Jinjira massacre was a planned killing of civilians by the
Pakistan army during the
Bangladesh liberation war of
1971. The killing took place at the unions Jinjira, Kalindi and Shubhadya of
Keraniganj Upazila across the
Buriganga River from
Dhaka[1].
Background
The
1971 Bangladesh atrocities began as the Pakistan army launched
Operation Searchlight on 25 March 1971 to suppress the
Bengali uprising in the then
East Pakistan. As a reaction, people from Dhaka flocked to Keraniganj on the other side of the river. The union Jinjira and nearby areas were inhabited by a large number of Hindu families
[1]. The elements of Pakistan army, now in control of Dhaka city after the crackdown of 25 March marked Jinjira and surrounding area as a target for military operation.
Massacre
The army started to amass forces around Keraniganj from the midnight of 1 April
[2]. They took control of the Mitford Hospital by the river. At around 5 am they commenced the attack by throwing flair from the roof of the mosque adjecent to the hospital
[1]. The army moved into Jinjira and opened fire on people. The massacre continued for nearly nine hours. One of the largest such execution took place beside a pond near the Nandail Dak street where 60 people were lined up and shot. The soldiers also fire on the houses using
gun powder[2]. More than a thousand people died in this massacre
[3].
Cover-up in the Pakistani media
In the night of 2 April
Pakistan Television broadcast news about strong military action against separatist miscreants taking shelter at Jinjira of Keraniganj on the other side of Buriganga
[1]. On 3 April The Morning News came up with the headline, "Actions taken against miscreants at Jinjira
No comments:
Post a Comment