The 55th death anniversary of five revolutionary activists—Comrades Asad, Shanti, Manik, Tojo and Fazlu—was observed in Jessore on Friday.
The program was held around noon at Chinatola in Monirampur upazila, where people paid tribute at the martyrs’ graves, observed a minute of silence and took an oath in their memory.
The Shaheed Smriti Rakkha Committee, Jessore district leaders of the Revolutionary Communist League, its Monirampur and Keshabpur upazila committees, Asad Smriti Sangha, district leaders of the Workers Party, and teachers and students of Garbhanga Girls’ Secondary School placed wreaths at the graves.
Cultural figure Harun-Or-Rashid recounted the martyrs’ lives. At a discussion afterwards, speakers called on people to draw inspiration from their sacrifices. They also urged all to uphold the martyrs’ spirit of struggle, selflessness and sacrifice.
According to media reports and local freedom fighters, six leftist activists—Asaduzzaman Asad, Mashikur Rahman Tojo, Sirajul Islam Shanti, Ahsanuddin Khan Manik, Fazlur Rahman Fazlu and Sirajul Islam—took part in the resistance against Pakistani forces during the 1971 Liberation War.
In October 1971, the group travelled from Dumuria in Khulna towards Jessore and took shelter at a house in Monirampur. Razakars, collaborators of the Pakistani army, led by local commander Abdul Malek Doctor, surrounded and captured them.
The activists were blindfolded and taken to the banks of the Harihar River near Chinatola, where they were subjected to brutal torture. Later, Asad, Tojo, Shanti, Manik and Fazlu were taken to a spot near the river and shot dead. Sirajul Islam escaped by jumping into the river. The five were buried at the site the following morning.
More than five decades after independence, their graves and memorials remain neglected, with no adequate state initiative to preserve their memory, leftist leaders said, expressing anger over the continued disregard.