15-day Manikganj Bijoy Mela begins today

A 15-day-long 'Muktijuddher Bijoy Mela' will begin today on the occasion of Manikganj free day.

State Minister for Health and Family Welfare Jahid Maleque Swapan will inaugurate the function as the chief guest, said the organisers.

On this day in 1971, the district was freed from the occupation of Pakistani forces.

The valiant freedom fighters hoisted the national flag of independent Bangladesh atop the Primary Training Institute in the district town on this day.

Under the leadership of Captain Abdul Halim Chowdhury, the freedom-loving people of the district prepared to resist the Pakistani troops in March 1971.

On November 11, the occupation forces swooped on Terosree village in Ghior upazila and killed 43 people, including Siddheswary Prosad Roy Chowdhury, a former zaminder of the area.

In the last week of November during the Liberation War, fresh groups of freedom fighters entered different areas of Manikganj and defeated the Pakistani army in a few battles. Finally, they declared the then sub-division free on December 13.