Operation Kharchakhata

 Operation Kharchakhata is the name of a massacre carried out on 13 June 1971 with the participation of Biharis in collaboration with the Pakistan Army. The Hindu Marwaris living in Syedpur of Nilphamari say that they are helpless in this massacre. There was no way to understand that the train was standing on the platform of Syedpur railway station around 10 am on June 13, 1971. Shortly after, it was going to witness a horrific massacre. At least Marwari trader Shyamlal Agarwala could not even guess at Ghunakshar. On the contrary, his mind was relying on the hope of getting out of this Bihari-inhabited city which had been under siege for several days. The freedom fighters had put up strong resistance in the country. An announcement was being made to Mike in Syedpur town for a few days. The announcement was made by the Pakistani army. It was said that the Hindu Marwaris trapped in the city would be safely repatriated to India. A special train has been arranged for this. The train will leave Syedpur railway station for Siliguri, India. After 46 years, Shyamlal Agarwala was narrating the memories of that day to Prothom Alo. After hearing Mike's announcement, the Marwaris started packing up whatever was still left in the hands of the looters in the war. On the morning of 13 June, they started gathering at Syedpur railway station. Tapan Kumar Das, an eyewitness to the massacre, said that the train left the station at around 10 am. Running slowly. The train stopped suddenly after leaving the city and passing the railway factory. The place is two miles from the station. The name is Golahat. Tapan tried to find out the reason for stopping the train. His soul trembled as soon as he closed the closed window. Rows and rows of troops outside. With their fellow Biharis. Rifles in the hands of army members. Another eyewitness, Govindlal Das, said, "As soon as we entered the compartment of the stopped train, the Pakistani soldiers started shouting in Urdu, 'Come down one by one.' We have come to kill you. However, Pakistan's expensive bullets will not be spent. Everyone will be sacrificed in this coup. 'The reckless killing started immediately, said Govindlal Das. The throat was being cut with a sharp ramada as if a sacrifice was being made. Children, old people, and women were not spared in that massacre. According to various sources, 448 people were hacked to death in the train massacre. One by one, 10-12 youths got off the train with a sigh and ran away. Later they moved to India. In her novel Train, the novelist Selina Hossain gives a ruthless account of the Golahat massacre in Syedpur and the train tragedy. Jikrul Haque, former chairman of Syedpur municipality and freedom fighter, told Prothom Alo that the brutality in the Golahat massacre was a violation of the Geneva Convention. The Pakistani army should be brought to justice for this brutality.

Achuki Devi, a 90-year-old resident of Marwari Patti in Syedpur, still thinks that her daughter Kanchan Devi Singhania, a passenger on the train, is still alive. Will come back from Pakistan one day. He asked this reporter, ‘Have you seen my daughter Kanchan?’ It is learned that Kanchan was twenty years old at that time. He lived in Talora of Dupchanchia police station in Bogra. He got married to Gauri Shankar Singhania, a businessman in Marwari Patti, Syedpur, just two months ago. Pakistani forces also took Kanchan's family on a train to India. But long before the train left, the Pakistanis picked up 20-22 more young women like Kanchan. They were taken to Syedpur cantonment. No one knows what happened to them there.