Dhaka massacre 1964 [Dhaka, Bangladesh]

[REPORTED AS SEEN]

On 13 January, a meeting was held at the Dhaka stadium regarding the Hazratbal incident. On 14 and 15 January, Hindu passengers in the mail trains arriving at Dhaka from Chittagong and Sirajganj was asked to get down at Tongi and Tejgaon. Those who refused to get down were slaughtered. On 15 January, a Muslim mob arrived at 20 Nawabpur Road, entered the house and struck off the head of the priest and desecrated the images of Radha Krishna. Four male members of the house were killed. The Das Studio on Nawabpur Road was looted and burnt to ashes. On the night of 15 January, the Hindu houses of Nagarkhanpur were attacked and looted. On 15 January, the Ramakrishna Mission at Tikatuli was burnt. Three buildings, seven huts, one temple, one charitable hospital, one library and one students’ hostel were completely destroyed. Two Hindus were stabbed to death. After the Hazratbal incident, the Hindu students hostel of East Pakistan University of Engineering and Technology were pelted with stones every night. The Muslim students owing allegiance to the Jamaat-e-Islami began to call the Hindu students Indian spies.

On 16 January, Krishna De of Central Bank, Pran Kumar De of United Industrial Bank and another Hindu employee of Baroda Bank were fleeing in a car after hiding in the bank premises for two days. Their car was stopped and they were killed. The F.M.E School, public library, Vivekananda Physical Club and the Hiralal Lohia Charitable Hospital at Hiralal Sewagram were burnt. Truckloads of dead bodies were brought to the hospitals from where they were sent to the burial grounds. Hundreds of Hindus were buried with military escorts. Even the identified bodies were not returned to their relatives. In Rayerbazar, the Kumbhakars were attacked by the Bihari Muslims from Mohammadpur and the Noakhali Muslims from the Hazaribagh tanneries. Each and every house were set on fire. 96 Bengali Hindus were killed in the massacre. Many women were raped and many young girls were abducted. The locality was ethnically cleansed of Bengali Hindus and renamed to Zafrabad. Bani Bhaban, a Hindu boy’s hostel at Ishwar Das Lane was broken into and completely looted. The boys escaped and took shelter in a relief camp. Nari Shiksha Mandir was attacked, where Abani Guha Roy, the head clerk was killed and Jagajiban Bose, a senior teacher was stabbed. In localities like Tikatuli and Wari, the walls were painted with slogans like Kill Hindus, Hindu Marwari Maro etc. On 18 January, the 24-hour curfew was imposed, with troops patrolling the streets. The curfew was later extended till 8 am on 19 January.

Hundreds of villages all around Dhaka city were burnt to ashes. On 18 January, The Daily Ittefaq reported that 95% of the ruined houses belong to the Hindus in old Dhaka and about 100,000 Hindus were rendered homeless in Dhaka city. On 23 January, The Hindu quoting the Pakistan authorities reported that around 1,000 persons were killed in communal violence in Dhaka for the last one week. However, an American Peace Corps nurse stated that on 21 January there were 600 dead in Dhaka Medical College and Hospital alone.