Preservation of Ishwardi mass graves an urgent need
Ishwardi (Pabna) Correspondent :
There are numerous mass graves and man slaughterhouses scattered in Ishwardi upazila.
Even after 53 years of independence, there is no initiative to preserve these slaughterhouses.
There is no list of martyrs; even the families did not get the status of martyr families.
In the war of liberation, brutal events took place in Ishwardi.
About 5,500 Bengalis were brutally killed.
At that time about 20 thousand non-Bengalis (Bihari) lived here.
Because of their oppression, Bengalis could not travel to the city.
If a Bengali was found in the city, they were captured and killed.
Biharis with the help of Pakistan Army attacked the family of Chandrakant Pal in Karmakar Para on April 13, two days after the capture of Ishwardi.
Chandrakant Pal, his 2 sons, 2 daughters-in-law, 6 grandchildren and a shopkeeper hacked to death 12 people.
All were thrown into the well of the house and given a mass grave. Family member Madhab Paul has demanded the status of the martyred family.
Freedom fighters said that there are about 30 identified slaughterhouses and mass graves.
There are numerous mass graves scattered outside the slaughterhouse.
Mass graves and slaughterhouses are now neglected, neglected and out of sight.
These areas are overgrown with grass and shrubs, and have turned into grazing land.
Homesteads have also been built.
The family members of martyrs who have lost their relatives demand that memorial plaques be built to mark the places of slaughter.
May the next generation know about the great liberation war and the sacrifice of patriotic people.
On April 11, 1971, some people took refuge in the central Jama Masjid when the news of the arrival of Pakistan Army spread.
They thought that the mosque would not be attacked because it was Muslim.
But the invading forces also attacked the mosque killing Bengalis.
Between April 12 and 19, 19 people who took refuge in the mosque were brutally killed at the coal depot adjacent to the press club.
They brought Bengalis from the surrounding neighborhood and killed them here and gave them mass graves.
During the liberation war, common Bengalis used to travel by train through Ishwardi rail junction.
The Biharis used to capture the passengers arriving in the train and slaughter them and shoot them dead.
After killing a large number of Bengalis in the empty space of the railway, non-Bengalis and rajakars buried them underground.
Even today, these slaughterhouses and mass graves have not been identified.
On April 23, Pak forces shot and killed 23 men and women in a line in a house in Baghail Paschimpara.
The former commander of the Freedom Fighters Congress, Golam Mostafa Channa Mandal, said that 27 brave freedom fighters and many Bengalis were martyred in the liberation war.
The graves and slaughterhouses of the martyrs have not been preserved yet.
On December 16 and March 26, we pay tribute to the graves of martyred freedom fighters with flowers.
But their graves were not preserved by the state.
Our demand to the state is to mark the graves of the freedom fighters and the mass graves of the martyrs as soon as possible and construct memorial plaques.
