarette. But he gave me a cigarette. Out of fear I accepted it and he lit it. After the very first pull I felt like coughing and then he gave me a hard blow with his fist. I fell down. He then stood on my neck with his boots on. The entire weight of his body was on my neck. I felt my entire tongue would come out and that would be the end of me. But I survived. And then he shifted his boot from my neck onto my jaw. I still had my sense. Then he took me to the next room. Then he made me undress and then again he took out his belt and started beating me with it and asking me repeatedly what sort of training I had taken and who else were with me and what were their names. He also wanted to know where were they last stationed. I simply replied that I did not know anything. In fact I did not know anything he was asking for. And even If I knew I would not have disclosed it to him.

    When he got tired of beating me with his belt he called the sentry. After the sentry came he was asked to bring some rope. The sentry came back with a piece of rope. I was then lying on the floor with my face up. Then the two of them tied my legs with the rope and tied the other end with the ceiling fan. My head was still touching the ground. At one stage they pulled my head a little  above the ground. I was hanging then. I was feeling as if all my blood would drip out through my mouth, nose and ears. In that state they whipped me for quite some time. After two vicious strokes I felt as if my whole body was in fire. In a little while I lost my senses. When I regained my senses I was lying on the floor. Then there was a respite for two three days.

    After I was taken to this camp I saw every day 2/3 new prisoners were arriving. And every day some of the prisoners were shifted elsewhere. Where they were taken and for what, I had no clue. Everyday in the evening after food was served, about an hour or 50 minutes later, 4 army men would come and 3/4 of the prisoners would be called out by their names and escorted out of the prison. I never saw them again. Most likely they were killed because almost every day in the morning the sentries talked of 3 men have been khatammed(killed) yesterday or four men…etc. ”You will also be finished,” the sentries used to tell us. At the end we found out that many of these unfortunate men killed by the Pakistanis were victims of village dispute. Those who were high on their list of suspects, they were also killed within a short time. Seeing these I used to ask Allah almost everyday when my turn would come. I wished my own death in my own mind. I also thought of the heaven and hell. Since I did not commit any sin I thought if I died I would go to heaven; I tried to console myself. Because it was not possible for any man to suffer that kind of torture day in day out. I thought surely death would come, “to-day or tomorrow” (expressed by the interviewee in English). So at that moment I accepted death as inevitable, and thought how soon would it come. I used to pray to Allah to hasten my death. The truth is, after all these I didn’t die.

    Q.   When did this feeling come to your mind?

    A.   The first day when the Pakistan Army tortured me, I didn’t feel like this. On the second day when they tortured me again this feeling started growing stronger inside me with each passing day. When they did it again for the third time, I begged of them to spare me. I said, shoot me down. I don’t remember anything more. They used to laugh aloud (as if it was a big joke). With a gap of 3 or 4 days they tortured me for 7/8 times. And then there was a respite of 8/10 days. They did not torture me during this period.

    Q.  What happened then?

    A.   After this respite one day they called my name. It was perhaps the middle of September. They called the names of five of us. Four Pak soldiers came with rope. My name was at serial five. I was sitting in the corner of the room. Those whose names were called were blind folded and their hands were tied. After they did this to four of us there was no more rope left for me. I was wearing a lungi(sarong) and a torn panjabi(like a shirt) which was not in a condition that they could use it as a substitute for rope. Then one of them said that he would take me (to the destination) a little later. Then they left with the four leaving me behind. When they left I told the others in the room that my name was on the list and I was so happy because to-day I would go to Allah. All of you please pray for me. All these days we were together. You have helped me a lot. Some of them broke down into sobbing. They knew they wouldn’t return. I was standing near the door for quite a while, no Pak soldier came. How long could I keep on standing. The room was locked. I sat down beside the door. I do not know how long I was there because tired of waiting I fell asleep. When I woke up it was morning but they did not come to take me away. I did not know why they didn’t come.

    There used to be 4/5 sentries beside our room. I thought the environment that day was somewhat lull. There were only 2 sentries around. When the sun was creeping up in the sky I called one of them. By this time I had built up good relations with the sentries because I could speak a little bit of Urdu and Hindi. They did not understand even a  word of Bengali.

    They used to feel happy if some one spoke Urdu or Hindi with them. So they used to talk with me once in a while from a little distance. There were also some Sindhis and Baluchis among the sentries along with the Punjabis. The Sindhis and Baluchis were somewhat better.

    Some of them used to like talking. They had so much of hatred for us; even then they used to talk with us. The sentry I had called said to me, “Ali bhai, there is very bad news.”. I said ”Keya bat.., what is the matter?”. He said that all the army troops who were stationed around had gone to the border. He also said in Urdu that there was a very big battle around Darshana the night before. There was a lot of damage. Then I sensed that many of the Pak soldiers must have died in the battle. That is why there was a lull around the prison area. The sentry also said that we would have no food that day. Really we didn’t get any food. Within the next few days the situation in the prison became somewhat bearable. From then on there were no torture sessions like before.

    Dr.A.M. Malik of Chuadanga, of our home town, was the Governor of East Pakistan at the time. The Govt. of Pakistan declared general amnesty. I think it was said in the announcement that the prisoners may be released using discretion. From then on prisoners were released from our camp in ones and twos. At the end 22 of us, including Sentu, still remained un-released. One day the Park army took us to another building blindfolded and our hands tied behind our back. It was 8’clock in the morning. We were allowed to sit down. They took off the piece of cloth from over our eyes. We were all sitting down in a line. With a long piece of rope our hands were still down behind our back.(so that we couldn’t run away). They were taking  3/4 of us by installments into a room and the rest of us were looking on. We found after a few minutes that every one was released. Those who were released were giving full throated slogan “Pakistan Zindabad”,  and then they walked away. My heart was filled with the hope that may be they would also release me. And then in seconds I remembered my mother, my father and brothers. I thought after all these days I would be going home. After all the tort-tures and cruelty that I suffered I had almost forgotten them. I thought, so I would be going home soon. It was also not possible for them to enquire about me.

    Anyway, after some time I was called in and I entered the room. It would be about 3 p.m. Two army officers were sitting on chairs. I thought both were colonels. Four of us entered together. After we entered they opened our files and were going through them. They asked me what was my name. I replied that my name was Keyamat Ali. I think one of the colonels was from Meherpur. He shouted, “What is written here, you see? ”His face suddenly turned grave. Then Capt. Ansari looked into the papers. Without uttering a word he took hold of my hand and started walking away. Then one of the colonels said, “Stop, wait”. Then they talked among themselves. I thought I was not to be still alive, why was I not dead? A little later I don’t know why one of the colonels looked at my eyes with a fixed stare. Once he was looking at me and the next moment he was looking at the file. Then he discussed something with the colonel who had come from Meherpur. The other colonel was simply nodding his head. It meant he was simply disagreeing. Then I thought there was something “negative”. At first I thought the colonel from Chuadanga was trying to save me. But that didn’t happen. I was then taken out of the room and was kept standing on the verandah. There was a sentry around on duty.

    There were a large number of Pakistani soldiers all around. I thought all those men must be thinking that I was the only culprit in the group. This was another problem for me. Some of the soldiers were kicking me, some hit me with rifle butts, some slapped me on my face, others gave me blows as if a bunch of kids were throwing brick bats at a monkey. I was standing quietly without any reaction. The sentry who was on duty at the spot was a good man. He was the one who used to be on sentry duty around the room where we were locked. We some times spoke to each other and I had a good relation with him. He told the soldiers, ”Why are you beating him? Don’t “disturb” him. Colonel saab will speak to him later on, that is why he has been asked to wait here”. His words worked, they stopped beating me.

    It was already four o’clock. Both the colonels were walking away. Then the sentry told me, “Why don’t you tell the colonel sahib to let you free?” .Then I thought, let me try. So I went up to them and said, ”Excuse me Sir,” hearing my voice they turned their faces  towards me, and I continued in broken Urdu and English, “Sir, you let all of them free but you have not freed me”. Then one of them turned around and  said that there would be another investigation on me and if the report was good I would be released. Then I said, I was confined for such along time, so much of torture I suffered. It is better you kill me. “Please pass an order to kill me”, I said. Then the colonel from Chuadanga said in Urdu, to the other colonel, “ Mujhe risk le.. I am releasing him at my own risk”. Then the other colonel said, Ok, thik hai”. Then I felt like dancing. I thought finally I got free. Then the colonel called the captain and told him,”Take a bond from Keyamat and call the Chairman, Peace Committee.

    Dr. Mofizuddin was the Chairman of the local Peace Committee. When he was called he came running. I was then seated in front of Capt Ansari’s office. Capt. Ansari was not in the room. Dr. Mofizzuddin was also in front of his room. His son was a friend of mine. He knew me very well. Capt. Ansari told Dr. Mofizuddin that they were releasing me under his responsibility  “You have to take his responsibility”, Capt. Ansari said. When Cpt. Ansari said this Dr. Mofizuddin immediately reacted, “No,No Orey baba (Oh my father) No no. I cannot take his responsibility. He has contacts with Mukti- joddhas and as soon as he gets released he will go to India tomorrow. You are releasing him”. Capt. Ansari  replied, ”It is not my order, It is the order of the colonel. You will have to take his responsibility”, he repeated. After he heard this Dr. Mofiz kept quiet. A little later the colonel returned to his office and asked if the bond was taken. Capt. Ansari replied that Dr. Mofiz was unwilling to take the risk. “Why shouldn’t he?”, the colonel asked. Dr. Mofiz was unable to speak in front of the colonel. He was simply muttering sir, yes sir etc, like a cat behaves in front of his master. A little later he said, alright I am taking the responsibility, but he will have to present himself to the thana(police station) everyday. The O.C of the thana will have to take the responsibility. The OC was called and a bond was taken from me and I was released. When they released me I had the same panjabi on me, full blood and pus stains. It was torn everywhere and was in a wretched condition. The lungi was even in a worse state. I could hardly walk out with these clothes on me. I walked to my home. No one thought I was alive. They had taken for granted that the Pak army had killed me.

    Q.   What kind of a bond did you sign?

    A.   The bond was written in English. It said that I wouldn’t go out of Chuadanga. This was the first condition. Another condition was that every day I would present myself to the thana twice, once in the morning and again in the evening.

    Q.   During your captivity in the torture cell, how many arrestees in total were brought there?

    A.   Well, the number will be around 170/180, no less.

    Q.   What did you do after you were released?

    A.   I used to report myself to the thana everyday. Daud Sahib was still the O.C. of the thana. There was another officer, a sub-inspector. I had to report to him. One day in the evening O.C Mr. Daud told me that he was called to the office of the Captain and he didn’t know if we would  meet again. The O.C and the sub-inspector went to meet the captain, but they never returned. Later on their dead bodies in uniform were found behind the hospital building after the country became independent.

    Q.   What else did the Pak soldiers do in your area?

    A.   Chuadanga town was almost completely destroyed. Our home was completely burnt down. About 60 to 70 percent buildings, business offices, shops, roads, bridges, culverts etc of Chuadanga were destroyed by the Pakistan army.

