Lalmonirhat free day today
The previous day, while fleeing, Pakistani occupation forces damaged a portion of the Teesta railway bridge with bombs
Today on December 6 in 1971, freedom fighters declared Lalmonirhat, a northern district bordering India, free from occupation of Pakistan forces.
The headquarters of Sector 6 of the Mukti Bahini, liberation forces of Bangladesh, was located in Lalmonirhat’s Burimari Hasor Uddin High School in Patgram upazila.
Freedom fighter Abdul Karim, 75, a retired railway employee in Lalmonirhat town, said at the time, many non-Bengali Urdu-speaking people, mostly railway employees, lived in the town as railway’s divisional office was situated there.
During the Liberation War, with the help of those people, Pakistani occupation forces launched attacks on Bangalees, picked up women by force and tortured Bangalees at torture cells, he also said.
Shafiqul Islam Mantu, 71, a platoon commander of the freedom fighters and a resident of Thana Road in the town, said as directed by Sector Commander Air Marshal Khademul Bashar, the freedom fighters attacked Pakistan forces at different points in the district on December 3.
Two days later, on December 5, the Pakistanis started fleeing Lalmonirhat and on their way out, they damaged a portion of railway bridge on the Teesta river with bombs, he added.
Abu Bakkar, a commander of the freedom fighters in Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila, said at dawn on December 6, they declared Lalmonirhat free and hoisted Bangladesh national flag in the town while chanting “Joy Bangla”.