Bahola memorial 40 years after the '71 tragedy
Construction of a memorial on the mass graveyard at Bahola in Dinajpur in progress. At least 32 people were massacred by pak troops at the village in 1971.Photo: STAR
'Bahola tragedy day' was observed in Biral upazila of the district yesterday. During the Liberation War in 1971, Pakistan occupation army and their collaborators massacred at least 32 people at Bahola. Construction of a memorial is now in progress at the tragedy site after 40 years of the independence. "We hope that by next year the memorial will be complete and it will be a great honour for the deceased," said Syed Mokaddes Hossain Bablu, commander of Dinajpur Muktijoddha Sangsad. Like every year, people of Biral upazila will observe the day by holding different programmes including discussion, offering prayers at mosques and temples. According to the eyewitnesses and family members, at least 32 people were brutally killed by Pakistani troops at Bahola with the help of their Bangladeshi collaborators on the day. Later, the bodies were dumped in a ditch in the village, they said. Local elderly people said, the Pakistani troops started to retreat from Bochaganj upazila toward Biral and Dinajpur as the upazila was freed on December 6 after a fierce fighting with Indian troops and freedom fighters. On December 12 night, the Pakistani troops entered Bahola and asked the villagers to help nab the freedom fighters of the area as there were two freedom fighter camps at Bahola and Palashbari villages, said villager Rafiqul Islam. As the villagers declined to provide any information regarding the freedom fighters, the Pakistani troops and their collaborators ordered the villagers to leave the area. But later the hyenas changed their decision. During the Fazr prayers on December 13, the Pakistani troops called the male members of the village and gathered them at a field of the village. They lined up about 40 to 45 people, said Mosarraf Hossain, another villager. The villagers urged the Pak troops to allow them to offer prayers but the appeal went unheeded.They opened fire on them killing 32 on the spot, he said. The family members of the victims had been passing their days in pain because of the neglected graveyards, said Md. Rahman Ali, deputy commander of Biral Muktijoddha Sangsad. "It may be a little late but finally we have succeeded to build a memorial at the spot", he said. On December 14, Biral upazila was freed from the clutches of the occupation forces after a fierce fight, he said.
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