Pakistani occupation forces brutally attacked unarmed civilians on the dark night of March 25, 1971.

DHAKA, March 25, 2025 (BSS) – A former police official recalled how the Pakistani occupation forces had launched a brutal crackdown on unarmed Bangalees on the black night of March 25, 1971, initially exposing the nation to a state of bewilderment about its existence.

“On the black night of March 25, 1971, the Pakistani military forces emerged from the Jashore cantonment and attacked the unarmed Bangalee people and killed them indiscriminately,” said former Addle Inspector General of Police valiant freedom fighter Md Abdul Mabud. 

Revisiting his memories during the 1971 Liberation War at an interview with BSS recently, he recalled that Pakistani soldiers arrested the then member of the National Assembly from Jashore Mashiur Rahman that black night and took him to the Jashore cantonment.

“On April 7, I went to Bangaon city in India. After staying in Bangaon for a few days, I went to 8 Number Theatre Road in Kolkata,” Mabud recounted, saying he met Shahjahan Siraj and other national and student leaders there. 

“They advised me to prepare myself mentally to take training for war,” he recalled.

Mabud said he along with the 2nd batch of 125 freedom-seeking trainees from Jashore, Khulna and Kushtia districts led by Bangladesh Liberation Force (BLF) members went to the Military Training Academy at Tandua in Dehradun.

On the inaugural day of the training, he recalled that Major General Oban, the Chief of the State Security Department of India, addressed them.

“We received training at Tandua, a place in the picturesque Dehradun hills of northern India, under the direct supervision of General Oban and with the support of the then Mountain Army. After completing the training, we returned to Barrackpore in Kolkata,” he said.

In mid-August, he along with his team returned to Bangladesh from Barrackpore to join the war.

Mabud took charge as the commander of Sharsha thana in Jashore and set up a base at a place called Sharatola apart from another base at Bahadurpur.

“We provided military training to enthusiastic youths from 117 villages including Sharatola, Bahadurpur, Ramchandrapur, Narkel Bariya, Shalta, Shikharpur, Laxmanpur and Nizampur, and prepared them for participation in the war,” he recalled.

Among the BLF members trained up in Dehradun, Nazrul Islam (former DIG, Chittagong Range), Mohitul Islam, Khabir Ahmed (Professor, Navaron College), Moniruzzaman (businessman), Bablu (Chairman of Jana Pratidhi), Babla, Keramat Ali, Shahid Rawshan, Shahid Abdul Hamid, Azgar Ali (retired Rakhi Bahini officer) and Iku (businessman) joined the Liberation War in the Sharsha area.

“After receiving training, we entered Bangladesh and strengthened our position first. Then we launched a late-night attack on a moving Pakistani army truck with our forces at Gadkhali area in Jhikargachha,” said Mabud.

He added: “We then quickly withdrew our members from there and returned to Sharatala. Later, we came to know that a Pakistani truck was destroyed in the attack and several army members were seriously injured”.

Among the notable incidents, the battles in Gorpara and Gatipara in the Sharsha thana area are remarkable.

“At one stage, the Pakistani army tracked our location and with the support of force artillery of the army’s company 1 advanced to Gorpara in October to attack our position. But we built a small fort at Gorpara and resisted the Pakistani army from crossing the small Betna River,” Mabud said.

To gear up the battle, the heroic freedom fighter said he and his companion Fazlu went to the border of Bangladesh, about 7 km away from Gorpara at Barai, and met with Major Huda (later Colonel), an officer of the Bangladesh army.

“Later, the Indian Army Commander sent a platoon of Indian Army men with me under the command of a Force Captain to Gorpara and we continued to receive artillery support from Boyra,” Mabud added.

After 3 days of continuous fighting, he said, the Pakistani army members withdrew their positions and returned to their army unit in Navaran. “One of our freedom fighters embraced martyrdom in this war. His tomb is still located in front of Bahadurpur Mosque,” Mabud added.

“Meanwhile, news was broadcast on Pakistan Radio that although 38 of their soldiers were killed, we were all wiped out,” he recalled, saying, in that battle, the BLF members spent a lot of ammunition and later went to the Area Headquarters Barrackpore to collect ammunitions.

“In the first week of November, the Pakistani army members again prepared to attack our position. They advanced 4km from Navaran towards our position at a place called Gatipara. We also quickly received artillery support from Boyra and after about 7 hours of continuous fighting, the Pakistani army members returned to Navaran,” he said.

Mabud added: “At that time we attacked in full force and came to learn that six to seven members of the Pakistan Army were killed in our firing. After that, the Pakistan Army members never dared to advance towards our position. Thus we declared the vast area under the Sharsha thana free from the Pakistani army”.

He recalled that when the local youths started joining the war after being trained, the need for arms became more urgent. “For this purpose, we attacked the Razakars patrolling at various places and collected about 30 rifles,” Mabud said.

He also recalled that he occasionally went to Barrackpore in Kolkata during the war to collect weapons and ammunition. “On December 6, 1971, our Sharsha thana area and the entire Jashore district became free from the enemy,” Mabud said.

On that day, Tajuddin Ahmed, the first Prime Minister of independent Bangladesh, and his three cabinet members, Captain M Mansur Ali, Kamruzzaman, and Sharsha's National Parliament Member Tabibur Rahman Sardar arrived in Benapole in an open jeep at around 10 am from Kolkata.

“I and my other freedom-loving colleagues warmly welcomed the first Prime Minister of Bangla to the soil of Bangla,” Mabud recounted his memory.

The then President of Pakistan, General Yahya Khan, convened the first session of elected representatives on March 3, 1971, to draft a constitution. But later, the session was arbitrarily and illegally adjourned for sine die.

The people of Bangla were shocked by this sudden announcement and being emboldened by the 6-point demand, they became desperate for independence.

Mabud recalled that against the 23 years of misrule, tyranny, and oppression, 7.5 crore Bangalees started fighting to be free from the heinous conspiracies of foreign and Western colonialists to survive as independent nation.

At that time, he said, everyone expressed their solidarity with the first manifesto issued by the Chhatra Samaj and the entire area was reverberated with the slogans- “Long live independent and sovereign Bangladesh” and “Make independent, make independent, and make Bangladesh independent”.

The slogans also included “Build forts in villages, form liberation forces”, “Brave Bangalees take up arms, liberate Bangladesh”, “If you want to get liberation, Bangalees must unite”, and “May Bangla and Bangalees win”.