Dakra massacre () refers to the massacre of unarmed Hindu refugees at the village of Dakra, in the Bagerhat sub-division of Khulna District on 21 May 1971 by the Peace Committee members and the Razakars. The attackers were led by Rajab Ali Fakir, the chairman of the Bagerhat sub-divisional Peace Committee. It is alleged that 646 men, women and children were killed in the massacre.

Background

The village of Dakra is located in Perikhali Union under

Rampal Upazila Rampal () is an upazila of Bagerhat District in the Division of Khulna, Bangladesh. Rampal Thana was formed in 1892 and it was turned into an upazila in 1983. Geography Rampal is located at . It has 38,173 households and total area 335.45 km2 ...

Bagerhat District Bagerhat District () is a district in south-western Bangladesh. It is a part of Khulna Division. Geography Bagerhat district has a total area of 44,959.11 square kilometres. It is bounded by Gopalganj District and Narail District on the north, ...

Khulna Division Khulna Division () is the second largest of the eight divisions of Bangladesh. It has an area of and a population of 17,416,645 at the 2022 Bangladesh census (preliminary returns). Its headquarters and largest city is Khulna city in Khulna Dist ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. In 1971, Bagerhat District was a sub-division within the Khulna District. Dakra is located on the south bank of the Mongla river, which flows towards the west and falls into the

Pasur river The Pasur is a river in southwestern Bangladesh and a distributary of the Ganges. It continues the Rupsa River. All the distributaries of the Pasur are tidal. It meets the Shibsa River in the Sundarbans. Near the sea, it becomes the Kunga Rive ...

near

Mongla port The Port of Mongla is a link seaport, located at Mongla Upazila, Khulna Division, Bangladesh. It is a sea port of Khulna city, which is located to the north shore of the Bay of Bengal. It is the second largest and second busiest seaport of Bangl ...

. On the north bank of Mongla river, exactly opposite Dakra, lies the Krishnaganj market under Banshtali Union. Dakra was a predominantly Hindu village, having a famous Kali temple. In Dakra lived Badal Chakraborty also known as Noa Thakur, a spiritual person respected by all. After the launch of

Operation Searchlight Operation Searchlight was a military operation carried out by the Pakistan Army in an effort to curb the Bengali nationalist movement in former East Pakistan in March 1971. Pakistan retrospectively justified the operation on the basis of ant ...

, Peace Committee and

Razakar Razakar (رضا کار) is etymologically an Arabic word which literally means volunteer. The word is also common in Urdu language as a loanword. On the other hand, in Bangladesh, razakar is a pejorative word meaning a traitor or Judas. In Paki ...

force was organized in

Khulna Khulna (, ) is the third-largest city in Bangladesh, after Dhaka and Chittagong. It is the administrative centre of the Khulna District and the Khulna Division. It is the divisional centre of 10 districts of the division. Khulna is also the seco ...

. In April, the Razakars began to persecute the Hindus and loot their properties. By the middle of May, thousands of Hindus from

Pirojpur Pirojpur () is a town in Pirojpur district in Barisal Division in southern Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eig ...

, Jhalokathi,

Barguna Barguna () is a town in Barguna district in southern Bangladesh. It is the administrative headquarters and the largest town of Barguna district and a part of Barisal Division. Located on the bank of Khakdon river, the town covers an area of wit ...

and Barisal Sadar sub-divisions of undivided Barisal district and Bagerhat sub-division of undivided Khulna district began to use Dakra as the transit, while fleeing to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. On 21 May, an estimated 10,000 Hindu refugees were stranded in Dakra.

Killings

In the afternoon, a group of 15-20 Razakars under the leadership of Rajab Ali arrived in Dakra in two boats. The first boat crossed the Kaliganj market and proceeded towards Madartali canal. The second boat proceeded along the Kumarkhali canal and then made a sudden turn towards Dakra along the Madartali canal. The Razakars from the second boat got down and started firing at the crowd. In the meanwhile, the Razakars from the first boat too got down and proceeded to the Kali temple, firing indiscriminately at the crowd. The crowd started running for cover. Many jumped to the river and were shot at. More than 150 persons were shot in the river. The Razakars resorts to loot, arson and rape in the villages. Survivors including Dayanand Mandal Dutta of Dakra village hid in the houses of

Bengali Muslims Bengali Muslims (; ) 'Mussalman'' also used in this work.are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising over 70% of the global Bengali population, they are the second-largest et ...

neighbours until he escaped to India.

Trial

The government of Bangladesh brought war crime charges against Jamaat-e-Islami leader

AKM Yusuf Abul Kalam Muhammad Yusuf () (19 March 1926 – 9 February 2014) was a Bangladeshi Islamic scholar, writer, activist and politician. Yusuf was a specialist in Hadith studies, he earned the title ''"Mumtaz al-Muhaddethin"'' for his advanced degree ...

at the International Crimes Tribunal. Yusuf has been charged with genocide of the Bengali Hindu people and has been held directly responsible for the Dakra massacre.

Memorial

No memorial has been built in Dakra to commemorate the victims. In 2010, Dakra Ganahatya Smriti Sangrakshan Parishad held a program to commemorate the victims of the Dakra massacre.

References

{{coord, 22.546, 89.698, region:BD_type:event, display=title 1971 Bangladesh genocide May 1971 in Bangladesh Arson in Bangladesh Arson in 1971 1970s fires in Asia Massacres of Bengali Hindus in East Pakistan Massacres committed by Pakistan in East Pakistan Sexual violence in the Bangladesh Liberation War 1971 mass shootings in Asia Spree shootings in Bangladesh Looting in Bangladesh Bagerhat District Attacks on Hindu temples in Bangladesh Hindu temple massacres Attacks on buildings and structures in 1971 History of Khulna Division