Rangpur Cantonment () is a

cantonment A cantonment (, , or ) is a type of military base. In South Asia, a ''cantonment'' refers to a permanent military station (a term from the British Raj). In United States military parlance, a cantonment is, essentially, "a permanent residential ...

located in Rangpur,

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 ...

. It is the headquarters of 66th Infantry Division of the

Bangladesh Army The Bangladesh Army () is the land warfare branch, and the largest component of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. The primary mission of the Army is to defend the land of Bangladesh from any external attack. Control of personnel and operations is ad ...

History

The locals of Rangpur were protesting against Pakistanis from the very beginning of the year 1971. Consequently, some including one teenager laid down their lives on the streets of Rangpur. This was even referred in the 7th March speech. But within mid-March, the Pakistanis themselves became cornered in the city as the youth of Rangpur and mobs had already started attacking them. In such an event, one youngman named "Shahed" attacked a lieutenant of Pakistan army, tackled him and 3 of his subordinate troops alone and bare handedly and then obtained their arms. In the night of 25 March, when the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

launched the infamous Operation Searchlight, the Pakistani troops in Rangpur started by disarming Bengali guards at Rangpur Cantonment, then each Bengali patrol group was surrounded by waiting Pakistani soldiers on their return from regular patrolling and were disarmed. Bengali officers and soldiers of 23rd Field and 29 Cavalry were neutralised this way and most were executed. Pakistani troops moved into Rangpur on 25 March around 12:00 am and took up positions around the city. A Bengali officer captain Nawajesh had barely escaped from EPR HQ with some men, but the Pakistanis neutralised the police and remaining EPR troops easily. In 28 March, one significant event took place in Rangpur cantonment. The Bengali mass of Rangpur City along with a huge number of tribal Santali fighters launched a pre-emptive attack on the cantonment with local arms like spears and poisonous arrows. Showing extraordinary understanding of military strategies and valour, they flanked the Pakistani defences adjacent to the cantonment almost undetected and attacked them from a very unexpected and unprotected direction. They penetrated the Pakistani defence column and Pakistan forces opened fire, many Bengalis and Santalis laid down their lives. Although failed initially, this attack downed the morale of the Pakistani troops and they in retaliation started taking revenge on the corpses of the martyrs by burning those with patrols, executing existing Bengali troops of Pakistan army inside the cantonment, and torturing other family members and civilians stranded in the nearby Rangpur Central Jail. This cantonment was captured by pro-independence fighters of Bangladesh Forces in the month of November, within just one month after the death of famous freedom fighter of Rangpur, Shahid Mukhtar Elahi.

Institutions

* Rangpur Cadet College * Cantonment Public School and College, Rangpur * Rangpur Army Medical College * Rangpur Army Medical College Shopping Mall * Bir Uttam Shaheed Mahbub Senanibas * Rangpur Cantonment Golf Club * The Millennium Stars School & College * Bangladesh Army University of Science and Technology

References

{{Cantonments of Bangladesh Cantonments of Bangladesh