Thursday, May 02, 2024
People of Charghat observed Genocide Day on Saturday remembering a mass killing by the Pakistani army in Thanapara area under Charghat upazila of the district on April 13, 1971.
Local freedom fighters and cultural activists joined a discussion and Milad-Mahfil organised by the Charghat Upazila Awami League in Charghat, reports BSS.
In the morning, they prayed for the martyrs beside a multitude of graves near the bank of Padma River behind the Bangladesh Police Academy.
Shahriar Alam, MP, joined the programme and addressed the mourning discussion as the chief guest with Upazila Awami League President Anwar Hossain as the chair.
Upazila Chairman Fakhrul Islam and Pourasava Mayor Ekramul Haque also spoke on the ocassion.
Shahriar Alam called upon the young generation to learn Bangladesh's history and uphold the spirit of independence and build "Sonar Bangla" in accordance with the dreams of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
According to the historic records, thousands of women and children from Thanpara adjacent to Sardah Police Academy, half a kilometre north-west from Charghat Bazar, left the house and took refuge along the bank of the river Padma.
The invading Pak army surrounded thousands of people gathered on the bank of the Padma on that day (April 13).
The invading forces ordered men to be aligned in several lines by bringing out women and children from the crowd.
Subsequently, they killed all the men by indiscriminate firing. Around five hundred people were murdered brutally on that day.
At that time, the Pakistani army took a position in Sardah Police Academy which is now Bangladesh Police Academy.
A Monument was installed in the Thanapara area in memory of the martyred.