    Q.   Did any one of your family become Shaheed?

    A.   An in-law of ours through my sister was killed by the Pakistan army.

    Q.   When did the activities of the Muktibahini begin at Chuadanga?

    A.   Mainly it started in October when in every locality the muktibahini members started going around and then gradually their activities were intensified. Then a planned attack was made on a petrol-pump. I had advance knowledge about this operation. Then slowly their activities were gathering momentum.

    Q.   What was the people’s perception like about their activities?

    A.   The people in general felt that the country must be liberated. No one was in peace then. People were ready to do everything that would be needed to free the country. Those who could not directly take part in the war, helped the freedom fighters as best as they could. So did our village folk.

    Q.   Who were the peace-committee members in your area?

    A.   I do not remember all of their names now. It happened a long time ago. Dr. Mofizuddin was the chairman of the peace-committee. Noazesh Ukil was a member of Dr. Malik (Governor) cabinet. Then there was another fellow named Shahadat Kanthal. They were Bengalis. Besides them, there were a lot of non-Bengalis associated with the peace-committees. And in every locality, all those who were Muslim Leaguers, assisted the peace-committees.

    Q.   Where are these anti-independence elements now?

    A.   I have no knowledge abut them.

    Q.   Were the anti-liberation elements arrested after liberation?

    A.   No. When they realized that the country was about to be liberated, they disappeared. They could not be traced. Years later some information about a few of them came trickling down.

    Q.   What was the condition of Chuadanga immediately after liberation?

    A.   One incident often comes to my mind very often. There was a cloth store owned by an Aggarwala(One belonging to business community) in a big building in Chuadanga in those days. That building was bombed. The entire middle part of the building was blown away. It became a long room. A non-Bengali man occupied the building and had opened a hotel. In the beginning there was not too much of destruction. When the Pak army was withdrawing from Chuadanga, that was the time Pak army carried out most of its destructive activities. First they entered homes and did looting and then set fire to homes and hearths. They had burnt down over sixty percent of homesteads in Chuadanga. They had set fire to the arms and ammunition they had in stock. They burnt down petrol pumps. In short, they destroyed every bit of important areas.

    Q.   What did you do when the war finally ended?

    A.   I was a student to start with. I again returned to my student life. I got back some friends, some were lost. It was a different feeling then; the joy of freedom, the joy of independence.

    Interviewer:  Rajeev Ahmed

    Date of Interview:  October 26, 1997

    Translator:  Faruq Aziz Khan

    Posted on November 13, 2015Categories Eye Witness Account

    Md. Yunus Ali Inu

    Name:  Md. Yunus Ali Inu

    Father’s Name:  Mohammad Yakub Ali

    Villag: Pabla,  P.O. Daulatpur, P.S. Daulatpur

    Dt. Khulna

    Education: B.A.

    Age in 1971: 29yrs

    Occupation  in 1971: Politics

    Present Occupation:  Politics

    Q.  What do you know about 1970 General Elections and the subsequent events?

    A.  I have to go back some years before if I have to talk about the 1970 elections. I passed the B.A examinations in 1967. After I joined student’s politics in 1960 I gradually got involved deeply in active students’ politics and in 1966-67 I became the General Secretary of the District Students’ League of Khulna district. I became directly involved in the Six Point movement of Awami League in Khulna under the leadership of Bangabandhu. The elections of 1970 didn’t happen so suddenly. In order to achieve this many of us had to sacrifice their lives. We had to pay for it with a lot of blood.

    In the 24 yrs of Pakistan’s existence as an independent nation, most the time the country was ruled by its army. The ruling clique of Pakistan not only showed a step-motherly attitude towards East Pakistan but also carried out repression and gross injustice throughout out the entire period. There was partiality and discrimination in all matters.

    Awami League’s 6 point movement was mainly to establish Bangali Nationalism and a separate State for Bangalis ensuring full independence. In any country a movement for separate nationality eventually turns into an independence movement. Bangladesh was not an exception. In 1966 the 6 point movement led by Bangabandhu Sh. Mujibur Rahman was for a separate nationality of the Bangalis. It ended with the independence of Bangladesh.

    In the year 1966 here in Khulna in a rally held on April 17 Bangabandhu first started his campaign for realization of his 6 point demand. I was then the General Secretary of the Khulna District Students’ League. On his arrival at Khulna in the morning we gave him a reception at the Dak Bungalow of Khulna. After this reception about 50 or 60 of us took him in a procession to the residence of the late Imadullah. It is in this house arrangements were made for Bangabandhu’s stay in Khulna. After lunch while he was resting we stayed with him till he left for the public meeting. At that time I told him that when he would raise the demand for 6 points there would be a big commotion throughout the country and the Pakistani rulers would react against this demand. They would try to find elements of sedition in this demand and Awami Leaguers may face government repression and they may be arrested, and if this should happen how we would make our movement successful. He said, he had also thought of this possibility and had taken into account all the pros and cons before arriving at the decision to present this option in front of the nation. He said all the Awami League leaders and workers might face imprisonment, many of them might be killed. “If all of us were taken to jail, this movement for 6 points will still continue”, he said, “ I have taken everything into consideration before launching this movement.” We couldn’t fully appreciate then the inner meaning of his

    statement and never could think then that in course of time the 6 point demand would be so vigorous.

    Soon after this declaration a warrant of arrest was issued against Bangabandhu and some of us. We managed to send him to Jessore with great difficulty including changing cars on the way to avoid arrest.

    But he was arrested when he reached Jessore. Somehow he got released next day and held a meeting in Jessore and then on the way to Dhaka he was arrested again in Kushtia. In this way in the next 17 days he was arrested 13 times, the last one was in Naryanganj. Since then he was not released before Feb 22, 1969. On June 7, 1966  a countrywide hartal was observed for his release. On that day 6 or 7 people were shot and killed in police firing including Manu Mia (Awami activist). Soon after a fake charge of sedition was brought by the Pakistan Government against Bangabandhu which came to be known as the Agartala Conspiracy case.

    Let me describe the incidents that happened in Khulna on that day. We had planned to bring out a procession in protest but didn’t get a single Awami League leader to take part in the procession. Only 10/11 persons including Ali Taher, Kamruzzaman, Mohd.Yunus Ali, Monwar Hossain, Monranjan, Feroz Noon and I, and few others took out a small procession from Hadis Park of Khulna. As soon as the procession reached the crossing near the park, police forces surrounded us from all sides and arrested almost all of us. We were taken to the Thana (police station) and interrogated throughout the night. However, next day we were granted bail by the court and were released. This is the reason why people were scared to participate in processions in those days.

    When the whole country was agitating against the Agartala Conspiracy case against Bangabandhu the people of Khulna were not far behind. In those days almost every day there were processions and meetings. In this situation on Feb 21, 1969 the students gheraoed(laid a siege) around the residence of the sub-divisional officer (SDO) to hand over to him a memorandum. The police opened fire on them killing three students, Hadis, Pradeep and Altaf. As a consequence two other activists were killed by police firing in Daulatpur of Khulna District. The Khulna shootings triggered a country-wide unrest and the situation went out of control of the then rulers. We are proud that the events of Khulna and the sacrifice we made here forced the government to release Bangabandhu, the accused in the Agartala Conspiracy

    case, from Dhaka Jail the very next day.

    Freed from Dhaka jail on Feb 22, 1969, Bangabandhu participated in the round-table conference. Bangabandhu was adamant about his 6 point demand and the conference failed and in the face of a mass uprising throughout the country President Field Marshall Ayub Khan resigned and handed over power to the Army Chief of Staff Gen.Yahya Khan. In order to bring back normalcy in the country Yahya Khan announced that general elections would be held. In Dec 1970 the general elections were held in Pakistan.

    Bangabandhu conducted a very intense election campaign throughout the country and he also visited Khulna. Personally I accompanied Bangabandhu during his election tour of Satkhira, Bagerhat, and some parts of Jessore. During the campaign, lasting about 3 days, I noticed that when the rest of us were exhausted of the pressure of work, Bangabandhu was not tired at all. We have seen that our present leaders lack the farsightedness that a politician should possess. Bangabandhu had that farsightedness of a political leader that is rarely seen. He had an election program in Khulna. According to the program he was to hold a meeting in Khulna and

    the following day he would proceed to Mongla via Baithaghata and hold a meeting there at 3 p.m.  After this meeting he would proceed to Paikgacha via Khulna and address another public meeting at Paikgacha in Satkhira in the evening.

    On that day as usual at around 8 am Bangabandhu left Khulna rest house by a launch(small steamer). We accompanied him. But we were late in reaching  Mongla; at around 5 in the afternoon we reached the venue of the meeting because on the way Bangabandhu had to address several unscheduled public meetings. On the way we noticed that every half a mile or so there were thousands of people who gathered on both sides of the river to have a glimpse of Bangabandhu and greet him. In those days people were crazy to see him or listen to him. Even old people gathered on the banks of the river. Seeing this sight Bangabandhu stopped many a times to get down from the launch and met the people and talked to them. At several places he held unscheduled meetings. This is the reason why we were late in reaching Mongla. After the Mongla meeting we sailed for Paikgacha and reached our destination at around 11 pm. Here the candidate for National Assembly was the late Abdul Gafoor Sahib and the candidate for the Provincial Assembly was another politician of Khulna Advocate Mominuddin Ahmed. When we reached our destination we saw both of them and a few others waiting for us beside the dais with a lit petromax. When Bangabandhu waded through mud and water of the

    river bank to get to the dais it would be around 11 or 11:15 pm. People who had gathered to hear Bangabandhu had left, only about 20 men including the two candidates were still waiting. When we reached the spot everyone started crying loudly. They said about one lakh people had gathered and they waited till about 10 pm but they couldn’t be kept waiting any longer and they left disappointed. Many had come from distant places, 8/9 miles away. “They thought we are liars”, they said. They even said that it would be wrong to think that Awami League would do well in the elections here. Bangabandhu coolly replied that he had full confidence in the people of the country, “You will win” .He explained why he was delayed on the way and he said, “If I hold any public meeting ever the first one would be here in Paikgacha”. Bangabandhu kept his words. He held the next meeting in Paikgacha.

    Finally the elections were held and Awami League won in167 out 169 seats of the National Assembly. They lost in two seats, one in Chittagong Hill Tracts taken by Tridiv Roy and in the other constituency of Mymensingh, Nurul Amin won. As majority party in the National Assembly, Awami League requested President Yahya Khan to convene the opening session. Yahya Khan was vacillating but then he finally agreed and called the session and fixed the date on Mar 3, 1971 and then on March1, he cancelled the session. And then the whole country was ablaze creating a serious situation and it became quite clear that Yahya Khan and the West

    Pakistani rulers and politicians didn’t want power to be transferred to the East Pakistan politicians. The ruling clique of Pakistan didn’t think that Awami League would get so many seats in the National Assembly. It was an unbelievable reality to them. So they started a conspiracy which led again to a movement in the country (the then East Pakistan) against these actions.

