A story in 1971 war of Bangladesh

This recount I am about to tell, would bring into the fore one more time the inhuman butchery and atrocities committed by the Pakistan army as I witnessed with my own eyes.

In 1971, I was a student at EPUET (now BUET) and staying at Shere-e- Bangla Hall. Just a few days before that the political problems engulfed East Pakistan as General Yahya steadfastly refused to accept the mandate of the people of East Pakistan for full autonomy. It was the exam time and we ware preparing for my 2nd year examination, many students staying their own residential halls for prepareation.

On the eve of 25th March, 1971, I went to bed a bit early at night. Suddenly at around 11.00 P.M, my deep slumber was disturbed by the noise of a constant barrage of gunfire. At first, I thought that it must be the firecrackers by Bengalese to celebrate the victory. But soon I realized my mistake. I opened the window. It was very dark. I could see military men all around the campus. Then, all on a sudden a hail of bullet shattered the nearby window. The bullets hit the ceiling and walls and I lied on my chest and grabbed the floor as if that was my life. The firing continued incessantly for almost 3.00 A.M or so, in the morning I came In front of the Jagannath Hall lawn I saw a huge mass grave. The grave was so fresh and shallow that we could see some half buried corpse. Some hands and feet protruding from under the soil due to the consolidation of soil, I guess. It was a grotesque scene, to put it mildly. I do not know how many people were buried there. Judging from the size of the grave, my guess was at least a few hundreds.

Let us not forget these killing fields. Let us not forget the sacrifice of 3 million people who shed enough blood to change the verdure of monsoon drenched land of Bengal. They certainly gave their lives so that we can enjoy the fruits of freedom.