Recollected for eternity

The repulsiveness and the passings had transformed it into terrible in 1971. 

The Wapda compound in Barishal city, scandalous in the territory as a torment place and a mass murdering ground of the Pakistan occupation powers, saw 25 to 30 Bangalees mercilessly slaughtered each day. 

Shafiur Rahman Jamal's dad was one of them. 

An occupant of Kalish Chandra region of what is presently Barishal city, Jamal himself and his more established sibling Kamal had been caught in lieu of their dad Mojibur Rahman Kanchan. 

Kanchan, a social specialist and veteran political dissident, had gotten away from the house in no time before individuals from the Pakistan armed force went to their home searching for him. Thus, they got the two siblings and sent them to Wapda camp.

"The Pakistan military at that point reported that if Kanchan Miah gave up, his two youngsters would be delivered. Finally, my dad gave up himself at Wapda upon the arrival of Eid and we two siblings were delivered," Jamal told this paper. 

"In any case, my dad was shot dead and executed there." 

The Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) compound has seen different such horrifying demonstrations of torment, slaughtering, and assault during the Liberation War. 

MAG Kabir Vulu, who was hostage there, stated, ''We were shipped off the Wapda Pakistani armed force camp in Barishal town in July 1971." 

He had recently been detained at Gournadi Pakistani armed force camp in Barishal, where he had been seriously tormented. "Both my legs were seriously harmed by blades. I didn't have the foggiest idea about the purpose behind my exchange from Gournadi to Barishal town," he said. 

"My companion Anwar, who was greater and more grounded looking, had been carried with me. One morning, he was gotten and hauled away. At that point I heard the sound of gunfire. Similarly, the then understudy pioneer Firoj Kabir was likewise shot dead." 

Kabir, who had been saved, likewise portrayed different killings at Wapda on the banks of Kirtankhola waterway in Barishal town. 

Consistently, individuals were brought by trucks from various pieces of Barishal, Jhalakati, and Pirojpur. "In the early morning the following day, they were taken to the banks of the stream and after that I would hear discharges." 

Barishal Sangskritik Sangathan Samannay Parishad has been calling for activities to safeguard the recollections of the Liberation War at Wapda since 1996, said Syed Dulal, previous leader of the association. 

After a couple of postponements, it will at last be introduced for the public today, the day the city of Barishal was freed from Pakistani occupation powers, as a critical token of penances in the war. 

Protection 

Barishal City Corporation, with the assistance of the Liberation War Museum, has saved and reestablished the Wapda compound as the biggest dedication of the Liberation War and destruction in the south. 

The compound incorporates two wartime dungeons and two dugouts, just as an open stage, hall, and a walkway which have been built with the goal that guests can visit the compound and offer their appreciation. 

BCC sources said the safeguarding and reclamation work began in 2017 at an expense of Tk 3.31 crore. 

The scaffold, the site of numerous killings during the period, has additionally been saved so the young and youngsters can get a thought of what occurred here, BCC Mayor Serniabat Sadik Abdullah, who will introduce the site, revealed to The Daily Star. 

"On December 18, 1971, we previously visited here and recuperated human bones, and materials and different records identified with the killings," said Mahafuz Alam Beg, sub-area administrator of the ninth area. 

On April 25, 1971, the Pakistan occupation powers previously entered Barishal region town and set up a military camp in the Wapda territory. 

"From that point till December 7, they killed honest Bangalees here consistently," said Mahafuz. 

Encircled ashore, the Pakistan armed force left Barishal on December 8 by water on a few dispatches and was met by Indian Air Force military aircraft which sank these, executing the majority of the Pakistan military faculty. 

Political dissidents entered the city and caught Barishal Kotwali Police Station, freeing the city that very day.