Ramna massacre ( bn, রমনা গণহত্যা) was the massacre of
Bengali Hindus
Bengali Hindus ( bn, বাঙ্গালী হিন্দু/বাঙালি হিন্দু, translit=Bāṅgālī Hindu/Bāṅāli Hindu) are an ethnoreligious population who make up the majority in the Indian states of West Benga ...
who lived in the region around the
Ramna Kali Temple in
East Pakistan
East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...
by the Pakistani army on the night of 27 March, 1971.
It is estimated that around 250 Hindus were killed in the massacre.
Background
The village around the Ramna Kali temple was an ancient Hindu settlement at the centre of the Dhaka Race Course. It was inhabited by around 250 Hindu men, women and children. Even in the most deadliest of Hindu-Muslim riots in Dhaka, the village has remained unaffected.
Events
Dr. John E. Rohde of USAID, who visited the place on 29 March, witnessed charred corpses of men, women and children who had been killed by machine guns and then set on fire.
The Pakistani army doused the temple with petrol and gunpowder and set it on fire, along with around 50 cows. 101 Hindus including the priest of the
Ramna Kali temple were killed.
Memorial
![Martyrs Cenotaph - Ramna Kali Mandir and Anandamayee Ashram - Ramna Park - Dhaka 2015-05-31 2125](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Martyrs_Cenotaph_-_Ramna_Kali_Mandir_and_Anandamayee_Ashram_-_Ramna_Park_-_Dhaka_2015-05-31_2125.JPG)
A memorial in front of the makeshift temple lists the names of 69 persons killed in the massacre. On 27 March 2011, a memorial service was held in the compound of the Ramna Kali temple in honour of the victims of the Ramna massacre.
References
{{1971 Bangladesh genocide, state=expanded
1971 in Bangladesh
Massacres of Bengali Hindus in East Pakistan
1971 Bangladesh genocide
Massacres committed by Pakistan in East Pakistan
March 1971 events in Bangladesh