Satbaria genocide refers to the pre-planned genocide that took place on 12 May 1971 in Satbaria of Sujanagar upazila of Pabna district. Satbaria region is an important political region of Pabna district. The area was the refuge of Mukti Bahini. During the liberation war, this region was ahead of the surrounding areas in terms of education and economy. Satbaria region was sourhearted in various political backgrounds including the 6-point movement of 1966 and late Member of Parliament Ahmed Tafiz Uddin of Pabna-II constituency was home to this union. Due to these reasons, this area was noticed by the Pakistani forces. According to information, the local notorious Razakar Tikka Khan, his nephew Mustafa Khan (now teaching at a Government College in Dhaka) and two other brothers, Abu Zafar, with the help of Abul Khair, were armed with deadly weapons in9/20 trucks. Fakitpur, Satbariya, Naruhati, Sindupur, Harirampur, Bhatpara, Kandarpara and Gupinpur carried out brutal genocides in about 8 to 20 villages. Brutal genocides were carried out in about 15-20 villages including Kuripara, Shyamnagar, Nishchinpur, Kachuri, Tarabaria, Fakitpur, Satbaria, Naruhati, Sindurpur, Harirampur, Bhatpara, Kandarpur and Gupinpur of the Union. They carried out armed attacks on village after village from morning to night on that day and Awami League leaders Mahir Uddin, Basant Pal, Jagbandhu Pal, Suresh Chandra, Lakshmi Kant, Vinay Saha, Lokman Hakim, Kshitish Pagla, Mantaj Molla and Ranjit Kumar Sarkar, Faqar Uddin, Sameer Saha, Wazed Ali, Gopal Sheikh, Asit Saha, Khitish Saha, Vasudev Biswas, Chetna Sheikh, Abdul Qaddus and Sekender Ali along with about 400-450 women, men and children standing in line and killed by brushfire. After that, more than two hundred bodies were floated in the nearby Padma river. Apart from mass killings, the invading forces also committed massive looting, rape and burning houses by sprinkling gunpowder in the entire union. At that time, a mass grave was created in Satbaria. After this genocide, many of the people of the 13 villages of the union who survived took refuge in India. Many returned after the independence of the country. However, it was found that many of the Hindus here did not return, they started living permanently in India. Brave Freedom fighter Fazlul Haque, who was the principal of Satbaria College during the genocide, later served as the head of the Union Sangram Parishad. He said in his statement, “I was 31/32 years old at that time and my home is at Nishchintpur. When I got the news of the incident, I sheltered in the house of Saeed Sir, then Professor of Chemistry at Rajshahi University. Hindu, Muslim, male, female, children about 50 people took shelter there. Once the Pakistani army came to know about us and surrounded us with guns. They were accompanied by a man in white Punjabi, who is a local but I don’t remember his clear face or identity. One by one the army started shooting everyone. They shot twice at me but misfired both times. After what I thought was a child nearby, they let me go. But brutally killed most of the people present. Those who returned wounded from the hellish carnage all over the Union. They also died with terrible pain in their lives. One of them was the former chairman of this union, Khandaker Obaidullah, who was shot and left in a pile of corpses by the Pakistani forces and the Razakars. Once a dog came and mauled him, thinking he was dead. When he started shaking, he was rescued by the locals. He had to carry the wound of that day for the rest of his life. However, the sacrifice of hundreds of people that day has not been recognized even today. ” Omar Ali Master, a member of the martyr’s family, said, “I was studying in Class 6 at the time of the genocide. When we were all fleeing through the sugarcane fields on hearing the news, a group of Pakistani Army surrounded us. At one point, my elder brother Wazed Ali was left behind and asked the rest to leave. After going some distance, we heard gunshots. When they left, we brought my brother’s body. That day we also found my brother’s body but many people were thrown into the river and wiped out. Even today they have not been identified. The local people of Satbaria who were killed, they were identified but, those who took refuge in the area from outside were not identified. Satbaria region is prone to erosion in the Padma, so many mass graves which were in the riverside area have been washed away in the Padma today. We are personally trying to collect some memories and information. One organization named Projanmo 71 has also come and inquired. But the most unfortunate thing is that this history of self-sacrifice of the people of this region is not being practiced at present. We have collected the