The Pakistani army killed and burned nearly 1,300 people in one day

Salek Khokon

April 13, 1971. The Pakistani army carried out a massacre inside the Sharda Police Academy in Charghat, Rajshahi. Professor Dr. Jinnatul Alam Jinnah was also killed. But he survived by a miracle. He saw the death of his loved ones very closely in that massacre, dragged the bodies, and soaked his own body in the blood of the martyrs. He said these things as follows, “That day, the Pakistani army was coming from all sides in such a way that everyone thought that the only way to escape was towards the Padma River from the Sharda Police Academy. Approximately two thousand people gathered in that char. It was about two or two and a half in the afternoon. The army entered the police academy under the command of a Pakistani captain.

I was accompanied by my younger brother Shafiqul Alam Panna, uncle Azizul Alam, uncle’s eldest son Khairul Alam Parag, my younger brother-in-law Mohsin Ali and other people I knew from the village. The army was sending a message on the warlace. They were chasing us from the other side to kill everyone quickly. Then they prepared to do brush fire. That Pakistani captain started it. He carried out this brutal massacre for 20 or 25 minutes. The entire Char soil started to be washed away in human blood.

At that moment, I heard my cousin Khairul Alam Parag’s voice. He shouted, “Amma.” After that, there was no response! After 20-25 minutes, the entire char became silent.

They brought us to the parade ground. Soon after, we saw many people running away from the bodies piled up in the char. Then the captain shouted, ‘Fire the LMG, fire the LMG.’

They brought us back to the char. As soon as we went there, we saw Uncle Azizul Alam. He had been shot and most of his stomach had come out. He was writhing in pain. Blood was all over the place. In protest, Uncle was shouting at the captain, ‘What injustice, brother. What injustice, God forbid.’

He said the words three times in a row.

The Pakistani captain then roared. Saying ‘you little pig’, he went very close to the uncle and shot him in the middle of the forehead. The skull came off and covered his entire face. He only uttered the word ‘uh’ once. His heart sank at the tragic death of his uncle.

Then they told us, ‘You put all the bodies in one place.’ Many had fallen a little away from the pile of bodies. We kept putting those bodies together. That day, I realized how heavy people are when they die. We brought about 20 bodies from a distance and piled them up. I saw that many of the bullets had entered their bodies from one side and exited through the other.

Then they brought a can full of petrol and handed it to us and said, ‘Put petrol on it.’ I had no strength at that time. I couldn’t even sprinkle petrol properly. Later, they themselves poured petrol on the pile of bodies and set it on fire.

They killed and burned an estimated 1300 people. There was not a single family in the entire village where someone was not martyred. The Pakistani army shot and burned people to death in such a way that their faces were unrecognizable. How violent people can be – the Pakistani army proved that in 1971.