A mass killing ground in Ataikula village of Naogaon's Raninagar upazila is in dire need of conservation works and lacks a proper monument where 52 people were massacred by Pakistani forces during the War of Liberation in 1971.
Despite five years having passed since the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ordered to conserve the killing ground and build a proper monument to honour the martyrs, no steps were taken in this regard by the authorities.
The families of the victims funded an austere boundary wall surrounding a modest memorial, built in 1996, which bears the name of the martyrs.
Praddut Chandra Pal, Sadhan Chandra Pal, and Nikhil Chandra Pal are injured victims in the mass killing incident who had barely managed to survive the massacre.
Praddut said: "On that day, Pakistani forces opened fire after lining me up with my father, uncle and other people of the village. I somehow survived after falling in the midst of the bodies and later managed to return home injured."
The war survivors were in tears when they were describing the incident to this correspondent.
On April 25, in 1971, a group of Pakistani soldiers crossed the Chhoto Jamuna River and arrived at Ataikula village.
Suspecting that freedom fighters were present, the soldiers surrounded the village and at first began plundering the valuables.
Afterwards, men were lined up in a yard of the village and the women were kept confined at a house.
With the women gang-raped and the men massacred, soldiers left the village after setting it on fire.
After former MP Shahin Monowara Haque, with support from locals, took an initiative to build a modest monument in 1996, the mass grave was not further developed as per its significance, said the families of the victims.
Goutam Pal, son of a martyr of the killing field, Gobinda Charan Pal, said several directives from the prime minister's office were issued to develop the mass grave.
The directives include: conserving the graves, building a proper monument, publishing a gazette notification about the list of martyrs in the village and providing financial assistance to the families of the martyrs.
"Due to problems faced in land acquisition the authorities failed to take any steps regarding the building of a monument and the conservation of the burial ground,” said Goutam, adding that he hopes that the work will begin soon.
Raninagar Upazila Nirbahi Officer Al Mamun said: “Work is in progress to implement the prime minister's directive. The Public Works department was instructed to acquire necessary land. Hopefully the conservation work and construction of a proper monument will begin very soon."
