Eyewitnesses still tremble to narrate horrific Kanthalbari massacre

FE Team | Published: December 28, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

RANGPUR, Dec 27 (BSS): The eyewitnesses still tremble with fear while narrating the terrific Kanthalbari massacre committed by the Pakistani occupation forces on June 9 in 1971 in seven villages under Sadar upazila of Kurigram.
While narrating the horrific Kanthalbari genocide, they still recall the heinous atrocities of the war criminals and their local collaborators and demand their execution for committing crimes against humanity.
According to the eyewitnesses, freedom fighters and local villagers, the Pakistani occupation forces with local collaborators surrounded the villages from three sides, set fire on the houses, looted properties and killed 35 innocent villagers on June 9 in 1971.
More than 100 shops at Kanthalbari Bazaar and houses of 500 families of Shibram (Kanthalbari), Sarderpara, Sannyashi, Fakirpara, Pramaniktari, Taluk Kaloa and Khamar villages were turned into ashes giving the area a burnt desert-like look.
The occupation forces opened indiscriminate brass fire from automatic weapons killing 35 independence-seeker people of these seven and other three adjoining villages before leaving the area with the looted properties after their four-hour long operations.
Nineteen names of the Kanthalbari martyrs have so far been collected by the local freedom fighters as the other sixteen names of the best sons of the soil are still remaining unknown due to lack of adequate investigation.
The 19 martyrs are Fazal Byapari, Abul Kashem, Sohrab Uddin and Noor Bakht of village Pramaniktari, Monta, Tengri Bewa and Madrasa student Shahadat Hossain of Sarderpara, Montaz Ali, Abdul Jalil and Jahur Ali of Shibram (Kanthalbari), Aliar Rahman, Monoddi and Azim Uddin of Khamar, Nuh Khondker of Fakirpara, Basanta Kumar of Taluk Kaloa, Hasimuddin of Pratap, Rajab Ali of Harikesh, Jahur Uddin of Ghopatari, Ghechu Mahmud of Raipur.
Talking to BSS, eyewitness Suratjan Bewa of village Shibram (Kanthalbari), now at her eighties, narrated as how her husband Azim Uddin was brutally murdered by the Pakistani occupation forces.
"The killers opened indiscriminate fire at my husband, charged bayonets on his bleeding body and threw him to the burning fire," a trembling Suratjan Bewa narrated with tears.
"I still remember the inhuman scene, I can not sleep at night and I remember everything what happened on that day when I try to close my eyes," she said demanding trial and execution of the killers of her husband.
Eyewitnesses Jamal Uddin, Khoka Roy and Jahir Uddin of the same village said the Pakistani occupation forces and their local collaborators killed innocent Bangalees by opening indiscriminate gunfire, set fire on their houses and burnt those into ashes.
"We abandoned our houses along with all family members just before the attacks to somehow save our lives on that day like many others who also fled and took shelters in the nearby bushes and forests.
Commander of Kanthalbari union unit of Bangladesh Muktijoddha Sangshad (BMS) Abdul Awal said the relatives of Kanthalbari martyrs still fear to describe the atrocities committed against humanity there on June 9 in 1971.
"We have set up a temporary monument at our own at Kanthalbari Bazaar," he said adding that relatives of the Kanthalbari martyrs demand execution of the war criminals involved with the terrible genocide for peace of the departed souls.
Commander of Kurigram district unit of BMS Sirajul Islam Tuku and valiant freedom fighters Harun Ar Rashid Lal also narrated the horrific Kanthalbari genocide.
The local people observe the Kanthalbari genocide day on June 9 every year through various programmes to pay rich tribute to the Kanthalbari martyrs.
President of local cultural organisation 'Dishari Sangskritik Gosthi' Abdul Khaleque Farooque demanded for construction of a permanent monument to immortalise the Kanthalbari martyrs and inform young generations about supreme sacrifice of their forefathers.