    We then realized that without mass movement or struggle, the Pakistanis under no circumstances  will allow the Awami League to assume power. We would have to assume power through movement and struggle. We didn’t think of a war then.  Some of us had thought about it but the idea didn’t surface so openly. In fact we never could believe that we would have to fight a war. I recall one of our student leaders Abdur Razzak once called a few of us in Shahinoor Hotel and while discussing the overall situation warned us that we might have to fight a war for power and in that case we would have to be prepared to make sacrifice. He said we should be

    mentally prepared for such an eventuality. But he never said that a war was inevitable. We hoped ultimately the power would be transferred to us. Although some of our political leaders had secret desire in their minds to become independent, they never talked about it openly. Besides we did not have enough experience in politics to understand what was really going to happen. I have already said that when a nationalist movement starts, it ends in independence. I am saying this to-day from my political maturity that I have achieved now. Immediately after Yahya Khan cancelled the National Assembly session, meetings, rallies and

    processions became all too frequent.

    From the beginning of Mar 1971, there were many meetings, processions and demonstrations in and around Khulna, Daulatpur and Khalishpur. I had the opportunity of attending many of them. People in thousands attended these meetings without much publicity. In many places police, EPR and army opened fire but the people’s movement continued unabated. They thought the only way to force the Pakistan Govt to transfer power to the people’s representatives was to carry on movement. In a situation like this Bangabandhu delivered his historic speech on Mar 7 in the Dhaka Race Course Maidan(ground) in the presence of almost a million people which

    inspired the Banagalis to face the grave situation that was fast developing.

    Q.  Did you hear the Mar 7, 1971 speech of Bangabandhu? What did he say in his speech.?

    A.  I was in Dhaka on that day. I had gone to Dhaka only to hear his speech. Late Zahidul Islam, a student leader of Khulna was also with me. We stayed at the Hasina hotel of Bakshibazar. We had early lunch as the hotel workers, some of them not older than 12 yrs, had planned to attend the Race Course rally of Bangabandhu. The crowd was so large that we couldn’t go beyond Roquyea Hall, the girl students’ hostel of the Dhaka University.

    Bangabandhu’s speech of Mar 7 was incomparable, it will remain as a rare historic document in the annals of history of this land. “This struggle is the struggle for independence, this struggle is the struggle for freedom”, he declared in such clear language.

    Two days later we returned to Khulna. There were hardly any means of transportation. With great difficulty we returned to Khulna by launch (steamer). Returning to Khulna we devoted ourselves wholeheartedly to organize public support in favor of our movement with the help of such local leaders as Sh. Abdul Aziz, Salahuddin Yusuf, Mominuddin, Enayet Ali and some others. We organized “War Council” in every locality and on 23 rd Mar we for the first time hoisted the flag of independent Bangladesh. The same flag was hoisted everywhere in the country as it was done  in the entire Khulna  region. In front of a huge gathering on the Daulatpur

    B.L. College ground I hoisted the flag of independent Bangladesh. In some houses and office buildings also the same flag was hoisted. A large number of people of adjacent areas came to the rally armed with sticks and batons. We noticed there was a great enthusiasm among the people to see the new Bangladesh flag for the first time.

    In every area a “Sangram Parishad” (War Council) was formed to maintain liaison with the central leadership of Awami League and to receive instructions from them and act accordingly. In several places of Khulna volunteer corps were raised who were armed with sticks and simple weapons. The responsibility of raising these volunteers was given to a student of B.L College named Badsha who later became a police officer. Similarly in other areas also such corps were raised. The factory workers of this area  also raised similar volunteer corps. In thosedays this area was inhabited by a large number of Biharis and also quite a few West Pakistanis,

    mostly Punjabis. These people were against us. We had to maintain a close watch on them.

    Q.  Did you hear anything about the attack by the Pakistan Army on Mar 25, 1971, or had any knowledge about it?

    A.  In the night of Mar 25, at around 11 pm a political leader received a telephone call from a man telling him that the army had come out on the streets of Dhaka in tanks and armored vehicles. We received this news that very night. It created a kind of panic amongst us. In the morning we got more news from overseas radio stations. We heard that the Pakistan army had attacked student residences of Dhaka University, Rajarbagh Police Lines and the East Pakistan Rifles (EPR) headquarters at Peelkhana(Dhaka) and many other places. We also got the news that they had indiscriminately slaughtered hundreds of Bangalis. We immediately realized that the Pakistan Army may also attack Khulna. We then tried hard to organize ourselves to meet the threat.

    Q.  When did the Pakistan Army attack Khulna?

    A.  Most probably on Mar 28 some army units from Jessore Cantonment drove to Khulna. Even before that some army units were guarding the State Bank of Pakistan and the Khulna Radio Station  studios. Getting the news of the movement of the army towards Khulna the members of the volunteer corps organized earlier tried to stop the army. Ashikur Rahman, a resident of Khulna, was a retired captain of the Pakistan Army. I knew him. After the army assault on Dhaka I contacted him. There were some other retired army personnel in Khulna town. We organized them with the help of Mr. Rahman. Then the police personnel also joined us and so also the Ansars(A Paramilitary Force). I was in Khulna town when the Pak Army attacked Khulna. I went to Daulatpur after sundown. I had no way of moving around during the day time hours. When I was in Khulna I got the news that the army was advancing towards Khulna. They had not reached Daulatpur then. Daulatpur was on the way to Khulna. They received resistance for the first time at Fultala on the way to Khulna. Next day they again met resistance at Daulatpur. Four or five convoys reached Daulatpur. As soon as they reached Daulatpur they entered several areas of the town. We then tried to resist them at several points. We had collected all the firearms which the local people of the area in and around Daulatpur had possessed. We had distributed these arms to those members of the Ansar command who knew how to use firearms. A man named Hadi was the first person to open fire on the Pak Army when they entered Daulatpur town. Hadi was a student of the B.L. College. Hadi took position in a lane and opened fire when the Pak Army convoy was moving on the main road. A Pakistani soldier was hit by the bullet and fell down. We thought he died but later on we came to know that he was wounded. As soon as Hadi fired his first shot, the army jwans jumped down from the vehicles and started firing in all directions. At one stage they picked up their wounded comrade and started to flee when we chased them. Suddenly one of our comrades whose name was Shyamapada received a bullet wound and died. His death unnerved the others and they started to flee in all directions when the Pak soldiers opened indiscriminate fire in all directions and entered Khulna town. Once they occupied Khulna town they set up camps in different areas and launched attacks on other areas from these camps. They attacked one Siddiq Munshi’s house and killed 16-17 people.

    When Pakistan Army’s activities increased in Khulna we crossed the river and camped in a school building. Once we reached there we planned to attack the Khulna Radio Station. We had the chief of  Khulna voluntary corps Kamruzzaman Tuku with us. On the instructions of the then M.P.A(Member Parliamentary Assembly) Sheikh Abdur Rahman another local resistance group joined us. This group was mainly composed of former members of the EPR, ex-soldiers and Ansars. Major Jalil took the responsibility of invading the Radio Station. He was then camped at Fakirhat. When we came to know that a Bangali army major had arrived there, we as leaders of the students and youth fronts contacted him. Thousands of students and young men had already arrived and joined hands with us to fight against the Pakistanis. But there were few amongst them with training of some kind. Major Jalil’s contingent had some men with previous experience. Some of them were from the army and others from police corps and Ansars  We had also collected some trained men. For the invasion of the Radio Station we managed to gather about 2-3 hundred trained men  I was also with them as a volunteer.

    According to the battle plans those of us without training would be responsible for supplying food, equipment etc and those with training would do the fighting. In the first week of April we attacked the Khulna Radio Station but we lost the battle. In this operation several soldiers including subedar Zainal Abedin died and quite a few were wounded. We realized that with our limited strength and training it was not possible to fight with the Pakistan army and we wouldn’t survive too long. We therefore decided to go to India, our only neighbor for help. With this possibility in mind we crossed over to India on April 9 through the Hakimpur border. Late Gafur

    bhai, MNA from Paikgachaha had already gone to India and with the help of his friend Nanda Babu and some others had opened a camp near the Bhomra border. He had with him some student leaders of Satkhira, 13 EPR jawans and several ex-Pakistan navy men. When I came to know about it, I went to Ghafur bhai’s camp. One Ayub of Patjohra was the commander of the EPR force. He was with the Signal Corps of the EPR.

    At the time there were several like me in this camp without training. It was Ayub who gave us some rudimentary training. During the training period we carried out some minor military operations on the enemy. We used to come from our training camp and carry out those operations.

    Till then Satkhira was free and the SDO (Sub-divisional Officer) of Satkhira was a non-Bengali officer. If I remember correctly, we went to Satkhira via Mahmoodpur on April 13, arrested the SDO and brought him to India. Later on we handed him over to BSF and the BSF kept him in Bashirhat jail. Next day April 14 we looted the Satkhira treasury and took away 76 rifles and the very next day looted the National Bank and took away 17.2 million taka and quite a bit of gold and then returned to India. All the 13 EPR men were with us. I only remember the name of Ayub. I do remember some of the names of others who were with us on this expedition. S.M.Babar Ali, Abduls Salam Mondol, and Moyna took part in this action. Moyna is currently the organizing secretary of Satkhira Awami Leaue. One Kamrul was also there; I think he is now with BNP. There was also one Mustafiz who is now with JSD(Jatiya Samajtrantik Dal). I think there was another fellow named Kamrul who is working in Janakantha (a National Daily News Paper of Bangladesh). On April 15 we made six trips on a Jeep to transfer the money. We didn’t take any

    bank notes less than Tk10/ denomination and the total amount was Tk.17.2 million. The left amount comprising  of 5 Tk notes and coins were looted by some unknown people. In a situation like this the Pak bahini entered Satkhira. As soon as they arrived they opened fire on the looters. A large number of people died on the spot. On reaching Satkhira the Pakistan army set up their camp near the Mahmoodpur bridge four miles away from Bhomra. We were at Bhomra when the Pak bahini set up their camp at Mahmoodpur.

