Bagbati massacre

Bagbati massacre
বাগবাটি হত্যাকান্ড
Location Bagbati, Pabna, Bangladesh
Date 27 May 1971 (UTC+6:00)
Target Bengali Hindus
Attack type
 Massacre
Weapons Rifles
Deaths More than 200
Perpetrators Al Badr, Razakars, Peace Committee, Pakistan Army

Bagbati massacre (Bengali: বাগবাটি হত্যাকান্ড) refers to the cold blooded killings of more than 200 unarmed Bengali Hindus by the Al Badar, Pakistan Army, Razakars and Peace Committee and in the Bagbati Union of Sirajganj sub-division in the erstwhile district of greater Pabna in May 1971.[1] After the massacre the bodies were buried or dumped in wells.

Background

Bagbati Union was situated 14 km to the north west of Sirajganj sub-divisional headquarters. It is now under Sirajganj Sadar Upazila of Sirajganj District. When the Pakistan Army launched the Operation Searchlight and occupied Sirajganj, hundreds of Bengali Hindus from Sirajganj and the surrounding areas took refuge in the villages of Bagbati, Harinagopal, Pipulberia and Dhaldob under Bagbati Union. A day before the massacre, a meeting was held at Ghorachara School between the Razakars and the Peace Committee.[2] At the meeting it was decided that more than 500 people of Bagbati, Haringopal and Alokdia would be eliminated.[2]

Killings

On the early morning of 27 May, in a joint operation the Pakistani army, Al Badr, Razakars and the Peace Committee, surrounded the villages. The Al Badrs opened fire indiscriminately and killed more than two hundred people, mostly Bengali Hindus.[1] Numerous residences were looted on set on fire by the Al Badr, Razakars and the Peace Committee.[1] The Pakistan Army raped the womenfolk.[1] Days after the massacre, the survivors dumped the dead bodies in the wells of the deserted houses of the erstwhile landlords of Bagbati and Dhaldob.[1]

Commemoration

The victims of the massacre are remembered through memorial services every year.[3] A few years back a small memorial was constructed in one of the wells where the victims bodies were dumped, in a joint initiative between the Bagbati Union Parishad and the locals.[3] The locals have demanded the restoration of the mass killing site and the mass graves.[4]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "১৯৭১ গণহত্যায় শহীদ মুক্তিযুদ্ধাদের তালিকা". সিরাজগঞ্জ জেলা (in Bengali). Government of Bangladesh. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  2. 1 2 Liton, Fazl-e-Khoda (1 December 2012). "গৌরবময় মুক্তিযুদ্ধ". Daily Ittefaq (in Bengali) (Dhaka). Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  3. 1 2 "সিরাজগঞ্জের বাগবাটি গনহত্যা দিবস". hotnewsbd24.com (in Bengali). Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  4. ↑ Sanchay, Sajirul Islam (26 May 2013). "আজ বাগবাটি গণহত্যা দিবস". Daily Juger Katha (in Bengali). Retrieved 10 November 2013.

Coordinates: 24°32′N 89°37′E / 24.54°N 89.62°E / 24.54; 89.62

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