25th MARCH! National Genocide Day

It's March 25th today. Day of the Massacre. At the end of this day in 1971, a terrible night had fallen in the life of the Bengali nation. At midnight, in accordance with the blueprint of their pre-planned Operation Searchlight, the barbaric Pakistani invading forces pounced on the unarmed Bengalis all over the country, including the capital Dhaka, with the despicable aim of silencing the voice of the Bengali nation forever. Many innocent people were massacred. On the night of March 25, the Pakistani invading forces started massacres in an attempt to wipe out the freedom aspirations of the Bangalees. Then came the nine-month armed war for Bangladesh's independence. Operation Searchlight was the armed campaign launched by the Pakistani military to wipe out the Bengali nation by mass killing on the night of 25 March. The operation was led by Major General Khadim Hussain Raja and Major General Rao Farman Ali. There are no written instructions.

                                                                     Photo: Amiya Tarafdar

The entire order of the massacre was communicated by word of mouth to the formation commander or the persons concerned. Much later, in 2012, Major General Khadim Hossain Raja published an autobiography titled 'A Stranger in My Own Country'. The autobiography, published by Oxford University Press, contains some information about Operation Searchlight for the first time.

"Recalling how Operation Searchlight was planned in 1971, Raja writes," "On March 17, it was around 10 am." Tikka Khan informed me and Major General Farman to go to the command house and meet him. After getting the news, we both met Tikka Khan. General Abdul Hamid Khan was also there. Tikka Khan told us that Sheikh Mujib's reconciliation talks with the president were not moving in a positive direction. The president wants us to prepare for military action and make a plan accordingly. We have not received any written or oral instructions. We were told that the next day, on the evening of March 18, both of us should discuss with the higher officials and finalize the plan. ' The very next morning, Khadim Hussain Raja sat with Rao Farman Ali in his office. They called it Operation Searchlight.

"American journalist Robert Payne wrote about the night of March 25," "That night 7000 people were killed, another 3000 were arrested."
During the process of resolving the political stalemate caused by the Pakistani junta's refusal to hand over power to the Awami League despite winning a majority of the votes in the 1970 general elections, the Pakistani army launched the infamous' Operation Searchlight ', a massacre of innocent Bengali civilians. The main objective of their operation was to kill all the conscious citizens including the Awami League and the progressive political leaders of the then East Pakistan. A tense situation is prevailing across the country, including Dhaka, since the afternoon. The army personnel were seen on duty since early morning. They returned to Dhaka Cantonment in the afternoon after visiting different cantonments of the country by helicopter.

The 22nd Baloch Regiment stationed at Pilkhana, the EPR headquarters in Dhaka, was seen taking positions at various places in Pilkhana. At midnight, Pakistani troops attacked Pilkhana, Rajarbagh and Nilkhet. The attackers captured Nilkhet and the university area with the help of tanks and mortars. The night of the city became terrible with the firing of the army machine guns, the shelling of the tank-mortar and the flames of the fire.
Even the students of Rokeya Hall were not spared by the Pakistani hyenas. ড. Govind Chandra Dev and Jyotirmoy Guha Thakurta, Prof. Santosh Bhattacharya, Dr. Nine teachers of different departments of the university, including Moniruzzaman, were brutally killed. The biggest incident of brutal killing took place at Jagannath Hall in DU. The firing continued from morning till evening.

President Yahya Khan secretly left Dhaka for Karachi after finalizing all the steps to implement the Operation Searchlight plan. At the beginning of the army operation, the invading forces arrested the undisputed leader of the Bangalee nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from his Dhanmondi residence. Before his arrest, Bangabandhu declared the independence of Bangladesh on March 26 (midnight of March 25) and called for resistance against the enemy at any cost.

Responding to Bangabandhu's call, Bangalees jumped into the war against the Pakistani invading forces and after nine months of armed struggle, independent Bangladesh was born on 16 December 1971.

Various programmes have been organised across the State to mark the day. On this occasion, a symbolic 'blackout' will be observed across the country from 11 pm to 11: 31 pm(For 1 minute). However, KPIs and emergency establishments will remain out of the purview of the programme. A discussion meeting on the Genocide Day was held at the Liberation War Museum at 10: 30am.

Commemoration and discussion meetings will be held in schools, colleges, madrasas and other educational institutions on March 25 in the voices of eminent personalities and freedom fighters. Rare photographs and documentaries on the genocide will be broadcast in all city corporations, including Dhaka. Apart from this, special prayers will be offered in all mosques and other places of worship after Zohr or at a convenient time, seeking forgiveness for the souls of those killed on the night of March 25, 1971. Similar programmes will be held at the district and upazila levels and at Bangladesh embassies abroad highlighting the significance of the day.

Written By: Sajid Hasan