    We stayed in the EPR camp and the EPR skillfully used to send us on various types of night duty across the border inside Bangladesh and they themselves used to stay in full security within the Indian border. There was a road near the camp which was very important for various reasons.  The Pak army hadn’t yet set up their camp near this road. They used to come on routine patrol duty once or twice a day and then go back. The EPR men used to send us on duty around this road at night We were told that the Pak army usually didn’t come out at night on this road. If they came they would come during the day, not at night. And even if they came, the BSF and the EPR were behind us. We had nothing to fear. We took their words in good faith and did our assigned duty. One day at around 8.00 in the morning ASM Babar Ali, I and some others were taking a dip into a pond by the side this road close to the border when suddenly some Pak soldiers attacked us from all three sides. I just cannot describe how we managed to save our lives. When this happened thousands of people ran for life in any direction they could. They were rushing across a small canal the other side of which was Indian territory. In this terribly frightening  moment babies fell down from their mothers’ hold, no one looked at any one, they

    were just running for their own lives. After running for 3 or 4 miles non-stop Babar Ali and I reached the Indian border and saved our lives. Then we went to Bhomra and found 2 EPR men dead. Those of us with rifles, left their weapons behind. A lot of people were killed in that action. Next day we were told that our camp had to be wound up. Then Mr. Gafur rented a house in Bashirhat (India) on his own. Some of us and the EPR members took shelter in that house. We also found shelter in the same area not far from one another. We maintained our contact with Mr.Gafur. A few days later all of a sudden Maj. Abu Osman Chowdhury came with Capt. Salahuddin and Capt Mahbub and took away the EPR men with them. A little later they also took us to a camp at Taki. After staying there for a couple of days we took shelter in the residence of Moulana Akram Khan at Hakimpur. The day after we went to the residence of the station master and later the two of us went to Calcutta. On reaching Calcutta we tried to locate our leaders and find out what they were doing and what was going on about our mission. One day suddenly we came across Shahjahan Siraj who was the general secretary of the Central Students’ League. Although he was older than me he treated me with respect and gave me an address and asked me to go there . If I remember correctly, I went to this place the very next day along with Babar Ali. We found quite a few known face. Before this happened I had been to the MP’s hostel and the Bangladesh Embassy but didn’t find anyone I knew. From some inmates of this house we came to know that Sh. Moni, Abdur Razzak, Sirajul Alam Khan, Tofael Ahmed and some senior student and youth leaders were residing in that house. They had also set up a centre for temporary shelter in that house. It was a five storied building which, we later on came to know, belonged to Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy (a former chief minister of West Bengal and a very eminent physician). In the beginning of the month of May both of us shifted ourselves to this camp. Later on a few others

    from Khulna joined us.

    A few days later something happened. One day Razzakbhai took all of us from Khulna to a place about which he didn’t tell us anything before we left the house. We  started moving towards north and reached the railway station. We still did not know where we were heading for. When we reached the station a few unknown persons accompanied us a to a train boggy and made seating arrangements for us. A little later the train steamed off and we got down at a station named “Bishra”. All the passengers left the train and so also the train. Even then Razzakbhai didn’t tell us where we were going. He simply said that he would show us something(interesting). We were sipping tea when two unknown persons approached us and said,” let’s go” We had no clew how these contacts were made. It was a bit of a mystery to us. Then they took all of us across the rail track to an “Asram” (hermitage), named “Bishra Shivasram” , built over a few acres of land. A few

    people had gathered there to welcome us. They extended a very cordial welcome to us and guided us inside and then we were entertained with a very delicious lunch. A few minutes of rest and then in the after noon a man came to accompany us to meet one of their leaders and have tea with him. He did not disclose the name of the leader. Then we saw an old lady about 85 or 86 years old helped by a few nurses came to greet us. She raised her hands and greeted us and said, “My name

    is Ananta Sen, I was an associate of Masterda Shurja Sen in the Chittagong Armory raid case (during the British period). Later on I was caught and sentenced to imprisonment  for life on an island (and sent to Andaman)”.When we heard her name we were extremely excited and thrilled. “ I heard your name, to-day I am lucky to see you”, I spoke to myself.

    She spoke to us. She said that they had failed in the battle against the British. “We couldn’t win because of the agents of the British in this country. We had also made mistakes. Many of us had little experience but you do not have that problem. But you have to be careful about the agents of the enemy and traitors. If some of us can see an independent Bangladesh before we die, it will be a great consolation to us. I wish you all success.” She gave us encouragement. With great pains at heart I am talking about this incident. India did not earn independence through armed struggle. Even then an armed revolutionary group was formed who were active to expel the British  Raj from the soil of India. They were only a few in number. Even then they were called “Suryasantan”, (Children of Sun) or the revolutionaries. After India became independent they were taken care of in Asrams where nurses looked after them. And yet in Bangladesh those who fought and laid down

    their lives didn’t even get recognition for their sacrifice. This is what pains me and that is why I recall this incident.

    Returning from Bishra we spent a few days in Dr.Bidhanchandra Roy’s house in Calcutta. The Head Office of the BSF was in Bhawanipore of Calcutta. It was a seven storied building .In this office building Tofael Ahmed, Sheikh Fazlul Huq Moni, Shirajul Alam Khan, Abdur Razzak and such others had a meeting place. We used to be in touch with them at this address. One day our respective duties were distributed from this office. Myself and Kamruzzaman Tutu were given the duty to recruit boys from Khulna and send them for training. Those who were recruited into the BLF (Bengal Liberation Front) or Mujib Bahini were sent to some place in Jalpaiguri for training. I had to take the recruits from Khulna to that place. From this place later on they were sent to two different places. Those who were comparatively senior were sent to Dehradun in the Andhra province for leadership and  military training. The others were sent to Chakulia in Bihar province

    for training. This decision to separate the trainees was taken in the Jalpaiguri transit camp. After we sent all the recruits from Khulna district for training, Kamruzzaman and I also left for training. Ali Hossain, Moni from Jessore, Amir from Kushtia and few recruits from 2/3 other districts were with us. We went to Dehradun under the leadership of Razzakbhai. We received training at Dehradun.

    Q.  In which month did you go to Dehradun?

    A.  In the middle of June. We had a 45 days training there. My training and so also of Kamruzzaman’s       was shorter by ten days. We were delayed because we had to select Khulna boys for BSF training and it took us some time. Some others also had a 10 days shorter training. They were from other districts. Our training was on guerilla warfare. In the beginning the name of this force was “BLF”. But later on it was changed to “Mujibbahini”..

    Q.  When did you return from training?

    A.  We finished our training by the end of July. In the first week of August we were shifted to Barakpur  Cantonment and then onto a camp close to the border. On August 11, Kamruzzaman Tuku and I entered inside Bangladesh territory leading 22 freedom fighters. We had with us a couple of freedom fighters from Barisal. We entered Bangladesh territory through Hakimpur border. I was given the responsibility of Tala thana (police station) of Satkhira and Kamruzzaman Tuku got the charge of Paikgacha thana. We entered Bangladesh territory together. We had to cover 21 miles from the border to reach our respective duty area in one night. It was rainy season. The road was terrible, damaged all over and full of mud. We had to carry our rifles, ammunition and all our staff by ourselves. I was told to report to the residence of B.A. Karim of village Srimantakati under Tala police station. B.A. Karim was a candidate for the post of V.P of the Chhatra League of the B.L. College in 1962 but he lost the election. He was a man supported by Awami Leagus. So we were told to make our centre in his house. Kamruzzaman Tuka trekked with me up to Baliadaha of Tala P.S. and then turned towards Morokgacha on his way to Paikgacha.

    We left for Srimantakati from Baliadaha. On reaching the house of B.A.Karim we found no trace of his house. It was totally burnt down. There was no one in the area. Most of the houses around were burnt down. I had never been to this village before and I didn’t know any one. Finding no one I along with my associates entered a big sugarcane field. We spent the whole day in that field drinking cane juice. At night we headed for a village 2/3 miles away named Chamakati near Magura market and took shelter in an abandoned house of a Hindu family. We were given two guides with us from India. Their names were Makbul and Shamsu master. The two of them collected some rice and dal from a neighboring house and cooked for us on day one. We then set up our camp in that abandoned house. Those who received training later on, some of them came and joined us. Kamruzzaman Tuku had the responsibility of placing Mujibbahini members to different camps. Most of the responsibility of military operations had to be handled by me and ASM Babar Ali while the naval actions were organized by Rahmatullah Daru Shahib. Afer we settled there we carried out some small operations. Later on in December we attacked Kapilmuni. In greater Khulna, Kapilmuni had the biggest concentration of Razakars. Before launching this attack I reconnoitered the whole area around  along with 4/5 others. Some how or the other the Pak troops came to know about the rekki and they attacked  Magura village. Failing to capture me the Pak soldiers killed 35 villagers of Magura. When we received this news we attacked Kapilmuni village. The battle plan was drawn up jointly by S.M. Babar Ali, Rahmatullah Daru, Lt. Arefin and myself. According to this plan it was my responsibility to attack the area starting from Madra village to the northern and eastern parts of Kapilmuni, the southern and western parts was the responsibility of S.M.Babar Ali, Rahmatullah Daru and Lt. Arefin. Acordingly they attacked the area through Baruli, Kathpara and Khesra villages. I launched the attack through the northern part of Madra. After a long battle lasting over 62 hours, the Kapilmuni Razakar centre finally fell. We arrested 177 Razakars alive. Of these 3 of them were less than 11/12 years of age and were released. Tried by a peoples people’s court the rest 174 of them were executed by a firing squad at the spot.

    Q.  What was the loss on your side in this battle?

    A.  Two of our fighters became Shaheed (Martyr). One of them was a student of B.Com class of the Khulna College. His name was Anwar and his home was on the other side of the river near Khulna Jail ferry. The other comrade was also from this area, from the village Khesra. His name was Shahbuddin. The Razakars surrendered after 72 hours of fighting. 3or 4 of them were killed. We had also captured several Moulanas. We couldn’t arrest two of them. One of them, named Motiur Rahman. was the  president of the Khulna Islamic Chhatra Shangha. Probably he is now a teacher in some university of Saudi Arabia. The other fellow’s name is Sh. Ansar Ali. Later on he became a Parliament Member on Jamat ticket. Of the 177 we captured 13 were Qari Mowlanas(those who are good at reciting from the holy Quran Sahreef). Most likely they belonged to the Al-Badr Bahini. Beside the Kapilmuni operation there were other memorable battles at Paikgacha,  Khardah

    Yargoti, Bardah, Baliadah and Magura. Members of our group carried out quite a few operations at Dakop of Satkhira, Paikgacha, Ashashuni, Tala and Dumuria thanas of Khulna.

    Q.  Do you know anything about the activities of Commander Nannu of Daulatpur?

    A.  We had no direct contact with him. I have to explain something in this regard. Maniruzzaman Nannu, Bachhu, Khalid, Rashid claim themselves  to be freedom fighters. Khalid died later on. We have never met them. They did not take the same training as we had taken. They did not take any training arranged by the Bangladesh Government. The organization with which they were linked was based in West Bengal. They might have taken training separately in West Bengal under the

    umbrella of that organization. They had fought in different areas of Bangladesh as individuals like those belonging to the China faction consisting of Huq-Toaha, Alauddin, Motin, Deven Sikdar, Purnendu Dastidar and others belonging to the East Pakistan ML (Marxist and Leninist faction of the Communist Party, also known as Maoist). These people were also active in our operation areas. They also claim that they are freedom fighters. But their outlook, ideas and concepts were different

    from ours. They were known as ‘Nakshals’. They used to think that we were their enemies. Once I was also attacked by them during an armed engagement (with the enemy). Once one of them Didar Buksh caught and took me away(to their camp). Later on Didar Buksh became a minister. His brother was Kamel Buksh. He was a very influential leader of the Nakshals in Satkhira. Later on however they  released me. Their concept and thinking process was completely different from ours. They  were more interested in eliminating “class’”enemies like us than fighting with Pakistan army. They did not owe their allegiance to the Bangladesh Government; they fought on their own. Even after independence, for a long time, they did not recognize the independence of Bangladesh.

    Q.  Were you attacked during those days by Pakistan army?

    A.  After the incident at Bhomra I was not attacked directly.

    Q.  Did any one of your family become Shaheed?

    A.  I was then out of the country. I am the only child of my family. I had no one except my old parents. My relatives went into hiding. So no one of my family became Shaheed.

