The Shankharikathi massacre [ Khulna, Bangladesh ]

[ Reported as seen ]

On November 4, 1971, the Razakars massacred unarmed Hindu males at Shankharikathi market, Alukdia village, greater Khulna district, Bangladesh. The atrocity resulted in the deaths of 42 Hindus.

On 3 November, the Mukti Bahini raided a Razakar camp at Daibagyahati, which is presently in Bagerhat District’s Morrelganj Upazila. The Razakars caught Mahadev Saha, who happened to be from Alukdia village, during the raid. On the afternoon of November 4, an armed Razakar group from the Daibagyahati Razakar camp, headed by Commander Mujibur Rahman Mollah, came in Alukdia village with Mahadev Saha in custody. They surrounded the Shankharikathi market on three sides and apprehended around 90 Hindu guys of varying ages. The captured Hindus were tied up in pairs and forced to form a queue. The Razakars fired them with the sound of a whistle.

42 Hindus were killed, while the others were injured. The Razakars plundered and set fire to several of the nearby Hindu villages.

Local villagers rescued the injured from the Shankharikathi market on the evening of November 6. Later, the Razakars compelled the locals to transport the deceased’s bodies to the banks of the Bishkhali River, where they were buried.

On November 5, the tribunal charged Bagerhat residents Sirajul Huq alias Kashai Siraj, 72, Akram Hossain Khan, 61, and A Latif Talukder, 68, for their roles in crimes against humanity during the Liberation War.

The three commanders of Razakar, an auxiliary force of the Pakistan occupation army, face seven counts of crimes against humanity, including killing, genocide, looting, arson, rape, abduction, torture, and forced conversion of Hindus to Muslims in the Bagerhat district during the Liberation War.  The case’s investigative officer, ASP M Helal Uddin, has named 65 prosecution witnesses (PWs) to testify before the tribunal against the three defendants in order to substantiate the war crimes accusations.

The tribunal determined a prima facie case for trial after reviewing the formal charge, investigation report, and the papers, documents, and evidence produced by the prosecution in connection with the case. On September 15, the tribunal took cognizance of the offences of the 1971 war crimes against them.

Of the seven accusations, two have been made against all three of them for the deaths of 47 people, one against Akram and Latif for one person’s death, and four have been made against Sirajul alone for the murder of almost 600 people.