Pabna won freedom today
Today, the 18th of December, marks the day when Pabna was liberated from Pakistani occupation forces in 1971.
Pabna saw the long-awaited victory two days after the enemy forces surrendered to the joint forces of Bangladesh and India in Dhaka on December 16.
While the Pakistani occupation forces surrendered in most parts of the country by December 16, they did not do so in Pabna until December 18, fearing retaliatory attacks by freedom fighters, said local freedom fighter and journalist Robiul Islam Robi.
The enemy troops had holed up in Wapda premises in Pabna and in Ishwardi and put up resistance against advancement of the Mukti Bahini until the former finally surrendered to the Indian forces on December 18.
Soon afterwards, the freedom fighters entered in the district headquarters through various points and hoisted the national flag of Bangladesh atop the deputy commissioner’s office building, he added.
During the Liberation War, the Pakistani forces and their local collaborators in the district killed several thousand freedom fighters and civilians.
They killed at least 900 people in Demra Bazar of Faridpur upazila, 400 in Satbaria village of Sujanagar upazila, 250 in Sagarkandi of Sujanagar upazila, 200 in Hadal village of Faridpur upazila and over 200 people in Handial village of Chatmohar upazila.
A war memorial named “Durjoy Pabna” was built at the Pabna DC office, where people of Pabna gather to pay homage to the sons of the soil, said Habibur Rahman Habib, former commander of Muktijoddha Sangsad’s Pabna district unit.
Different organisations are celebrating the Pabna liberation day today in a befitting manner, he added.
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