    Q.  When did Muktibahini activities start in your area?

    A.  Our area is an urban  area. Till December no one could enter the town for operation. After the fall of  Kapilamoni on Dec 7, we started moving towards the town. We first set up camp at Barwari. At Barwari we joined the forces of Maj. Zainal Abedin. Then we jointly marched towards Khulna town. The Indian army had not yet reached the area around Khulna. After midnight of Dec 16, a big group of Maj. Zainal Abedin and S.M. Babar Ali took position at Tutpara. We took position around Lion’s School and Khulna Radio Station and areas close to the river bank. Next day we ceremonially raised the Bangladesh Flag on the Khulna Circuit House building. Around noon time the joint forces under the leadership of Maj. Jalil arrived at the Circuit House.

    Q.  Who were the Razakars in your area?

    A.  There were many Razakars then. Many of them are still alive, many are dead. Many of them are now well placed in the society. Habibul Huq of Fultala was a prominent Razakar leader in greater Khulna. Even Ayub Khan (former President of Pakistan) and  Musa Khan(former Chief of Staff of Pak Army) visited him at his residence. This happened long before the liberation war. He was chairman of Fultala (Union Council). Manu Sheikh was the Razakar chief of Khulna town and

    Rajab Ali was his counterpart at Bagerhat. Every village in Khulna (District) had 4/5 Razakars, without any exception. In our area most Razakars were concentrated in Raimahal and the  residence of the then chairman Wahab was the mini-Razakar camp. Wahab’s brother Ashraf was a Razakar so also Shujat, another brother of Wahab. Several others Ghafur, Aftab Dhali, Yunus and  Rasul were also Razakars.

    Q.  Who were the members of the Peace Committee?

    A.  Those who did Muslim League politics were the members of the Peace Committee. I heard Bhuya, Montu Molla, Wahab chairman were members of the Peace Committee. Ashraf and Nisar were also in the Peace Committee. They brought Sabur Sahib ( a former Minister in F.M. Ayub Khan’s government) and organized several meetings in Khulna.

    Q.  Were those connected with Razakar Bahini or Peace Committee arrested?

    A.  We had identified the members of these committees. Most of them were caught. Biharis were the largest single group in the Razakar and Al-Badr bahini. Personally I held a meeting at Khalishpur on Dec 23, and called the Biharis and asked them to hand over all those of them who were criminals and those who were connected with crime missions to the authorities. I assured them that if they would respond no harm would be done to them. They had handed over to us some Biharis. Several others came to me and apologized and I had forgiven them. I told them to leave the area if they wanted to survive. If they remained in the area they would be killed. If we didn’t kill them, some others will.

    Feroze Noon, presently a BNP’s central committee leader was a friend of mine. Once we were members of the Students’ League. He cooperated with the Pakistanis during the Liberation War. He read news from the Khulna Radio Station. He was arrested by the freedom fighters in Kushtia. I had also released him (on my own responsibility). Then they went on hiding. Later on many of them returned to normal life.

    Q.  What did you do after Khulna came under your control?

    A.  After entering Khulna  we distributed ourselves all over the town. We had 21 camps all together. Our headquarter was set up on the campus of the Commerce College. Maj. Dutta and Maj. Jalil of the combined forces had set up their residences in the circuit house and the Khulna port. Lt. M. R. Chowdhury of my area stayed on the campus of Dyan School and Lt. Khurshid on the poultry farm. We tried to run an efficient administration.

    Q.  What did you do with your weapons at the end of the war?

    A.  Bangabandhu returned on Jan 10 (1972) after the country was liberated. And then he sent out a call to return our weapons. We ceremoniously deposited our weapons at the Dhaka Paltan Maidan. We had traveled to Dhaka with our weapons loaded on a ship.

    Q.  What was the condition of your area at the end of the war, schools, colleges, roads, mosques, temples, markets etc?

    A.  Khulna was very badly affected. The town suffered extensive damage. Towards the end of the war the Pakistan army had destroyed the State Bank and burnt down currency notes worth Tk. 21 crore. They had destroyed almost everything; schools, colleges, roads, culverts and everything else. Pakistani soldiers burnt down our own family home twice.

    Interviewer: Mahbubur Rahman Mohon

    Date of Interview: June 03, 1997

    Translation: Faruq Aziz Khan

    Posted on November 13, 2015Categories Eye Witness Account

    Amulya Chandra Roy

    Name:  Amulya Chandra Roy

    Father’s name: Sri Jagabandhu Roy

    Vill:  Daudpur, P.O. Katla Hat

    PS:  Birampur, Dt. Dinajpur

    Educational qualification in 1971:  H. S. C

    Age in 1971:  18/19 yrs

    Profession in 1971: Student, Present occupation: Village Doctor.

    Q.  Were you attacked by the Pakistani soldiers in 1971?

    A.  Yes, I was.

    Q.  How were you attacked?

    A.  The village Dakshin Ramchandrapur is located in the south of Katla Hat. The Pakistani troops were marching towards this village from Hilli after crossing the Sonara river after stopping at Khasida camp. At that time I was grazing cattle. It was before I went to India. It happened sometime around the middle of April. When I was taking the animals to the field the Khans surrounded me from all sides. Then I ran towards the Indian border leaving the cattle  (at the mercy of the enemy.) If they had fired I would have been killed. They were about thirty in number. They were speaking in Urdu, stop here, don’t be afraid, go home, bringthe children; their voices were ringing in my memory. I ran towards south in the direction of the Indian border totally ignoring the rough track. India was about a quarter of a mile from the spot where I was tending the cows. After reaching India I went to a Bangladesh refugee camp. I took a vow that I would fight for my country, I would lay down my life but I wouldn’t surrender unarmed or die in the hands of the enemy. Then I went to the Circuit House where our M.P Dr. Wakiluddin Ahmed had taken shelter. I took an introduction letter from him and got myself enrolled in the Gangarampur camp as a freedom fighter.

    Q.  Why did you join the liberation war?

    A.  For the sake of my country. Pakistanis had created terror inside the country. They used to transfer all our wealth to West Pakistan and enjoy life at our cost. They hardly left anything for us. They used to exploit us. We never got any kind of employment,  neither in the armed forces nor in the civil administration. Every where it was the same story. This is why we were adamant to become an independent nation. We were determined to get our rightful share of everything.

    Q.  When did the Pakistanis attack your locality?

    A.  In the middle of May they launched vicious attacks on our locality.

    Q.  How did they make these attacks?

    A.  They would come during the day by train or by motor transport burning down roadside houses and abusing women wherever they were found.

    Q.  Has any one of your family become Shaheed at the hands of the Pakistan army?

    A.  Our home is in the border area. Soon after I had crossed over to India the rest of my family members left for India.  So all of my family members were safe. From Katla hat the border is not very far, just a mile, so every one reached India in good time. First, they took shelter in a relatives’ house and then moved to a distant refugee camp when shooting started around Patiram area. As for me, I had already enrolled myself in the muktibahini before this happened.

    Q.  When did the muktibahini activities start in your area?

    A.  After the month of May these activities started. Those who had taken training in guerrilla warfare had become active soon after May. In the cover of darkness we would blow up railway bridges and destroy the level crossings. The guerrillas used to ambush the enemy troops and quickly disappear from the area because we had only a short training of 28 days. This is why we always carried out such sudden attacks on the enemy taking them by surprise.

    Q.  As a guerrilla how did you engage the enemy?

    A.  The Pakistan army troops were stationed in bunkers or camps. They built bunkers in Hili, Birampur and Maduli Hat. About 4 or 5 miles away from Maduli Hat the Pakistani troops used to move around during the day by army jeeps. One day I visited the army camp disguised as a beggar to find out how the Pakistani soldiers moved around. They had employed a fellow by the name Fazla. He was Chairman of the local Peace Committee. His home was in Velarpar village. I found Fazla moving around on horseback  At that time the Pakistanis were laying brick on the road with the help of civilians so that the wheels of their jeeps did not get bogged in mud as frequent rains were causing road transportation problems. After I returned from this mission I was sent to the spot for guerilla action. Before I went for the operation I was given a few mines, and a few grenades for self defense. I took these in a bag and clad in a lungi set out for the operation. It was 1 pm. At the time there were some cows, goats, sheep etc. grazing. I collected them together and put them on the road and taking cover behind them dug out a brick and laid a mine in its place and then took position behind a nearby bamboo grove. A little while later I saw a Pakistani jeep moving towards the area. As soon a wheel of the jeep went over the mine there was an explosion and the jeep went up into the air killing two of the occupants and injuring the rest.

    Q.  What was the public impression about the freedom fighters at the time?

    A.  The general public had a very good impression about the muktibahini boys. People had only one aim and that was to free the country. They used to offer food, shelter within their own limited resources.

    Q.  Who were the people who had gone against you?

    A.  It was the Biharis and the Rajakars who were putting up armed resistance against us all the time.

    Q.  Who were the Razakars, Al-Badars and Al-Shams in your area?

    A.  There were not so many of them in our area. But there were many operating at distant areas. There were some Razakars around Bhelarpar and Hakimpur; fewer around Katla and nearby places because there were more Awami League supporters in the area.

    Q.  Who were members of the Peace Committee?

    A.  One of them was a fellow by the name Fazla  Chairman. He was a former chairman (of the Union Parishad). He is still alive. His home was in Velarpar, a village on the western side of Birampur Haat. With his help the Razakars used to come in groups of 20s, 25s. They used to raid the Haat (marketplace).One day I was present in the Haat. That day he started shooting. I jumped into the  near- by pond and swam to the other side and ran for shelter and thus saved myself.

    Q.  Were these anti-liberation elements arrested?

    A.  When the war was on we had caught several of them and took them across the border to India. Once they were in India they said that they did not become Razakars of their own choice. The Pakistanis suddenly attacked them and forced them to join the Razakar force. Then they were given 10 kg of rice each. In this way the Pakistanis forced them to work for them. In fact many of them were not supporters of the Pakistanis. Of those whom we had taken to India, many of them joined the Muktibahini. I have seen many such incidents.

    Q.  Where else did you fight?

    A.  In 1971, around April 28 or 29 I first went to the Circuit House of Balurghat and met our M.P. Dr. Wakiluddin and got an identity letter from him. He said that we should get enrolled in the Kushmandi or Shibbari camp of Ganagarampur. A group of 32 of us went to Gangarampur. Once we reached Gangarampur we went to a camp at Kasherdanga and got ourselves enrolled. One Mr. George of Dinajpur was the camp-in-charge. After I spent a few days I was transferred to  Patirampur camp. Here at camp had-quarters I received training for a month and then I was transferred to Balighata of Shiliguri. After some training I received weapons at Tarangapur and then from there to fight at any place of the district. I had to take oath touching the soil of my land. After I received weapons I was taken to Hamzabari B.S.F camp, north of Shibbari haat of India. It was here that we were engaged in fighting  battles with the enemy. Under the leadership of Capt. Idris of Tiger Party we fought in sector seven, Ghugudanga, Khanpur border, Sharbangla, Pulhaat, Ramsagar Dighi and several other places. We fought within the district of Dinajpur.

