Month of Victory
<i>Most of 33 mass graves in Dinajpur, Joypurhat in utter neglect</i>
This spot at Charahat village in Nawabganj upazila under Dinajpur district that witness massacre of over a hundred freedom-loving people by the Pakistan occupation army during the Liberation War, gives a common ordinary look as authorities concerned have done nothing for preserving the memory of the martyrs.Photo: STAR
Most of the 33 mass graves in Dinajpur and Joypurhat districts, bearing testimony to the brutalities of the Pakistan occupation forces during the 1971 Liberation War, hardly see any maintenance by the authorities concerned. There are 22 such mass graves in Dinajpur and 11 mass graves in Joypurhat but most of them are now difficult to identify by visitors as there is hardly any arrangement to preserve them, said sources of Dinajpur Muktijoddha Sangsad. During recent visit to different mass graves in Biral, Bochaganj, Nawabganj, Parbatipur and Nawabganj upazilas of Dinajpur district, this correspondent found signs of utter neglect in most cases. "The Pakistani troops shot dead at least 40 people at Bahola village in Biral upazila of Dinajpur on December 13 in 1971. Later family members and locals buried them near the killing spot. A memorial has been built at the spot, but the concrete wall, built by the locals around the graveyard, has recently collapsed," said Goni Mia, a witness to the massacre. The killing ground and mass grave at Chararhat village under Nawabganj upazila of Dinajpur, where at least 105 people were shot dead on October 10 in 1971, is hardly distinguishable from a cattle grazing field, observed this correspondent during his recent visit to the area. "After 41 years, could not take steps to take care the massacre place and grave at the area," said Md Yahia, a witness who narrowly escaped the brutality in that time. With personal initiative a memorial however was built at Chararhat last year, he added. According to the freedom fighters of these districts a large number of people were detained and shot dead by the Pakistan occupation forces in Parbatipur, Nawabganj, Biral, Bochaganj, Ghoraghat, Dinajpur Sadar, Khansama, Chirirbandar, Phulbari and Hakimpur upazilas of Dinajpur during the Liberation War. The large killing grounds and mass graves in Parbatipur upazila -- Rahmat-nagar, Ibrahimnagar, Abbasnagar, Muzaffarnagar have been named after martyred freedom fighters. Ranirbandar High School ground in Chirirbandar upazila and Bhabaldighi and Chatoil in Birganj upazila are some other major killing grounds and mass graves of the Liberation War. Syed Mokaddes Hossain Bablu, commander of Dinajpur Muktijoddha Sangsad, has urged the government to take proper steps for preservation of the mass graves to keep the memory of the Liberation War martyrs alive in the mind of the future generation.
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