Golahat massacre

Massacre in 1971 in Bangladesh

Golahat massacre
গোলাহাট গণহত্যা

Location| Golahat, Nilphamari, Bangladesh
Coordinates| 25°48′21″N 88°52′58″E﻿ / ﻿25.80583°N 88.88278°E﻿ / 25.80583; 88.88278
Date| 13 June 1971
10 a.m. (UTC+6:00)
Target| Hindus

Attack type

| Mass murder, Massacre
Weapons| Ram-daos, Bayonets
Deaths| 437
Perpetrators| Bihari Muslims, Pakistani Army

The Golahat massacre (Bengali: গোলাহাট গণহত্যা) was a massacre of 437 emigrating Hindu merchants and businessmen of Marwari ethnicity in Saidpur, East Pakistan on 13 June 1971, by the Urdu-speaking Muslim people of the area who had collaborated with the Pakistan army.[1][failed verification][2][3][4][failed verification]

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Violence against Hindus
in East Pakistan
and Bangladesh
Issues

* Religious persecution
* Ethnic relations
* Freedom of religion
* Religious violence
* Secularism
* Religious intolerance

Incidents after 1947 - East Pakistan

* 1950 Barisal Riots
* 1962 Rajshahi massacres
* 1964 East-Pakistan riots
* Sitakunda massacre
* Anderson Bridge massacre
* Muladi massacre

Incidents in 1971

* Adityapur massacre
* Akhira massacre
* Bagbati massacre
* Baria massacre
* Barguna massacre
* Bhimnali massacre
* Dakra massacre
* Demra massacre
* Dhapdhup massacre
* Gabha Narerkathi massacre
* Galimpur massacre
* Golahat massacre
* Hasamdia massacre
* Ishangopalpur massacre
* Jandi massacre
* Jathibhanga massacre
* Jogisho and Palsha massacre
* Ketnar Bil massacre
* Krishnapur massacre
* Nikli massacre
* Pomara massacre
* Ramna massacre
* Satanikhil massacre
* Sendia massacre
* Shankharibazar massacre
* Shankharikathi massacre
* Sree Angan massacre
* Suryamani massacre
* Sutrapur massacre

Incidents after 1971 - Bangladesh

* 1989 Bangladesh pogroms
* Nidarabad murder case
* 1990 Bangladesh anti-Hindu violence
* 1992 Bangladesh violence
* 2014 Bangladesh anti-Hindu violence
* 2016 Nasirnagar Violence
* 2021 Bangladesh communal violence

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## Background[edit]

Saidpur is a railway town and a commercial hub situated in the Nilphamari District of Rangpur division of Bangladesh. It is situated near Parbatipur, which was an important rail junction in undivided India, connecting the North East to the rest of the country. The Marwaris, attracted by the prospect of trade and commerce had settled in the town of Saidpur, long before the Partition of India. The Marwaris became a part of the local population and contributed to the society. In 1911, Tulsiram Agarwal had founded the Tulsiram Girls High School. Some of them had earned a respected position in the society because of their social work.[3] After the Partition, the Marwaris chose to stay back in East Pakistan, instead of emigrating to India. Thousands of Urdu-speaking Muslims from Bihar and the United Provinces settled in Saidpur.[4] In 1971, the Urdu speaking Muslims constituted 75% of the population of city.[5]

During the Bangladesh Liberation War, the Urdu-speaking Muslims openly collaborated with the Pakistanis. Saidpur became a strong support base for the Pakistani occupation army.[4] On 12 April, the Pakistani occupation army killed eminent Marwari citizens Tulsiram Agarwal, Yamuna Prasad Kedia and Rameshwar Lal Agarwal at Nisbetganj, near the Rangpur cantonment. The killings created a panic in the Marwari community. Their homes were looted by the Urdu-speaking Bihari Muslims.[3]

## Events[edit]

On 1 June, the Pakistani occupation army took hostage 185 Marwari men and transported them to the Saidpur cantonment. The Pakistanis were led by local Bihari leaders. Major Gul of the Pakistani occupation army employed them in renovation of the Saidpur airbase and digging trenches for military purposes. A few days later, Major Gul stated that he would send them to India through the border outpost at Haldibari. Meanwhile, on 5 June, the Pakistani occupation army announced that the Hindus of Saidpur would be provided a safe passage to India through the Chilahati border into the Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal.[3]

On the morning of 13 June, at about 6 a.m., the 185 prisoners were brought to the Saidpur railway station in four military trucks. They were assured a safe passage to India and asked to bring their family and relatives. They rushed to their houses in the joy of freedom and soon returned with their families. The Pakistani soldiers and the Bihari Muslims segregated the crowd into men and women. A special train had arrived at the Saidpur railway station at 8 a.m. They were boarded into separate compartments, two each for the men and the women. The doors and the windows were locked from inside. While boarding no less 20 married and unmarried women were detained by the Pakistani soldiers and later taken to the Saidpur cantonment.[3]

At about 10 a.m. the special train commenced its journey towards India. Soon after the journey had commenced, the train abruptly came to a halt over a railway culvert in Golahat, a locality in the outskirts of the Saidpur town, two kilometres of the Saidpur railway station. The doors of the compartments were opened and Bihari Muslims, armed with shining ramdaos entered the compartments. The entire area was surrounded by the Pakistani military, armed with automatic weapons. The Bihari Muslims abused the Hindus, calling them malaun and stated that their lives were not even worthy of a bullet.[3] The men, women and children were dragged out one by one. The Pakistani occupation army and their non-Bengali Muslim collaborators bayoneted and butchered them to death. The children who were crying out of fear were either smashed on the railway tracks or flung into the air and then caught with bayonets.[2]

There is some confusion regarding the number of people killed in the Golahat massacre. According to the Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha and Prothom Alo 437 Hindus were killed in the massacre.[2][3] However, Sarmila Bose mentioned a figure of 338, quoting from an account of Dwarka Prasad Singhania, Marwari businessman of Saidpur.[6] Only ten from those who boarded the train could escape. They ran towards Dinajpur and finally took shelter in India.

