The nation is celebrating the 44th anniversary of its independence, but the Hossainpur killing field which bears the evidence of the brutality of Pakistani forces and their collaborators Razakar, Al-Badr and Al-Shams during the Liberation War, has remained been neglected for long.
As the memorial site located on the bank of the Brahmaputra River in , Hossainpur area, Kishoreganj has not been preserved properly, the place has now become a garbage site and a place for anti-social activities.
Locals said Hossainpur municipality authorities disposed garbage at the site and locals goons gathered there to consume abusive drugs such as heroin and hemp, but the district administration is yet to take measure to preserve the site as well as to stop anti-social activities there.
Family members of martyred have been demanding construction of a monument there for long.
Abdus Salam, a freedom fighter, said Pakistani forces and their collaborators Razakar, Al-Badr and Al-Shams had killed over 150 people on August 16, 1971 and dumped their bodies on the spot.
Modhusuhan Sarkar, a merchant at Hossainpur Bazar, businessmen - Monindra Chandra Shaha, Swadesh Chandra Shaha and student Satendranath Modak, among scores of unnamed people, who were tortured to death on that night.
Jewelery businessman Bhobotosh Chandra Sarkar said: “I along with my family members were taken to the place to shot dead. But three people of my family managed to jumped off the Brahmaputra River and save life. But my uncle Modhusuhan Sarkar was killed on that fateful night. The Pakistani forces shot my wife Bokul Rani and threw her into the river. Later, local people rescued her in a critical state. A few days later she gave birth to a mentally-challenged girl and died. Now, I am living a sub-human life with my daughter Lovely.”
He also said they had collected fund to construct a monument at the site. But the authorities concerned were yet to build a monument there. Moreover, the municipality authorities have made the spot as a garbage ground.
Narayanchandra Saha who lost 14 members of his family on that night also expressed dissatisfaction over the negligence of the authorities.
With a view to preserve the memory of martyrs, the then upazila nirbahi officer Sulekha Rani Bosu took an initiative to build a monument at the site and laid foundation there. But the project is yet to see the light.
Narayanchandra Saha said: “It is unfortunate that every year on the eve Victory Day, municipality authority clean the site and build a makeshift monument there to celebrate the Victory Day. The authorities should take measures to show honour to our martyrs.”
Torofdar Sohel Rahman, upazila nirbahi officer, said they would take initiative to construct a monument on the spot after the Victory Day.
On the night of December 16, freedom fighters led by Dr Masudul Kader and Dilip Sarkar entered the Kishoreganj town.
