Pakistan killed many Hindus : On 26 March 1971, when Bangladesh was being established after breaking away from Pakistan, hundreds of thousands of people were killed. The Pakistani army started the massacre from the night of 25 March 1971. Many people were called by deceiving them that they would be sent back by train and more than 450 people were locked in train compartments and attacked like wolves and killed. Those who demanded to be shot immediately were stabbed to death. The Pakistani army responded in a hostile manner saying that Pakistan’s bullets are not so cheap that they should be wasted on them. It was pitch dark and dead bodies were scattered on the railway track. Only 8 to 10 boys managed to escape from the bullets. According to the report of India Today, some of the survivors still shudder when they remember that scene.
10,000 more unarmed Bengalis were shot
The report said that the Pakistani army adopted a strategy of deception from the night of 25 March 1971. Some reports claim that 3 million people were killed in this brutal ethnic cleansing. At the same time, 200,000 to 300,000 women were sexually abused. However, the Pakistani army still denies all this.
Surendranath Bairagi, who survived the firing, tells that on 20 May 1971, people started running here and there to escape from the Pakistani army. About 10,000 refugees trying to enter India were killed in firing by the Pakistani army on the border of West Bengal.
Sheikh Baharul Alam, a member of the trustee board of the Liberation War Archive Museum in Khulna, Bangladesh, said that the Pakistani army attacked about 10,000 local people 15 days before the war started. Baharul said that the exact number of martyrs in the most brutal massacre of 1971 in Chuknagar is still unknown, but 10,000 to 12,000 innocent unarmed Bengalis were killed.
Local journalists said that there is no other such incident in human history in which such a large number of people were killed in such a short time. Researcher Shahriar Kabir claimed that about 3,500 graves have been identified in the 51 years since the independence of Bangladesh. On 26 May 1971, 94 Hindus were shot dead by the Pakistani army in the school of Burunga, Balaganj in Sylhet district of Bangladesh. Eyewitnesses also told that Hindus were taken to the school room, while Muslims were taken to the classroom. Both Hindu and Muslim groups were taught Kalma and asked to sing the national anthem of Pakistan. Most of the Muslims were released after confiscating all the money and gold jewelry. People were tied up and shot with machine guns.
Bones were found near the well
In 1991, decades-old bones and skulls were found near a well in Dhaka. Excavations unearthed more than 70 skeletons and over 5,000 bones, revealing a brutal massacre by the Pakistani army and its supporters in 1971. The perpetrators gunned down thousands of people, beheaded them and dumped their bodies in a well near the pump house.
Around 700 Hindus were killed by lining them up
India Today’s report states that on May 21, Rajjab Ali reached Dakra in two large boats with his army. Dakra village was full of refugees who wanted to go to India. The Razakars started firing at whoever they found. Some Razakars checked every Hindu house to see if there were any other men and some of them were wearing sarees. All the men were made to stand in front of the temple and fired at. Hundreds of people were gunned down in a few seconds. Sheikh Najrul Islam, the then president of Perikhali Union, claimed that at least 646 people were killed that day. Paritosh Kumar Banerjee, a teacher at Gilatala School and an eyewitness to the incident, believes that the death toll was between 600 and 700.
In 2009, Sheikh Hasina, upon coming to power, ordered the formation of a war crimes tribunal, which was a relief for the families of war victims. The purpose of the International Crimes Tribunal was to punish those who committed crimes against humanity in 1971.