list of martyrs and requested at least one name plate so that future citizens can learn about their history of their sacrifice. ” It is known from the local freedom fighters that after this genocide there was a tide to join the liberation war in this area. The trained brave freedom fighters of this incident became desperate to avenge the barbaric killings of the Pak Army. They then started an anti-invader operation under the leadership of one of the organizers of the liberation war, including the late MP Bir Muktijodha Rafiqul Islam Bakul, Zahurul Islam Bishu and Iqbal Hossain, in various unions of Sujanagar. The brave freedom fighters attacked the Pakistanis and seized several firearms. At the same time, they attacked a cargo of Pak Army and destroyed the cargo by taking a position in the Padma River near Nazirganj and shot and killed 25/30 Pak Army personnel staying in the cargo. At the same time, the brave freedom fighters broke the Srikol bridge of Pabna Sadar and blocked the way of the invading forces from Pabna city to Sujanagar. From July 1, 1971, a series of isolated battles between the brave freedom fighters and the Pak Army took place. On December 9, Nazirganj Bazar and on December 11, 12 and 13, a frontal battle took place in the area of Sujanagar Pilot High School and Sujanagar Police Station. Sujanagar was liberated from the invaders on 14th December after three consecutive days of armed and bloody war in Sujanagar. In the war, brave freedom fighters Abu Bakar, Ibrahim Mustafa Kamal Dulal and Nurul Islam Nuru were martyred and several brave freedom fighters were crippled.Mass grave: In 13 villages of Satbaria Union, mass graves were created in numerous places of the region in the hellish genocide. Local freedom fighter commander Brave freedom fighter SM Shamsul Alam said, “He and other freedom fighters carried and buried hundreds of bodies after the incident that day. However, as most of the bodies were thrown into the river, the exact number of martyrs was not available. A mass grave was given in Sindurpur but this mass grave is no more due to the river erosion of Padma. There is a mass grave in front of Satbaria Union Parishad, but no official preservation initiative has been taken. Besides, there are some graves in Kuripara, Shyamnagar, Bhatpara area. ” He also said that among the martyrs, only 143 martyrs have been listed, out of which only one has been recognized as a freedom fighter, but that information is also incorrect.Initiatives to preserve memory: In 2013, the current government has constructed a monument of liberation war in Satbaria Degree College grounds at a cost of about 1 crore taka in memory of the martyrs of genocide and liberation war under the liberation war monument removal project. This monument was built when Ahmed Firoz Kabir, the current MP of Pabna-2 constituency and former upazila chairman and the eldest son of the late MP Ahmed Tafiz Uddin, was the chairman of the upazila parishad. This monument has total seven pillars. It refers to 7 Virashreshthas. The monument has seven pillars divided into different sections by different black borders. The black spot on 71 feet signifies 71 Great Liberation War, Language Movement of ’52, Great Independence Day on March 26, February 21, Great Victory Day on December 16 and 6 points. The current government built this structure as a memorial to the indiscriminate killings carried out by the Pakistani Junta forces on May 12, 1971, in which hundreds of innocent people were killed. When asked the then Upazila Chairman, current Pabna-2 Constituency Member of Parliament Ahmed Firoz Kabir MP about the construction of the monument, he said, “As a resident of Satbaria region, the responsibility of preserving the history of this area also falls on me. When I was elected as a public representative,I request the Ex Minister of Planning Air Vice Marshal AK Khandakar to build a memorial to preserve the memory of this genocide. I myself make the design and the theme of the entire memorial and give it to LGED. Later this memorial is built. I personally collect the list of martyrs and celebrate the Annual Genocide Day. I am thinking of various school and college based events to make the next generation of the region interested in the history of this Genocide.” People of this area have been celebrating this day on May 12 every year. They remember the martyrs of this genocide by organizing programs in local Satbaria schools and colleges and paying floral tributes at the memorials. Md. Abdul Baset, principal of Satbaria Degree College said that, ” on special days, tributes, discussion meetings, prayer ceremonies and remembrance ceremonies and floral greetings are given to the martyrs of the Liberation War. ”
Writer: Asheque Mahmud Shohan.
