Liberation War: The murder of Saint Sudharam and his twenty devotees

Sri Sri Sudharam Baba was a Hindu ascetic. While he was quite known among the people of Old Dhaka, he also had countless devotees and disciples throughout the country. Despite being a Hindu saint, he was respected by Muslims as well. Although there are no books dedicated to him, many stories about him are passed on through local traditions.

Locals in Old Dhaka say that he arrived in Sutrapur around 1950-52. No one knew where he was born or where he came from. He did not have a home. His devotees would provide him shelter, taking him to their homes if he liked their company. He would stay at different houses in Old Dhaka, mostly at the house of a devotee named Shridham Pal in Sutrapur. It was there that Sudharam Baba's ashram was established.

Due to his spiritual practices and religious knowledge, he gained a large following in Old Dhaka and other parts of the country. Devotees visited him for guidance and to learn about religious matters. Most of the time, he remained immersed in meditation. These stories were shared with me by a goldsmith from Shakhari Bazar. I asked him if he had passed away. He replied that during the Liberation War, Sudharam Baba disappeared from the ashram. Locals believed that he had vanished, stating that he was no ordinary person. As a saint, he could not die, but had merely transformed his physical form.

After hearing this, my interest in him grew. When I searched for "Sudharam Baba" online, I found an article in Bhorer Kagoj written by Lieutenant Colonel (Retd.) Kazi Sazzad Ali Zahir Bir Protik, a recipient of the Independence Award. He wrote, "In the Sutrapur area, there lived a Hindu saint, Sri Sri Sudharam, whom the locals called 'Sadhu Sudharam Baba.' He was always engaged in religious work. He would meditate late into the night with his devotees at the house of his follower Shridham Pal. He was a generous person, a philanthropist, and a social worker. He would try to help the poor and helpless in the area as much as he could. He had countless devotees, even outside Dhaka."

He also mentioned that on the night of April 28, 1971, while Sudharam Baba was at Shridham Pal's house with his devotees, Pakistani soldiers, along with their local collaborators, surrounded the house. As the soldiers advanced to arrest those inside, Sudharam Baba pleaded not to harm his devotees, but the brutal Pakistani soldiers ignored his plea and took him along with 19 others. They were then taken to Gudara Ghat by the Buriganga River, where their hands, legs, and eyes were tied, and after being mercilessly tortured, they were shot and their bodies dumped into the river. Of the 20 victims, the names of five have been collected: Martyr Sadhu Sudharam, Martyr Shridham Pal, Martyr Monomohan Chakraborty, Martyr Amiya Kumar Chakraborty, and Martyr Janu Kishan.

A documentary titled "Jagrato Ahongkar" was presented on Baishakhi Television by Kazi Sazzad Ali Zahir Bir Protik, where interviews with locals were featured. The documentary states that a saint lived in this house where devotees would come for blessings, advice, and religious teachings. On April 28, 1971, Sudharam Baba and 20 of his followers were taken away from this house. While many were outsiders, five of them were locals, and their names are known.

A local eyewitness, Monolal Modok, shared his experience: "When the Pakistani military took Sudharam Baba, I was standing under a light pole at the ashram’s alley. I heard the sound of them kicking down the door. There was a loud crashing noise. People from the area told me to leave quickly. From a distance, I saw the military putting Sudharam Baba into a vehicle. When he was being made to get into the vehicle, he shouted, 'The boat will sail over blood, the boat will sail over blood!' He was shouting loudly."

Bimal Chakraborty, another local, shared that his father, a devotee of Sudharam Baba, was also killed alongside him. "My father worked at a gold shop. The next day, his body was found by the Buriganga River. We could not go to retrieve it because the Pakistani army had said anyone attempting to perform the funeral rites would be killed."

Eyewitnesses like Bimal Chakraborty, Monolal Modok, and Subal Chandra, who saw Sudharam Baba’s body along with five other corpses in the Buriganga River, recalled, "Two days after the incident, we saw Sudharam Baba’s body with his hands and legs tied. We recognized him by his beard and hair. There were four or five other bodies with their hands and legs tied. We left in fear because the military was patrolling."

Local freedom fighter researcher Iftekhar Pavel shared, "The military took Sudharam Baba and 15-16 others. They were either killed at an unknown location along the Buriganga River or at the Farashganj camp. We do not know where they were killed, but their bodies drifted down the river and were found at this ghat (a landing on the Buriganga River)."

Regarding why the Pakistani military had made such a statement, Pavel explained that since the start of the Liberation War, the Pakistani authorities propagated that the independence movement led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a Hindu conspiracy. This was used as propaganda to justify the mass killing of Hindus. It also created panic among the Bengali population, making it less likely they would resist the brutal actions under "Operation Searchlight."

Dear reader, this is the story of the murder of Sudharam Baba and his twenty devotees. A shrine dedicated to Sudharam Baba exists at the centuries-old Sri Radha Madhav Jiu Dev temple in Tantibazar, Old Dhaka. A new ashram is being built nearby in his name.