## Memorial[edit]

In 2010, Prajanma 71 and Saidpur Smaranika Parishad commemorated the martyrdom of the victims through puja and anjali at the mass killing site at Golahat.[3] No memorial has been erected even after 40 years of the Liberation War.[4] The relics of the massacre are being lost. Local land sharks have encroached upon the site of mass killing and started cultivation.[4] Sumit Agarwala, the president of Saidpur Smaranika Parishad demanded a national memorial at the mass killing site.[3]

## References[edit]

1. ^ Uddin, Jasim (June 13, 2011). সৈয়দপুরে আজ গোলাহাট গণহত্যা দিবস. bdreport24.com. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
2. ^ a b c Islam, Mamun (December 5, 2011). গোলাহাটের নৃশংসতম গণহত্যা : যুদ্ধাপরাধীদের বিচারের আশায় ৪৩৭ শহীদের স্বজনরা [Golahat genocide: the hope that the war crimes trial of 437 relatives of martyrs]. Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha. Archived from the original on September 15, 2017. Retrieved February 4, 2012.
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Alam, M. R. (June 15, 2010). অপারেশন খরচাখাতা [Operation Kharacakhata]. Prothom Alo. Archived from the original on June 18, 2010. Retrieved February 4, 2012.
4. ^ a b c d e Lutu, Tofazzal Hossain. অবহেলায় হারিয়ে যাচ্ছে সৈয়দপুরের গোলাহাট বধ্যভূমির স্মৃতিচিহ্ন. Dainik Karatoa. Retrieved February 4, 2012.
5. ^ "Welcome to Saidpur". saidpurbd.com. Archived from the original on January 28, 2012. Retrieved February 4, 2012.
6. ^ Bose, Sarmila (2010). Dead Reckoning: Memories of 1971 Bangladesh War. Columbia University Press. pp. 137–138. ISBN 978-0-231-70164-8. "A published account by a Marwari businessman of Saidpur, Dwarka Prasad Singhania ... [alleges] that on 13 June 1971, 338 Marwari men, women and children were massacred in a train at Golahat rail factory."

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Bangladesh genocide

Perpetrators|

| Organizers|

* Yahya Khan
* Tikka Khan
* Rao Farman Ali

|

Executors|

* Abdul Quader Molla
* Abul Kalam Azad
* Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed
* Delwar Hossain Sayeedi
* Fazlul Quader Chowdhury
* Ghulam Azam
* Motiur Rahman Nizami
* Muhammad Kamaruzzaman
* Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury
* Ashrafuz Zaman Khan
* Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin

Organizations|

* Pakistan Army
* Jamaat-e-Islami
* Razakars
* East Pakistan Central Peace Committee
* Al Badr
* Al Shams

Massacres|

| Barisal Division|

* Barguna
* Bhimnali
* Gabha Narerkathi
* Ketnar Bil
* Suryamani

|

Chittagong Division|

* Comilla Cantonment
* Muzaffarabad
* Pomara
* Bakhrabad

Dhaka Division|

* Bakchar
* Baria
* Char Bhadrasan
* Dhaka University
* Hasamdia
* Ishangopalpur
* Jandi
* Jinjira
* Madhyapara
* Nikli
* Ramna
* Satanikhil
* Sendia
* Shankharibazar
* Sree Angan
* Sutrapur
* Terosree massacre

Khulna Division|

* Chuknagar
* Dakra
* Shankharikathi

Rajshahi Division|

* Bagbati
* Demra
* Karai Kadipur
* Gopalpur
* Jogisho and Palsha

Rangpur Division|

* Akhira
* Dhapdhup
* Golahat
* Jathibhanga
* Kaliganj

Sylhet Division|

* Adityapur
* Burunga
* Galimpur
* Krishnapur
* Makalkandi
* Naria

Notable victims|

* Altaf Mahmud
* Anudvaipayan Bhattacharya
* Anwar Pasha
* Dhirendranath Datta
* Govinda Chandra Dev
* Harinath Dey
* Jogesh Chandra Ghosh
* Jyotirmoy Guhathakurta
* Laxman Das
* Mufazzal Haider Chaudhury
* Munier Choudhury
* Ranada Prasad Saha
* Santosh Chandra Bhattacharya
* Selina Parvin
* Shahidullah Kaiser
* more

Protests|

* Movement demanding trial of war criminals
* 2013 Shahbag protests

Trials|

* Hamoodur Rahman Commission
* International Crimes Tribunal

Related events|

* Bangladesh Liberation War
* Blood Telegram
* Concert for Bangladesh
* Operation Searchlight
* Persecution of Biharis
* Persecution of Hindus
* Rape during the Bangladesh Liberation War
* Remembrance Day

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