Tuesday marks remembrance of Chuknagar Genocide, Mulluk Cholo tragedy martyrs

There is a 50-year gap between two of the most heart-wrenching tragedies in our history — the Chuknagar Genocide and the ‘Mulluk Cholo’ massacre. Though separated by time, both events are marked by the same depth of sorrow. Each stained the soil of Bangladesh with the blood of thousands of innocents and etched dark, mournful chapters into our collective memory.

Tuesday (May 20) marks two significant and somber milestones in history — the 54th anniversary of the Chuknagar Genocide in Khulna during the Liberation War, and the 104th anniversary of the mass killing of tea workers in Chandpur during the ‘Mulluk Cholo’ movement. Despite being decades apart, both tragedies embody the same enduring spirit — the ultimate sacrifice of freedom-seeking, oppressed people for their beloved motherland.

Chuknagar Genocide
The Chuknagar Genocide, one of the largest mass killings in such a short span of time, took place in Chuknagar, located in Dumuria upazila of Khulna, where several rivers meet. On this day in 1971, Pakistani occupation forces and their local collaborators suddenly attacked and brutally killed over 12,000 innocent people who had gathered there while trying to flee to India for safety.

To escape the Pakistani army’s atrocities, thousands of people from southern regions including Bagerhat, Rampal, Morrelganj, Kachua, Sharankhola, Mongla, Dacope, Batiaghata, Chalna, Faridpur, and Barishal began moving toward India around mid-May.

They chose Chuknagar as their transit point. On the night of May 19, thousands of freedom-seeking Bengalis arrived there, hoping to cross the border through Satkhira and Kalaroa the next morning.

People took shelter in many places across Chuknagar — including Jhautola (then Patkhola) beel, the local vegetable market, the football field, the Kali temple, and nearby cremation grounds.

After spending a sleepless night, the people who were hoping to become refugees finally got some rest in the morning. They started gaining strength by eating cooked rice, puffed rice, flattened rice, and other dry food. Around 10 am, suddenly, three trucks full of Pakistani soldiers arrived at the Chuknagar market. The soldiers had come from the Satkhira army base with light machine guns and semi-automatic rifles after getting information from local pro-Pakistani and non-Bengali bus drivers. Masked collaborators (Razakars) in civilian clothes also came with them. Then, for five straight hours—from morning till 3 pm—they carried out a brutal massacre, killing people without mercy.

Many tried to save themselves by jumping into the river, but some drowned and died. The smell of the dead bodies filled the air in Chuknagar and the nearby areas. Countless dead bodies were scattered in fields, croplands, and canals. As there was no place to bury so many bodies after the horrific massacre, locals floated them in the river. The corpses kept floating for nearly a month, carried by the tides of the sea.

Even today, bones and ornaments from that day’s victims are still found in the fertile lands of Chuknagar. Researchers estimate that out of the hundreds of thousands of Bengalis gathered in Chuknagar on that day, at least 12,000 were killed.

‘Mulluk Cholo’ massacre

During British rule in India, tea cultivation had already been going on for nearly 70 years. In the tea gardens of Assam and the Surma Valley—now part of Sylhet in Bangladesh—there was strong dissatisfaction among the workers. Thousands of laborers had been brought to the remote region of Assam from places like Chotanagpur, Santhal Pargana, Bihar, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh with false promises by brokers. They were supposed to work under three-year contracts, but even after many years, they were not allowed to go back home. Their lives were miserable, and they were treated like slaves.

As the “Mulluk Cholo” (Go Back Home) movement gained strength, thousands of laborers gathered at the Chandpur railway station hoping to return to their homeland. Some managed to get on ships headed for Goalundo, but most were waiting for the train. Suddenly, McPherson, a representative of the Indian Tea Association, arrived at Chandpur station. On his orders, a large number of police and hired Gorkha soldiers surrounded the station. Train ticket sales were stopped, and the ramps of the ships were lifted—leaving people to drift in the Meghna River.

After the last train departed on the night of May 19, railway staff were withdrawn from the station. In the silence that followed, soldiers under the command of Chittagong Divisional Commissioner Kiran Chandra Dey launched a brutal assault on the sleeping laborers. The main platform of Chandpur station was soon soaked in blood as thousands of workers were killed or wounded.

The violence escalated the next day. Fifty more Gorkha soldiers arrived by ship from Narayanganj, accompanied by armed European jute merchants. What followed was a day-long massacre that claimed the lives of thousands more.

More than a century has passed since the “Mulluk Cholo” movement, yet the tea garden workers have still not been able to return to their homeland. They remain trapped under the same repressive laws, enduring hardship to this day.