Family members of the martyrs at village Jhaudia Majhipara, a village of the fishermen community in Shailkupa upazila in Jhenaidah, have been leading inhuman life when they neither could touch any government facilities, nor recognized.
Even the spot where eight innocent villagers were killed brutally by the occupying forces and their collaborators, were not identified and preserved after 50 years of the Independence war of 1971.
Although the locals had shouted about the matter when Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque had addressed a gathering at Shailkupa upazila parishad auditorium in presence of Jhenidah-1 constituency (Shailkupa) lawmaker Abdul Hyee last year, the minister avoided the issue.
But the fresh blood of the eight 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, said the affected family members.
The martyrs who were gunned down were 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. But two of the bullet hit young men Narayan Chandra Biswas and Bistupada Biswas were escaped anyway.
Devi Rani Biswas, the wife of Nirapada Biswas said, her husband, a fisherman in profession while entered in to the house in the early hours after catching fish in nearest Kumar River, suddenly a gang of dressed and undressed people with fire arms entered in to the house and caught Nirapada, 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 Mokammel Haque when he was addressing a gathering at Shailkupa upazila parishad Liberation War affairs Mokammel 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.
Further, the distressed family members of the eight martyrs were out of reach of any financial or humanitarian assistance from any corner, although the government of Seikh Hasina has been doing anything and everything for the wellbeing of the martyred, freedom fighters and others involved with the liberation war movement, Rahmat Ali said.