    Q.  How did you fight in Khanpur?

    A.  There we fought a large-scale battle. We used to be in the front line and the Indians gave us cover with big weapons. We were foot-soldiers armed with S.L.Rs., stenguns  and L.M.Gs. We used to carry the dead or wounded Pakistani soldiers from their bunkers or the field and take away all their weapons and deposit them to the camp.

    Q.  Where did you fight the most dangerous battle?

    A.  The most dangerous battle took place around Ramsagar (a big lake) just south of Dinajpur town.

    Q.  How did you fight there?

    A.  Several hundreds of us were there. There were also Indian Sikh soldiers. We jointly fought with the Pakistanis. Indian helicoptres were in the sky and tank regiment on the ground. It lasted as long as four weeks. In the fifth week Bangladesh became independent.

    Q.  How many Pakistani troops took part in the battle?

    A.  They had dug themselves in bunkers with brick walls. I do not know exactly how many of them were there.

    Q.  During this battle could you capture any Pakistani soldiers?

    A.  Yes, we captured them. When they got hurt by shelling from helicopters and fighter planes, we would go in groups of a hundred or more and capture them and bring them back to our side.

    Q.  How many Pakistani soldiers did you capture during this battle?

    A.  Every day five or six of them, and some times even as many as ten. Those who were mortally wounded would die and the rest were sent to Indian prison.

    Q.  What did you do after the Pakistani army surrendered?

    A.  When the country became independent, we were taken to the Maharaja High School in Dinajpur town. Here a mine exploded one evening but I was  not in the camp at the time. I was on leave for a week. There was another explosion a few days later. We were then shifted to a field south of the Dinajpur Railway Station beside the Catholic Church. A stadium was built there later on at this spot. After a few days we were moved to Ananda Sagar. Here many of us got enrolled in the army. Some freedom fighters left for Palashbari, Jessore and Saidpur. Those of us who were from Dinajpur, stayed  back. Our Adjutant, Capt. Shahriar asked us how many of us wanted to get enrolled into the army and the police. Now that the country was independent, he wanted to know our problems. Several of us got enrolled into the army and police force. When many freedom fighters were getting into the army I said that I was a student and I would like to continue my studies and sit for the exams. At that time I was keen to become a teacher. So I returned home and started preparing for my exams.

    Q.  How did you find the condition of your village?

    A.  I returned home after Dec 16. There was a terrible sense of frustration and misery all around due to the destruction and looting of the village. There was no sign of our home, just emptiness. My father, mother, brother, none was in the village. They were still in the Patiram camp.

    Q.  How did you find the condition of the schools, mosques and temples?

    A.  In our village the schools and temples were damaged badly. Schools and temples of Birampur, Fulbari and Hili were all destroyed by the Pakistanis.

    Q.  What did you do with your weapons after the war?

    A.  After independence in 1971 we were stationed at the Dinajpur sadar hospital.

    Here Capt. Shahriar asked us who among us would like to go on vacation. I told him that I would, and there was another of my colleagues whose name was Mohsin Ali also wanted to go on vacation. We fought together. Both of us deposited our arms and left for home.

    Interviewer:    Bhabendranath Barman

    Date of Interview:  Nov 12, 1996

    Translator: Faruq Aziz Khan

    Posted on November 13, 2015Categories Eye Witness Account

    Renu Begum

    Name:  Renu Begum

    Husband’s Name:  Karim Sarder (Killed by Pakistani Soldiers in 1971)

    Present Husband :  Sirajul Islam

    Vill:  Naopara, Union: Chapilla, P.O. Naopara Hat

    P.S.  Gurudaspur, Dist: Natore

    Education: Literate

    Age in 1971: 21/22 years.

    Occupation 1971: Housewife

    Present Occupation: Housewife.

    Q.  Do you remember anything about 1971- was there a national election that year?

    A.  Yes, I remember. We participated in the election.

    Q.  In whose favor did  you cast your vote?

    A.  In favor of the ‘Boat’, I mean Sheikh. Mujib’s  Awami League. I had seen Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Sahib. Before the voting he visited our area. He addressed a meeting at the Kanailal grounds. After the elections the war started. Military entered our home and grabbed my elder sister-in-law. They tortured(raped) her. She became sick. After she was treated by a doctor she recovered.

    Q.  How many soldiers tortured her?

    A.  Five of them.

    Q.  Where were you then?

    A.  I ran away to the near by jute field and hid myself.

    Q.  Where is your sister-in-law now?

    A.  She has another family. After the country became independent she was married.

    Q.  Where was your first husband then?

    A.  He had joined the freedom fighters to liberate the country. He was shot and killed.

    Q.  Who shot your husband?

    A.  The Pak army captured him from our house and took him away.

    Q.  He had joined the liberation forces. Why did he come home?

    A.  He came to see us, I mean to see our children. He was taking care of the children when he was caught and taken away.

    Q.  Who caught him?

    A.  Pak army, I mean military.

    Q.  How did the Pak force come to know that he had come home?

    A.  A man from the village informed the military.

    Q.  Do you know his name?

    A.  Yes, Kachhu Moktar.

    Q.  Where were you when the Pak soldiers caught your husband?

    A.  I was at home.

    Q.  Did the Pak soldiers torture you or your sister-in-law like they did before?

    A.  No, sir.

    Q.  How old were your children then?

    A.  One was two years old and the other was in my womb. She was born in the same year. Her name is Lily.

    Q.  What did the Pak bahini do with your first husband?

    A.  They killed him. And then I went to my father’s home.

    Q.  Did you get any help from the government after liberation?

    A.  Yes I did. I got some money and iron sheets, rice, milk and sugar for the children; we got everything.

    Q.  What did you do after the country was liberated?

    A.  My sister-in-law was married after about three years. I was also married after the country was liberated.

    Q.  Did your present husband marry you of his own wish?

    A.  Yes, he married me of his own wish.

    Q.  Did you have any objection to this marriage?

    A.  No, I had no objection.

    Q.  What happened to your husband’s home and the children by your first marriage?

    A.  Their home is still there. My in-laws live there.

    Q.  Where are your children by your first marriage?

    A.  They are all married by now.

    Q.  Are both your children daughters?

    A.  Yes. My husband’s second wife had a son and a daughter.

    Q.  Where is the son now?

    A.  He lives in Jongli. My first husband’s home was in Jongli.

    Q.  Where is Jongli?

    A.  It is a village under Natore subdivision.

    Q.  Are both your daughters married?

    A.  Yes, both my daughters are married.

    Q.  During the liberation war was your first husband’s home looted?

    A.  Yes, his home was looted.

    Q.  Did the Pak soldiers torture (defile) you?

    A.  Yes, they did.

    Q.  Didn’t any of your neighbors or any one from the village protest against it?

    A.  How can they protest? They were all so scared, and they deserted the village.

    Q.  Did you fall sick due to Pak torture?

    A.  Yes..

    Q.  Did you get back the dead body of your husband?

    A.  No, we did not.

    Name of the interviewer:  S. M, Abu Bakar and Sujit Sarker

    Date of interview:  July 30, 1997.

    Translator:  Faruq Aziz Khan

    Posted on November 13, 2015Categories Eye Witness Account

    Rabeya Khatun

    Name:  Rabeya Khatun

    Father’s Name: Late Mohammad Shamsuddin

    Vill: Rani Bazar, Rajshahi City Corp.

    PS: Boalia

    Educational Qualification: Read up to class VII

    Age in 1971: 14 yrs.

    Occupation in 1971: Student

    Present Occupation: Housewife.

    Q.   Do you remember anything about 1971?

    A.   Yes. That year we fought our liberation war. We were attacked by the Pakistani Army. The Pakistani Army entered our house and shot my two brothers and two brothers- in-law.

    Q.   Do you remember the date of this attack?

    A.   Yes, I do. It was April 14, 1971. First, a group of Pakistani soldiers cam to our house at about 8. a.m. They entered our house, took away my elder brother’s wrist watch, radio, cash money and looted many other articles of value. Then around 10 a.m. another contingent of Pak army came and shot four of us. Three of them died on the spot and one of was gravely wounded. He has been crippled forever.

    Q.   Did the Pakistan army open fire as soon as they entered?

    A.   First, they dragged all of us out of the room and asked, where are the ‘indur(rats)’? We said there are no ‘indurs’ here.

    Q.   What did they mean by ‘indur’?

    A.   By ‘indur’ they meant Hindus, meaning where are the Hindus?. The Pakistanis perhaps thought everyone in Bangladesh was a Hindu. None of us was Muslim. At the time everyone of our family was present in the house.

    Q.   Your father?

    A.   My father was not alive then. He died several years ago.

    Q.   Where exactly in Rani Bazar your house was located? Will you describe the incident in detail?

    A.   Our village home, I mean my father’s house, was situated just in front of the house of Badrul Amin. Now I live in my husband’s house. The second contingent of the Pak army asked, where are the indurs? We replied that there were no ‘indurs’ here, we are all Muslims. That day my two brothers and my two brothers-in law were present in the house. I have already told you about my bhabi (sisterin-law)..My mother who was standing in the middle of the courtyard told the army that these two are my sons-in-law and these two are my sons. The khansenas (Pak army men) told my mother and my sister-in-law to get into the room. My mother had already sensed danger and she grabbed the hands of the soldiers and pleaded, baba, these two are my sons and these two are my sons-in-law, I have no one else on this earth. Then the soldiers pushed me, my mother and my bhabies (sisters-in-law) into the room and instantly shot the men outside. Through the window of the room we saw them lying down on the courtyard in a pool of blood. My wailing mother ran out of the room to the spot and took a glass of water and recited ‘lailahaillallah’ and  sprinkled water on their faces and wailed and sobbed, ‘(Oh my God) I have lost all my dear ones.’ I also rushed out of the room with a glass of water.

    Q.   Had the Pak army already left by then?

    A.   They were there. Then they said, these people are Muslims. One of my brothers-in-law was still alive and twisting in terrible pain. Then one of the soldiers said, shoot him, one of the other said, no, don’t shoot him. And then they left our house. One of my brothers was 30 yrs old and the other about 32/33. One brother-in-law was 35 and the other was about  40 yrs old. The Pakistanis fired two shots at each of them. One of the bullets smashed my elder brothers leg and the other bullet hit his stomach and made a gaping hole, the younger brother received one bullet in the head and another in the stomach.

    My two brothers-in-law were visiting us at the time. One received grievous wound and died on the spot, the other was operated upon and survived but he lost his left arm.

    Q.   Did these Pakistani soldiers do any other terror acts such as looting, arson and the like?

    A.   No. They did not do anything like that. Another Pakistani group came earlier and looted our house. Those who came later on did the killing, as I have described to you.

    Q.   Did such a terrible act happen with your family only or you know about other families in your locality suffering similar disaster?

    A.   At that time there were very few people in the village. We had Hindu neighbors The Pakistanis did not attack them, not on the same day But they returned next day April 15, and killed all the members of two Hindu families.

