Babla Bon mass grave slips into oblivion

The place sees a facelift only before special days like the Independence Day and the Victory Day. Then, as usual, it sinks into oblivion.

Babla Bon mass grave in Sreerampur area of Rajshahi city, bearing horrifying memories of the killing of at least 17 Bangalees by the Pakistan occupation forces in 1971, lies uncared for due to indifference of the authorities concerned.

Though a memorial was built there by Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) in 1995 to commemorate the fallen heroes of the nation, it mostly goes unnoticed.  

In the meantime, an illegal slum has developed behind the memorial, thanks to the negligence of the authorities concerned. One of the slum dwellers on condition of anonymity said she cleans the memorial when the authorities ask them to do so before the special days. 

“Most of the time, it [memorial] remains without care,” she said.

Every day, hundreds of people from the city and elsewhere visit the Sreerampur T-groyne area -- a tourist attraction near the mass grave -- to enjoy the beauty of the Padma river. But the memorial hardly attracts any of those visitors as it is left in a neglected state. 

A young visitor recently walked over the memorial stone -- oblivious to the presence of the mass grave.  

“I didn't know it was a mass grave. I walked over it on previous occasions too,” said the student of Rajshahi Government College, requesting anonymity.

Water Development Board has set up a barbed wire fence to protect a road to the T-groyne, but people have cut the fence adjacent to the memorial to be able to enter the T-groyne area.

The slum dwellers also dry their clothes on the fence, blocking the view of the memorial.

Moreover, a drain carrying raw waste from the slum flows by the memorial and pollutes the air with an overpowering stench -- enough to distract people from paying any attention to the memorial.   The Babla Bon mass grave was discovered on December 30, 1971, said Mostafijur Rahman Khan Alam, a freedom fighter and journalist who witnessed the discovery of the mass grave.

At least 17 decomposed corpses were found and 13 of them were tied up with a single rope, he said. The bodies had no bullet injuries, indicating that the martyrs were buried alive, he added.

The martyrs had been picked up by Pakistani military and their collaborators from their homes on November 25, 1971.

The martyrs include Rajshahi University teacher Mir Abdul Qaiyum, Nawrose-ud-Doula Khan, Taslim Uddin, Abul Hossain, Alauddin, Taiyab Ali, Mirza Sultan, Azizul Haque Chowdhury and Aminul Haque Chowdhury.

Asaf-ud-Doula Khan Gulzar, son of martyr Nawrose, said he identified his father's body having seen his ring.

Towfiqur Rahman Lavlu, a nephew of martyr Altaf Hossain, a businessman, said the Pakistan forces were angry with Altaf as he had been providing support and shelter to freedom fighters.

Bodies of the martyrs were buried elsewhere by their family members after those were recovered from the mass grave.

In 2010, former Rajshahi mayor AHM Khairuzzaman undertook a plan to protect the mass grave and build an attractive memorial at the site, but the plan could not be implemented due to a lack of initiative, said acting RCC Mayor Nijam-ul Azim.

“We will take the initiative again”, he said.

Family members of the martyrs urged the government to take steps so memories of the fallen heroes of the Liberation War are not lost through neglect.