By Mamun Islam
RANGPUR, March 4, 2019 (BSS) – The city of Rangpur literally turned
volatile since March 1 when hatred Pakistani President General Yahiya Khan
cancelled the scheduled parliament session on March 3, 1971 and declared
curfew on the day.
The people of Rangpur started showing stiff resistance against the
Pakistani junta instantly after Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman called strike on March 2 in Dhaka and on March 3 throughout
the country.
“A meeting of student leaders was held at ‘Panga House’ in the city on
March 2, 1971 to chalk out next strategies with Chhatra League leader Rafikul
Islam Golap in the chair,” General Secretary of district ‘Ghatok Dalal Nirmul
Committee’ Mosaddek Hossain Lablu said.
“At late night on March 2, student leader Abdur Rouf came to Rangpur Press
Club from the meeting and informed local journalists that were no alternative
to launch decisive movements at the call of Bangabandhu,” Lablu added.
Awami League (AL) leaders Siddik Hossain, Advocate Abdul Gani, Shah Abdur
Razzaque, Advocate Gazi Rahman, Tayebur Rahman, Mir Anisul Haque Payara and
others went to different areas in the city for further strengthening
movement.
“Thousands of people brought out protest processions breaking curfew on
March 3 in the morning on the city streets,” said immediate past Commander of
district unit Command of Bangladesh Muktijoddha Sangshad Mosaddek Hossain
Bablu.
Originating from Katchari Bazaar and many other points of the city, student
leaders brought out curfew-breaking spontaneous processions those were
attended by hundreds of leaders and workers of AL, other political parties
and common people.
At one stage, non-Bengali Behari Sarforaz Khan opened gunfire from his
house on the procession in Alamnagar area at 9am when class-seven student
Sangku Samajhder, 12, was critically injured.
“Sangku glorified the people of Rangpur as well as the whole Bangalee
nation through sacrificing his life for independence of the country at 9:30am
on March 3 in 1971,” Bablu said.
The Behari people also shot dead college student Abul Kalam Azad and
stabbed government employee Omar Ali to death on March 3, 1971 while another
injured student Shariful Alam alias Mokbul later died at Hospital after one
month.
“And thus, the people of Rangpur sacrificed four brave sons while breaking
the curfew at the call of Bangabandhu along with the country’s many other
heroic sons on March 3, 1971,” Bablu added.
President of Rangpur unit of ‘Ghatok Dalal Nirmul Committee’ Dr Mofizul
Islam Mantu said the Pakistani junta got frightened witnessing unprecedented
heroism of the Bangalees when Rangpur sacrificed lives on March 3, 1971.
“Noticing insuperable heroism among Rangpur people since beginning of
volatile March, the Pakistani occupation forces started cleansing local
intellectuals along with innocent Bangalees here,” he said.
The Pakistani hyenas with local collaborators caught 11 brilliant Bangalee
intellectuals from their houses here on March 27, 1971 in a pre-planned
manner.
“The occupation forces forcibly took them to Rangpur cantonment and
conducted barbaric physical torture on them causing unbearable pains for
their active role in noncooperation movement,” Lablu said.
Fearing threat of patriotism from the intellectuals, the occupation forces
with collaborators took them to ‘Dakhiganj Shwashan Baddhyabhumi’ in the city
on April 4, 1971 and gunned them down to make the Bangalee nation talentless.
Incredibly, one of them, then Awami League leader Dr Dinesh Chandra
Bhowmick alias Mantu Daktar, escaped death and later, he joined the ‘Mukti
Bahini’ after getting proper treatments in neighbouring India.
“Genocides of ten intellectuals instantly triggered heroism in every Rangpur
people inspiring them to launch stiff resistance for independence,” Mantu
added.
Like in other places, the occupation forces with local collaborators
committed horrific crimes against humanity through genocide of 1,200 innocent
Bangalees at Padmapukur and Jharuarbeel areas Badarganj upazila here on April
17, 1971.
Freedom fighter Md. Abdus Sattar of Badarganj upazila said the whole area
turned into mass slaughtering ground when fresh bloods of the innocent
Bangalees turned the grasses and waters there into red.
“The occupation forces got frightened witnessing heroism of three martyred
sons of Rangpur on March 3, ten intellectuals on April, martyrdoms of 1,200
Bangalees on April 17, 1971 and started conducting indiscriminate genocides
in the region,” Sattar added.
The indiscriminate genocides ignited heroism in every Bangalee when
hundreds of people joined the ‘Mukti Bahini’, created fierce resistance
against the occupation forces and fought till achieving the independence on
December 16, 1971.