Sutrapur massacre ( bn, সূত্রাপুর গণহত্যা) was the massacre of unarmed

Bengali Hindu 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 ...

residents of Malakartola Lane of Sutrapur in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

on 27 March 1971. The Pakistan army shot dead fourteen

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 ...

and one Muslim in the Loharpool bridge of Sutrapur.

Background

The Sutrapur locality is part of old Dhaka. In 1971, it had a significant Hindu population, most of whom were well established. After the Partition, several non-Bengali Muslim families too began to stay in Sutrapur. In the evening of 25 March, the Pakistan army launched

Operation Searchlight Operation Searchlight was the codename for a planned military operation carried out by the Pakistan Army in an effort to curb the Bengali nationalist movement in former East Pakistan in March 1971. Pakistan retrospectively justified the opera ...

. They shelled different parts of the city and resorted to cold blooded killings. On the next day, the Pakistan army shelled the Sutrapur police station compound. Some of the policemen died while the rest fled. The Pakistan army converted the Sutrapur police station to an army camp.

Killings

Since the army crackdown began on the evening of 25 March, curfew had been promulgated in the city. On the morning of 27 March the curfew was relaxed for a few hours. Many local residents took the opportunity to flee to the countryside across the Buriganga river. In the afternoon, eleven

were rounded up from Malakartola Lane by the Pakistan Army and brought to the Biharilal Jiu's temple. Among them was Dr. Harinath Dey, research scientist and former professor of biochemistry at the

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...

. In the evening they were taken to the army camp in Sutrapur police station and forced to kneel down for several hours. A few other detainees were confined in the camp in a similar manner. At around 10pm, a group of Pakistani soldiers descended from the upstairs and marched the detainees to the Loharpool bridge. The detainees were made to stand in a line at the end of the bridge and burst fired. The bullet ridden bodies fell on the Dholai canal. Harinath Dey was killed on the spot. Paresh Chandra Das, an engineer with the Dhaka Electricity Development Board, miraculously survived. The Hindu residences of Malakartola were looted. The image and the marble floors of the Biharilal Jiu temple was looted.

Memorial

In 2010, a mural was painted at the Malakartola crossing in memory of the victims.

References

{{Coord, 23.7022, N, 90.4185, E, region:BD_type:edu, display=title 1971 Bangladesh genocide Massacres of Bengali Hindus in East Pakistan 1971 in Bangladesh Massacres in 1971 1970s in Dhaka Old Dhaka Massacres committed by Pakistan in East Pakistan March 1971 events in Bangladesh