Chuknagar massacre

Chuknagar massacre (Bengali: চুকনগর হত্যাকান্ড) was a massacre committed by the Pakistan Army during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. The massacre took place on 20 May 1971 at Dumuria in Khulna[1] and it was one of the largest massacres during the war.[2] The exact number of persons killed in the massacre is not known. Academic Sarmila Bose dismisses claims that 10,000 were killed as "unhelpful", and argues that the reported number of attackers could have shot no more than several hundred people before running out of ammunition.[3] The majority of people killed in the massacre were men, although an unknown number of women and children were murdered as well.[4]

Chuknagar Massacre
Location	Chuknagar, Khulna, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)
Date	20 May 1971 (UTC+6:00)
Target	Mostly Bengali Hindus
Attack type	Burst fire, mass murder, massacre
Weapons	Light machine guns, semi-automatic rifles
Deaths	8,000–10,000
Perpetrators	Pakistan Army, Razakars

Massacre

Chuknagar is a small town at Dumuria of Khulna, adjacent to the Indian border. After the start of the war many people fled from Khulna and Bagerhat. They crossed Bhodra River and arrived at Chuknagar to cross the border using Satkhira Road. By 15 May 1971 large numbers of refugees from nearby localities gathered at Chuknagar, as rumors broke out of an impending Pakistani attack. On 20 May, around 10:00, a group of 10-30 Pakistani military personnel equipped with semiautomatic rifles and light machine gun came on around three trucks. They stopped at a place called Jhautala (then known as Pathkhola) at the left corner of the Chuknagar Bazaar. Then they opened fire on the Pathkhola grounds and later moved to Chuknagar Bazaar and continued firing until 15:00.

Many people drowned as they jumped into the river in a largely futile attempt to flee the carnage. Local people, later disposed of the dead bodies by throwing them into the river.[4]

Memorial

A memorial was built to pay homage to the people who died in the massacre. The memorial is called Chuknagar Shohid Smritishoudho or Chuknagar martyred memorial.[1]

See also

• List of massacres in Bangladesh

References

1. Rahman, Md Mujibur (20 May 2013), ২০ মে চুকনগর গণহত্যা দিবস [20 May Chuknagar Day Massacre], The Daily Janakantha (in Bengali), archived from the original on 4 March 2016, retrieved 15 October 2015
2. "Chuknagar genocide day observed", New Age, p. 11, 21 May 2006, archived from the original on 23 October 2007
3. Sarmila Bose (2011), Dead Reckoning: Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh War, London: Hurst and Co, p. 124, ISBN 978-1-84904-049-5
4. Sarmila Bose (2011), Dead Reckoning: Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh War, London: Hurst and Co, pp. 119–122, ISBN 978-1-84904-049-5

Further reading

• Tripathi, Salil (2016). The Colonel Who Would Not Repent: The Bangladesh War and Its Unquiet Legacy. Yale University Press. pp. 118–124. ISBN 978-0-300-21818-3.