RAJSHAHI, April 13, 2024 (BSS)- People of Charghat observed Genocide Day here

today (Saturday) remembering a mass killing by Pakistani army in Thanapara
area under Charghat upazila of the district on April 13 in 1971.
 
Local freedom fighters and cultural activists joined a discussion and Milad
Mahfil organised by the Charghat Upazila Awami League in Charghat.

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 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-kilometer 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 a number of 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
that is now Bangladesh Police Academy.
 
A Monument was installed in the Thanapara area in memory of the martyred.