The massacre site of some fishermen at Jhaudia Majhipara village in Shailkupa town of Jhenaidah district has not been preserved even after 50 years of the Bangladesh War of Liberation in 1971.
However, the local administration has paid heed to the matter. Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) of Shailkupa Kaniz Fatema Liza told the Bangladesh Post that she has received a letter from the villagers to recognise the martyrdom of the 8 fishermen and she has forwarded the letter to the higher authorities. She hopes that the massacre site would be preserved following direction of the higher authorities.
Members of the martyred fishermen’s families said that the fresh blood of the martyrs of the village like other villages people had helped a lot to fasten the liberty for the Bengali people from the clutch of the occupying Pakistani hayenas. The frustration had been throwing the members of the martyrs in uncertainty, they added.
The martyrs who were gunned down by brutal forces were schoolboy Nirapada Biswas, his two younger brothers Chittaranjan Biswas and Nani Gopal Biswas, Dulal Biswas, Harendra Nath Biswas, Jiten Biswas, Moni Roy and Manindra Nath Roy of the village. Two of the bullets hit young men Narayan Chandra Biswas and Bistupada Biswas as well but, they escaped the tragic fate of the others.
Devi Rani Biswas, the wife of Nirapada Biswas said, her husband, a fisherman in profession when entered the house in the early hours of the incident after catching fish in nearby Kumar River, suddenly a gang of uniformed soldiers along with some civilians with fire arms arrived and caught Nirapada as well as two of his younger brothers Chittaranjan and Nani Gopal. The Pakistani men along with their collaborators also caught Dulal, Harendra and Jiten from the village.
Septuagenarian Khagendra Biswas said, earlier the occupying forces brought Moni Roy and Village Chowkider Manindra Nath Roy from Jhaudia Sarderpara. They tied up the eight and two others Narayan Chandra and Bistupada with same rope together and took them on the bank of nearby Kumar River.
The brutal placing all the 10 in a line, opened fire targeting the innocent and threw them in the river water thinking that they were killed. But Narayan Chandra and Bistupada escaped and fled away. Bodies of the eight martyred were washed away by the flood water due to heavy current in the river. No one of the locals and their relatives could show the courage to recover the bodies for religious funeral activities.
After the independence war the then MP late Dr. Kazi Khademul Islam (Shishu Dakter), gave Taka one thousand to some four to five martyred family members of the village in 1972. Since then neither any assistance they had received, nor had anyone from neither the government nor any political parties asked their wellbeing in past 45 years.
Villagers said the matter was noticed to the minster for Liberation War affairs Mojammel Haque when he was addressing a gathering at Shailkupa upazila parishad auditorium last year where the lawmaker of Jhenidah-1 constituency lawmaker Abdul Hyee and huge ruling Awami League leaders and freedom fighters remain present.
Ex commander of Bangladesh Muktijoddha Sangsad Sailkupa upazila unit command Rahmat Ali Mantu when contacted admitted the massacre by the occupying forces in 1971 at Jhaudia Majhipara.
He said, it was really a matter of sorrow as the martyrs could not be recognized even in past 50 years of the independence war of 1971. The families of said martyred should be brought under government’s allowance and other relevant activities to recognize their contribution, Rahmat Ali Mantu said.
Lawmaker Abdul Hyee, said he could not understand why the said eight fishermen were not recognized as martyrs as all of them were killed by the occupied forces of Pakistan. Members of all the eight families along with two injured others should be enlisted for financial or humanitarian assistance, when the government of Sheikh Hasina has been doing anything and everything for the wellbeing of the martyred, freedom fighters and others involved with the liberation war movement, the MP added.
