Pabna people want recognition of country’s first resistance fight
The first resistance fight from Bangalis during the 1971 Liberation War was in Pabna at the then “Pabna Telephone Exchange office” in the town’s Gopalpur area, which killed many trained troops of the occupational Pakistan army who carried out genocide across Bangladesh.
On March 28 in 1971, thousands of people from all walks of life fought with lethal weapons against Pakistan’s first contingent in Pabna.
But, the heroic role of Pabna people is yet to be recognised. Even the building was not placed in the list of historic places.
“When a newcomer passes though the building, now abandoned, he or she will not feel anything special,” freedom fighter Baby Islam, one of the commanders who lead the fight, told The Daily Star.
But when freedom fighters see the building, they feel pain due to the sorry state of the building, he added.
Thousands of brave people of Pabna on the day cordoned off the occupational force inside the building and killed 40 to 43 trained Pakistani troops and freed the town just at the beginning of the Liberation War, he said.
“We did not fear of our lives and kept the town free from the Pakistan army for about 10 days,” Baby added.
“The residents of Pabna started taking preparation to fight against Pakistan army just after Bangabandhu’s historic announcement on March 7,” he said.
“When the crackdown had begun in Dhaka, we regrouped our people and managed few personal firearms, lethal weapons including bamboo sticks, Dao and Boti to fight against the occupation troops,” he said.
“As soon as the troops entered the district headquarters on March 25, people got together to resist the force. Seeing their indomitable spirit and insatiable thirst to fight back, the incumbent deputy commissioner at the time, Nurul Kader Khan, organised locals and provided access to the arms’ depot inside Pabna Police line in order to arm the locals,” Baby Islam added.
A big battle took place in front of the Pabna Telephone Exchange from March 27 to March 28, he said.
On March 29, in a desperate move, Pakistan forces administered an air attack to save their troops. About 200 soldiers were stranded in Pabna with their fates sealed at their camp.
“Around five to six people were martyred during the air strike,” said Rabiul Islam Rabi, one of the heroes of the battle, adding that Pabna remained free from the occupation troops from March 29 to April 9, 1971.
“It is true that the Pakistani troops along with their local collaborators conducted massacres in the district from April 10 till the final victory,” he said.
The people of Pabna always feel proud of the country’s first resistance fight, the freedom fighter said.
Surprisingly, the historic place of the then telephone exchange, now an abandoned place used to abuse drugs, brings sorrow to the freedom fighters who led the resistance fight.
The heroic movement could not be recognised nationally although it was one of the significant ones of the liberation war, freedom fighter Rezaul Karim expressed his sorrow.
“We urge the government to recognise the war for the sake of the heroic role of Pabna mass people”, he added.