Wapda massacre: Memories still haunt survivors 53 years later
Even 53 years after Bangladesh's independence, the chilling memories of the Wapda massacre continue to haunt Jagannath Dey, an artist by profession.
According to freedom fighters and eyewitnesses, around 5,000-7,000 people were killed at the Wapda army camp on the bank of Barishal's Kirtankhola river in 1971. The bodies of freedom fighters and civilians were dumped in the river and a surrounding canal almost every other day, they added.
In 1971, the Pakistani occupation forces turned the then Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) compound in Barishal into a torture and execution centre.
Around 5,000-7,000 people were killed at the Wapda army camp on the bank of Barishal's Kirtankhola river in 1971.
THE LUCKY ESCAPE
"On August 12, 1971, a jeep of Pakistan army stopped at the city's Bazar Road. The army men then broke the doors of houses and took many people, including me, to the army camp in Wapda area. We were all waiting to meet a cruel death," said Jagannath.
Back then, Jagannath was a rising artist. "After breaking into our home, the army looked for my sisters. But I had already sent them to a safer place. They did not find my sisters and took me to the army camp."
"Many others were there -- being inhumanely tortured. The sound of gunshots wailed now and then."
For those held captive at the Wapda camp, being gunned down was considered a stroke of "luck". For many of the captives, death was preferable to the horrors that awaited them inside, said Jagannath, who prayed for death himself, believing it to be the only escape from the unimaginable suffering.
In the middle of this nightmare, Jagannath received an unexpected reprieve. A Pakistani soldier recognised him as an artist. Pakistan's Independence Day was on August 14, and the regiment needed someone to decorate their compound for the celebrations. The soldier brought him before the major who was in charge.
The major tasked him with decorating a gate, with the following theme "Pakistani victory over the Indian army in a war". Jagannath, desperate for survival, complied. His artistic skills became his unlikely escape card.
THE LOST FRIENDS
Sounds of gunshots, and groans of dying people were followed by an almost everlasting silence.
MAG Kabir Bhulu, a freedom fighter, is another individual who survived the massacre. "In May 1971, my friend Anwar and I were brought to Wapda Army Camp in Barishal city along with many others. I was earlier tortured a lot at Gourandi camp. I could hardly walk," he recalled.
One morning, soldiers dragged Anwar away from the torture cell along with a few others. What followed was the sounds of gunfire and desperate screams and cries of those being killed. Anwar was never seen again.
"The then student leader Feroz Kabir was also shot dead in the same way," said Bhulu.
"The army would take 25-30 people to the bank of a canal nearby in the early morning every day, shoot them to death, and throw their bodies in the canal," he added.
THE MARTYRED FATHER
Shafiur Rahman Jamal, a resident of Kalishchandra area of the city, lost his father at Wapda camp.
Pakistani soldiers stormed Jamal's home, searching for his father -- Mujibur Rahman Kanchan, a prominent theatre artist. Failing to catch Mujibur, the occupation forces detained Jamal and his brother instead, taking them to the dreaded Wapda camp.
There, they gave a horrifying ultimatum: release of the sons in exchange of their father's surrender, or else…On Eid, their father walked into the camp, knowing very well the fate that awaited him. He was ready to sacrifice himself for his sons' freedom. Mujibur was brutally tortured and killed.
Malti Rani, the then cleaner of Wapda camp, said the air inside the compound would often become heavy with the sound of weeping women.
Mahafuz Alam Beg, sub-sector commander of Sector-9, said, "After independence, when we visited the camp on December 18, we recovered several dead bodies of naked women, along with human bones and hair."
A Liberation War memorial was built at the spot in 2017, costing Tk 3.31 crore.