    Q.   What did you do with the dead bodies of your family members?

    A.   For two days the dead bodies were left unattended. No one came to see us. We came to know later that the Pakistani army men issued threat that anyone visiting us will meet the same fate as we had. Then my mother said, I gave birth to my sons, I raised them I cannot let the jackals and dogs devour their dead bodies. I myself will bury them. Then my mother, my sister- in-law and I dug a big grave in the middle of the court yard and buried all three of them.

    Q.   Was there no one to help you?

    A.   No, there was no one to help us. The dead bodies could not be left unattended for too long. The corpses had swollen by then. They would have blown up if we had waited for a day longer. So my mother started digging a grave in our courtyard and we helped her and buried them. That grave is still there. I was a student of class X then and I could understand what we were going through. I still remember the terrible incident and cannot forget the tragedy that fell upon us.

    We were not involved with any political party, or activity. We did not understand politics at all. My brothers were harmless men. Even then the Pak troops killed them. And then my mother had to bury her own sons with her own hands. The Park army came to our house for no reason and then killed my two brothers and a brother-in-law. We are Bengalis, that must have been our sin. My brothers were not associated with any political party; my elder brother always told my younger brother to stay away from politics. He used to say, we are business men, we should not be with any political party. We had a shop in Shahebbazar. My brother always used to request the customers not to discuss politics in the shop. Both my brothers took care of the shop.

    Q.   Where was your shop located?

    A.   At Shahebbazar, beside Moonlight. It was a sweetmeat shop.

    Q.   What happened to the shop(after all these happened)?

    A.   The military burnt the shop on Apr 14 (the same day of the tragic incident). We got nothing out of it. Only the land was left. The Pak soldiers burnt all the shops of the bazaar. I heard that the Pakistani soldiers used to shoot if they found a shop closed. Before that they used to spray some kind of a white powder and then they would shoot. This caused the fire.

    Q.   After the killing did you stay in your house or you had left for some other place?

    A.   My eldest brother-in-law came on April 20 and took us to Bosepara where he used to live with his family.

    Q.   Did you stay there for the rest of the liberation war period?

    A.   Yes. We stayed at Bosepara till the end of the war. We couldn’t go anywhere else.

    Q.   Were your two dead brothers married?

    A.   My elder brother was married. He was married on Aug 14, 1970. My sister-in-law was pregnant when my brother was gunned down. After three months my sister-in-law gave birth to a baby son. She never married again. She stayed with us. She is now living with my elder sister. Her son passed the B.A. examination a few months back. For my other brother a bride was selected. Because of the war his marriage ceremony could not be held, and then he was killed. He was my second brother.

    Interviewed by: Maloy Bhaumick.

    Date of Interview: June 14, 1997

    Translator: Faruq Aziz Khan.

    Posted on November 13, 2015Categories Eye Witness Account

    Feroza Begum

    Name      Feroza Begum

    Husband   Shaheed Azizur Rahman (killed by Pakistan army in 1971)

    Vill  Ramkrishnapur, Dt. Dinajpur

    Educational Qualification    Illiterate

    Age in 1971   25/26 years

    Occupation in 1971   Housewife

    Present occupation    Retired

    Q.       How many children do you have?

    A.       Two sons, one daughter.

    Q.       Were you attacked by the Pakistani soldiers in 1971?

    A.       Yes, I was.

    Q.       What happened then?

    A.       The Khans killed my husband.

    Q.       How did the Khans kill your husband?

    A.       At night my husband and I went to bed with our children. In the morning when

    We woke up we found that our home was surrounded by Pakistani soldiers.

    Q        And then what happened?

    A.       All the men, women and children were taken to a nearby field and surrounded by

    Khans.

    Q.       Who did this?

    A.       The Khans.

    Q.       How did they do it?

    A.       Every one was called out telling them that they were needed for cutting earth for

    building a bridge. They were not released. They were shot dead. I ran for shelter

    but wherever I went the Khans were there. I had a 4 month old baby in my arms.

    Q.       What happened then?

    A.       Then I ran through the open space in between paddy fields. My husband and all

    the others were taken away to the other side of the village and assembled for

    execution.

    Q        How many of your family were killed?

    A.       They killed my husband, father-in-law, two of my uncle-in-laws and a brother-

    in-law.

    Q.       Who else were killed with them?

    A.        I heard that quite a few of others were killed.

    Q.       Did you see the killing?

    A.       Yes. Later on I saw the massacre.

    Q.      What was your feeling then?

    A.       I thought they would kill me also when they would return.

    Q.      What did you do then?

    A.      What could I do? I was simply a wailing widow in terrible distress with my

    infant children nothing to fall back on.

    Q.       How old was your eldest son during the liberation war?

    A.       He was two and a half years old.

    Q.      How old was your other child?

    A.      My youngest son was only four and a half month old.

    Q.     What are you doing now?

    A.      I am a housewife taking care of the children.

    Q.     What was the condition of your village home after the war?

    A.      There was nothing left. The Khans had smashed and burnt down        everything.

    Everything had to be rebuilt.

    Interviewer :  Bhabendra Barman.

    Date of interview :   Nov 13, 1996

    Posted on November 13, 2015Categories Eye Witness Account

    Nohuddin Sarker

    Name: Nohuddin Sarker.

    Fathers Name: Darasuddin Sarker

    Vill: Chatni, Union: Chatni, P.O: Chatni

    P.S: Natore Sadar, Dt: Natore

    Educational Qualification: Literate

    Age in 1971: 40/42 yrs.

    Occupation in : Service in 1971

    Present Occupation: Service:

    Q   Do you remember about 1971, was there an election in that year?

    A.  Yes, I remember. We voted for ‘Boat”, in favor of Sh. Mujibur Rahman. Because of this      we  Bengalis became guilty. Even after winning the elections the Khans did not hand over power to Sh. Mujib. Then they (Pakistanis) started the war. They started killing us throughout days and nights. That is why we were so sad and angry. But what could we do? There was no way we could stop them.

    Q.  Did you hear about the attack on Mar 25/26 by the Pakistan army?

    A.  Yes, I heard about it. We heard on the radio that the Pakistan army attacked Dhaka. They killed a lot of people.

    Q.  What did you do when you heard this?

    A.   We common people, what could we do? We had no arms or weapons, no skill to do anything.

    Q.   Did you take part in the liberation war?

    A.   I did not. But we fed the freedom fighters. In the darkness of night we fed them inside jungles and wherever they were hiding.

    Q.  In 1971 were you attacked? .

    A.  Yes.

    Q.  How did it happen?

    A.   I used to work in the Chatni School as an office worker. In that school many Hindu women of the area took shelter out of fear of life. It was my duty  to guard them. At that time there were more than 230/240 Hindu women under my care. One day I heard that there could be an attack on Chatni. At the time I was not at the school. When I got the news I rushed to my school and started guarding them and keeping watch on the road. Within a little while the military came and surrounded the school. When I saw the military I told the ladies to run away from the school in any direction they could. Then they started fleeing the school compound. A little while later they crossed the river and came to the school. They caught me at the school gate and then roped me.

    Q.  Who were they?

    A.  The Biharis and the Pak troops. With them was Hafez Abdur Rahman. This man Hafez

    Rahman roped me and Salim Bihari’s son shot several people and Sadeq Bihari cut my throat, almost slaughtered me but he couldn’t quite complete his job.

    Q.  Will you narrate the incident more clearly?

    A.   The Bihris cordoned off the area and caught some people andtheytied our hands and feet with ropes and then tied our hands together and made us sit in a line. A little later Salim Bihari’s son fired at us. We wee 30 in one line. There were more people around us who were also roped. When they fired we all lay down on the ground. And then Sadeq Bihari pressed our heads down on the ground with his foot and slashed our neck with a machete one by one.  Hafez Abdur Rahman also took part in the slaughter. He was busy in another line. Sadeq Bihari’s first victim was Nimai Chowdhury. And then he slaughtered Ayezudin and then Shachin. And then he came to our line,  pressed his foot on my head and pushed his knife on my neck. I was fourth in the line. And the next victim was a man named Shukta Jogi. After this I don’t know what happened. My throat was not completely slashed and so I had some sense. It was just blood all around and a lot of screaming, shouting and wailing and then I couldn’t see anything more. A little later someone from amongst them blew his whistle and suddenly the killers started running towards south. After they left I untied the piece of rope with which the killers tied my hands with my teeth. All around me the victims were throwing their hands and feet and heads violently with terrible pain before dying like a bunch of slaughtered chicken. But these unfortunate men were already dead. Of all the thirty men in my line I was the only survivor. The Biharis killed most of the captured men by cutting their throats.

    Q.  How did you survive, do you remember anything else that happened to you later on?

    A.  After I untied myself I somehow managed to enter a plot of rice field. Then I pressed my bleeding neck with some paddy leaves and I started chewing paddy leaves as I needed a drink very badly. But everything was coming out of my neck (through the wound). After I staggered a little distance I found some water left for a buffalo by the cowboy. But the water came out of my throat. Then I pressed my neck with my hand and with some difficulty walked towards a little stream nearby. I walked into the stream and tried to have a drink pressing my palms against my  neck wounds. A woman who had come to the stream to fetch water saw me. She guided me to the other bank of the river, the western side. The woman took me to the side of a hut and helped me to lie down on the ground and then pressed her hands firmly on my neck wounds. There were two or three other women. One of them put some oil on my head (so that I would feel better). The woman who brought me from the strem sent someone to my sons  At the time my sons were hiding in the house of Ajit chairman. My sons came and took me to the house of Tapu daktar(doctor). He lived in Mirzapur. He is the one who stitched my slashed neck wound and put a bandage around the wounds and I was left to rest. In the evening my sons took me the house of one Badla fakir of Mominpur. I stayed there for some days. He gave me medicine and I gradually recovered.

    I couldn’t stay in peace at Mominpur. While I was there the Rajakars of the locality tried to repress me. There were four women with me and my wife. Having suffered in their hands for some time I once told them that I was from Chhatni, I was not dead yet and I had such powerful relatives as my father-in-law, Ana Mondol and my brother- in –law Ameer Mondol. If I stay alive I would be even with them. After that they did not cerate any problem for me. Then a rumor spread that the Pak army and the Biharis cordoned off the Mirjapur school. Then I left for Donopur and went to the house of one Meru Khandker but he did not give me shelter. Then I went to another house and hid myself. Later I came to know that that it was all a hoax and I returned home.

    Q.  Did you stay home after this?

    A.  Yes, I did. When the country became free another incident took place.

    Q.  What was the incident?

    A.  I got the Rajakars, who had threatened me earlier, arrested. I saw the four of them. walking down the street in front of my house. I asked them where were they heading for. They replied that they were going to Natore. ‘The country has become free, so they were going to see it(the fun)’, they said. So I invited them to have lunch in my house. They did not agree but I kept on insisting and when they were having lunch I informed the Muktibahini who were camped in our area. One Alek was the commander of the force. I told Alek that the four Rajakars who tortured me when I had taken shelter in the house of Badla fakir were in my house. Alek ordered his men, ‘Arrest the bastards’, and the four were arrested and taken away.

