RANGPUR, May 7, 2019 (BSS) – The eyewitnesses still tremble remembering the horrific genocide of 32 Muslim devotees on May 7, 1971 at Lahirirhat in Chandanpat union of Sadar upazila here after Friday’s Juma prayers.
The barbaric genocide of devotees, including father and son, immediately unmasked the so called ‘religious’ face of the Pakistani government and its false propaganda of saving Islam, the religion of peace, from the enemies.
Talking to BSS, local eyewitness Motiar Rahman said the dreadful killing
of 32 Muslims just after Juma prayers at Lahirirhat mosque created severe
anger among common people.
Eyewitnesses Aftab Hossain and Raj Kumar said the Pakistani occupation
forces with their local collaborators came by four trucks and got down in
front of Lahirirhat Mosque just after Juma prayers on May 7, 1971.
The innocent Musollis instantly understood fearful consequences and
started running all-around to escape from the human beasts when 32 of them,
including a father and his son, were caught by the occupation forces.
“The Pakistani army started torturing the Musollis, who repeatedly claimed
with indescribable fear that they were Muslim people and came to the mosque
for offering Juma prayers on holy Friday, in the last effort to save their
lives,” Aftab said.
Without listening to their repeated appeals, the Pakistani army took them
to the nearby pond bank, forced them to stand in four rows under a tree with
eight Musollis in each and opened brass fire there at them.
“The innocent Musollis fell down on earth and most of them breathed last
while others were critically injured getting numerous bullet hits at their
heads, chests, bellies, necks and other organs,” another eye-witness of the
genocide Rafiul Islam said.
The occupation forces and their collaborators started charging bayonets in
a medieval style on the injured to ensure deaths amid their painful screaming
making the nature as witness of the unthinkable atrocities committed against
the humanity.
“After killing of the Musollis, the occupation forces with their
collaborators buried their bodies into a mass grave there at Lahirirhat and
left the area in the late afternoon,” narrated another eyewitness Nurul
Islam.
The local eyewitnesses said relatives of the martyred Musollis gathered
there after departure of the occupation forces in the evening, dug the mass
grave, recovered and took away the buried bodies to their own areas for
burial at night.
Former district unit Commander of Bangladesh Muktijoddha Sangsad Mosaddek
Hossain Bablu said freedom fighter Mukul Mostafiz indentified 27 of the
martyred Musollis after conducting research and enlisted them in his book
‘Mukitjuddhe Rangpur’ published in 2011.
“The heinous genocide helped the independence-seeker common Bangalees
irrespective of caste, creed and religion to easily understand false
propaganda of the then Pakistani regime of saving Islam from enemies,” Bablu
said.
He said martyrdom of the 32 Musollis uncovered real face of the Pakistani
army and sparkled heroism in every Bangalee when they started joining the
Mukti Bahini en-masse to achieve the ultimate independence on December 16,
1971.
Local Chandanpat union Chairman Amenur Rahman said freedom fighters and
common people will place wreaths at the memorial monument at Lahirirhat and
organise discussion this afternoon to pay rich tribute to the martyred
Musollis.