    Q.  Are the four Rajakars still alive?

    A.  No. they are dead.

    Q.  Did the Pakistanis or the Biharis loot your house?

    A.  Yes they did. They had taken away every bit my possession. They also looted my neighbors’ houses all around.

    Q.  Did the Pak army torture women?

    A.  They couldn’t do it in our para(area) as the womenfolk had already taken shelter elsewhere. I do not know if they did it in other areas.

    Q.  After the country became free did you get any help or cooperation from the government?

    A.  Sheikh Shahib gave us two bundles of C.I. sheets and some bricks. This was just enough for a room. I did not get anything else. I am still working in the seme school as I did then. But we don’t get our salary regularly. After every two three months we get one month’s salary. The school cannot survive on student’s fees only. Who will help us?

    Interviewer: S. M. Abu Bakr.

    Date of Interview: July 12, 1997

    Translator: Faruq Aziz Khan

    Posted on November 13, 2015November 13, 2015Categories Eye Witness Account

    Shankari Chakraborty

    Name:    Shankari Chakraborty

    Father’s Name:  Shishir Kumer Roy

    Vill:   Dakra, Union: Perikhali

    P.S.  Rampal, Dt. Bagerhat

    Educaational Qualification: Read up to class V

    Age in 1971: 23yrs

    Occupation in 1971:  Housewife

    Present Occupation:   Housewife

    Q.       Do you remember anything about 1971?

    A.       Yes. There was a war in the country at that time. I was living in my

    father-in-law’s home. My husband was a very well known person of this

    village. He was very brave and powerful. One day we heard that Hindu homes

    would be looted. Then my husband started to guard our village at night

    along with some other villagers. There was quite a few with him. They did it for

    about a month. But they couldn’t prevent looting. Suddenly some people start-

    ed looting our village. In our house there were 3 or 4 grain storage rooms with

    sacks of paddy and rice. We had a lot of furniture, crockery, pots and pans;

    everything that a family needs. We had a cowshed with 30/35 cows and 2

    ponds, whatever was needed for a full family. We were about 35/36 family

    members. They looted every single piece of belonging we had.

    Q.        Do you remember the date of this incident?

    A.        I don’t remember the exact date. We had just finished cooking and had our

    mid-day meal. And then suddenly the looting started while we were still

    around.

    Q.        Could you recognize the looters?

    A.        I was a new bride then. We never went out of the house. How could we reco-

    gnize them? Some women also took part in the looting.

    Q.        Even women looted your house?

    A.        Women also looted our house: the women of the Muslim families of the vill-

    age. They gleefully took away everything we had, anything they could lay

    their hands on, pots, pans, cows, goats, everything. We stayed put in the

    house. Looting was complete. Then we left our home. We were determined to

    leave the village. As we had gone some distance we were persuaded by some

    Muslim men of Banshtala village who were not known to us. There were so

    many people at that time all around. Some of them had sticks, some with

    bamboo cutters( Like machetes) . They had brought us back. They told us that

    everything looted from our house would be brought back. They insisted on us

    not to go. But we had lost everything, only the house was not burnt down.

    Everything else was taken away. On their insistence we returned. They gave

    us rice and len tils, but how many days a family could survive on just some

    little food. We had nothing of our own. After a couple of days we went to

    Thakur Bari.There was a big crowd there, like a fair of some sort. It was

    summer time. Some had only towels around them, some were clad in dhoties.

    The Thakur Bari had a very big compound. Some were cooking food, some

    had already cooked theirs. Like us they had converged from different places.

    Q.        Why did they come there?

    A.        They had plans to leave for India all together.

    Q.         Why would they go?

    A.         At that time we were all on the same boat. Every one’s home was looted.

    So they had all decided to go to India.

    Q          How many people had gathered there?

    A.         Lots of men, women and children from many villages around had gathered.

    About 30/35 huge country boats loaded with household materials were ready

    at the jetty and after lunch they were all to leave. It was 6 Jaishtha (Bengali

    year)  as far as I can remember.

    Q.         Where were you at the time?

    A.         I was near the bazar. I had my daughter on my waist. Suddenly everybody

    was shouting, run, run, they are killing us, they are killing us..I ran for life

    with my baby daughter. Shooting broke out, I thought men were killed as if

    some one was shooting game birds. How many would be dead, how many

    would escape unhurt was a game of chance. I ran for the beel(large natural

    water-body) and dipped under water. I could hear clattering of rifles  and

    other fire arms all around. I saw right in front of me people dropping on the

    ground and then they were cut into pieces. One of them was bleeding from all

    over his body. My mother-in-law was with me. And my baby was clinging to

    my breast. There was no one else of my family with me. Only my mother-in-

    law was with me. We were trying hard to hide ourselves under water. I saw

    my father in law some distance away, two three girls of our next village and

    two of our own village were also there. A fire was blazing all around. I saw

    three or four persons  chasing a man and drove him towards a pond.

    Q.         Do you know the man who was driven into the pond?

    A.         Yes. His name was Parimal. He was chased towards the pond. We were wat-

    ching from where we were. My mother-in-law was busy coating me with mud

    and whispering in agony that they would catch me and wouldn’t leave me

    behind. My youngest daughter was too young to talk, she could only utter

    maa and paa. She was screaming maa, maa and my mother-in-law was busy

    coating my face with mud. I said to my mother, let them catch me, I shall see

    who would be the one to do so. I splashed water on my eyes. I had some gold

    ornaments with me and some money. Before I dipped into the water I had

    hidden them under a palm tree. Then I saw two men chasing Parimal into

    the water and slashed him with a dagger. I don’t know if he died or was alive.

    Soon some of the men came towards us with daggers in their hands stained

    with blood. Then one of them screamed, give me whatever you have, give me.

    Then I said, “ Baba (father) I am giving you whatever I have. I have left

    them near the palm grove. I’ll give those to you right now.” Then I gave them

    the ornaments I had hidden and they left.

    Q.        Who were these people?

    A.        We heard that they were Rajab Ali’s men.  I also saw Rajab Ali. He killed

    my husband. I’ll tell you about it. A woman said to me later on pointing

    to Rajab Ali that he was the one who killed my father-in-law. Then I saw him.

    Q         Who was the woman who identified Rajab Ali?

    A.        She was a woman from Sunderpur. She knew Rajab Ali. We were completely

    robbed. There was no place where we could go. Our eldest daughter was with

    my husband. She was 7/8 years old. They were missing. Suddenly I saw my

    daughter running past us. When I yelled at her she came to us. Then she told

    my mother-in-law that her father was shot and killed.  She said that a man by the name Liaquat led Rajab Ali’s men to capture my husband and then

    he was killed. My daughter said that my husband begged of Liaquat to spare

    his life. He told Liaquat that they were childhood friends, how often the

    two of them spent time together playing football or roaming about, and begged

    to Liaquat, “ Dada,  kindly be merciful to me and give me my life back”, but

    Liaquat snatched my daughter from my husbands hold and threw her off and

    shot him. Then my daughter ran to the palm grove where we had gathered and

    told her grandma that her father was killed. None of us had tears in our eyes.

    We had turned into stones. My father-in-law was standing some distance

    away. I called him and told him that there was no place for us to go. He came

    down to us in the marsh and suddenly some men came and yelled, “ Bastard,

    malaoon (a slang word invented by Bengali Muslims meaning Hindus), get

    out of water and come here. Then we appealed to them and said that he was

    the only male member we had, an old man, all others were already killed and

    we had no place to go, so to kindly spare his life for our sake. They were un-

    moved. They dragged him out of the water, shot him and killed him right in

    front of our eyes. Rajab Ali was in their midst.

    Q.        They killed your father-in-law in front of your eyes!

    A.        Yes, they killed him in front of our eyes, just a few yards from me. He had

    an under shirt covering his body, and a dhoti. They shot him straight into his

    chest. He fell down on the ground. There was just little sun-light. We tremb-

    led in shock and fear. As the sun went down, we crept up on the ground. It

    was dark. We had never in our life went out of our home after sunset. We did

    not know what to do. All our male members were killed, none was alive. We

    had no way of giving some kind of a burial or cremation to my father-in-law.

    Ten or twelve women who were around gathered together and started walking

    away from the scene of pain but we did not know the way to any place and

    had no notion where to go. My mother-in-law was holding my right hand, my

    baby was clinging to my breast and my elder daughter was close to me. Our

    clothes were wet. Never in our life we had been through such a disaster. We

    were walking in darkness and then reached a village. The name of this village

    was Kantakhali. We walked into the village. On the way we saw a young boy

    walking towards us. We embraced him and begged of him not to kill us. He

    replied, “ No no mum, I won’t kill you. Two of my brothers have been killed

    by them and their bodies have been thrown away. I am going to find them”.

    Then we were taken to a house. The door was locked from inside. A radio

    was turned on inside the room and a lantern was kept lit. We begged for a

    little shelter. We said we had little children with us and we were in grim dis-

    tress. They didn’t open the door, After a lot of pleading and begging the door

    opened and we entered. A bamboo mattress was laid on the floor and we sat

    on it. Our clothes were still wet. The children were crying of hunger. After a

    lot of begging they gave us some rice. Just a little rice, not even a little salt.

    We spent the night there. As soon as it was dawn, they insisted that we leave

    the place. They were afraid if the killers came to know that we had been given

    shelter then they would also be killed. Soon an old woman came and asked

    if there were any women among us from Dakra Thakurbari  because one of

    our in-laws, a  lady,  was given shelter  in the old woman’s house. We follow-

    ed her to that house.  It was owned by Siddiq Mia. We knew him. When we

    went there we found my mother-in-law in that house. One of my in-laws was

    with her. As soon as we reached the house Siddiq Mia told the inmates to arra-

    nge space for us immediately and give us some clothes (as we were all  soak-

    ed). He also asked them to give us some food  immediately. He looked at my

    mother in law and said, you are also my mother. We took shelter in Siddiq

    Mia’s house. He took very good care of us. We stayed with them for almost

    two and a half months.

    Q.        Did you face any problem there?

    A.        We had no problem. They gave us everything. We cooked separately. Some

    women of the house at times misbehaved with us but Siddiq Mia treated us

    very kindly.  One of the elder brothers of my husband survived the attack

    and he took shelter in Betkanta. When he heard about us he sent a man to

    Siddiq Mia’s house to take us back. My mother-in-law and I went to Betkanta

    Here I met my sister. Both of us were married in the same village. My sister’s

    husband was also killed. While at Betkanta my aunt heard about us and she

    sent a man to take us back to her village. Then we went to my aunt’s house.

    Q.        What did you do then?

    A.        Then we went to India. There we stayed in a refugee camp. We returned after

    liberation.

    Q.        What did you see on return?

    A.        After liberation first we went to my father’s home. From there we returned to

    my husband’s village. My brother-in-law sent for us. What could we see?

    We had nothing left, everything was looted. I was not sorry about that. I lost

    my husband and my father-in-law. We lost many others, lost them forever.

    I will never get them back.

    Interviewer:  Mahbubur Rahman Mohon.

    Date of Interview: Mar 5, 1997

    Translator:  Faruq Aziz Khan

    Posted on November 13, 2015Categories Eye Witness Account

    Posts navigation

    Previous page Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Next page
    Proudly powered by WordPress