Today,we are going to discuss a very interesting point. As the name of the article suggests,during the War of Liberation in Bangladesh there had been casualties amongst Christians and other communities as well(excepting Nationalistic Bengalis and Hindus in particular). This topic has rarely been discussed. From amongst less than 3 per cent of the East Pakistanis were Christians,Buddhists and tribal aborigines of different ethnicities. Many christians and buddhists were Bengalis and they obviously sided with their nationalistic brethren for their common cause. Besides,many of the other ethnicities were no exception. Santhats and Oraons of Rangpur area put up exemplary heroic fight with their traditional bows and arrows while attacking the Rangpur cantonment from Nishbetgonj side. Many of them embraced martyrdom. We know about the heroism of Kakon Bibi,a Khasi woman and Havilder U Kwa Ching Bir Bikrom,a Marma from Bandarban. Chittagong Hill Tracts,that occupy about one tenth of Bangladesh and is inhabited by about fifteen different ethnicities was a battlefield during the war where apart from Bengalis and Indian soldiers,some Tibetans also fought and about 50 of them laid down their lives. From amongst the Chittagong Hill tribes, a part,mostly Mizos and Lushais were on Pakistan’s side.Insurgent Mizos of Indian Mizoram under the leadership of Mr Laldenga were sheltered,trained and supplied with arms by Pakistan military to keep alive unrest in India’s North east. Some of the Chakmas were instigated by their pro Pakistan king Tridib Roy to oppose Bangladesh.Marma circle Chief also submitted to the Pakistani forces and some Marmas were on Pakistan’s side too. Apart from that, other minor ethnicities of Bangladesh identified themselves with their Bangladeshi brethren during the 1971 liberation war of Bangladesh.
As has already been stated,the target of 1971 Bangladesh Genocide was firstly the Bengalis as a national and racial entity and Hindus of East Pakistan as a religious entity. Nationalistically Bengalis who demanded their due share in all spheres of the country’s economic,political and administrative activities were branded as anti islamic and anti Pakistani. The Pakistani leadership had always been trying to establish that anything against Pakistan is anti islamic.As if,they were the sole agents of the great religion. The other major target of the 1971 Genocide,the Hindus were all branded as Indian agents and as such core rivals and enemies of Pakistan. Besides these two major groups of declared enemies(and as such natural targets of the genocide) others were also not spared.
As is common during any genocide,the perpetrators lose all logical,legal,rational and judicious reasoning. They would act on their whims and take decisions at spur of the moment. Today we are going to discuss about the genocidal killing of three holy persons. All three of them were Catholic Christian priests. One of them was a son of the soil,but not a Bengali. He came from the Santhal community. Father Lucas Marandi was the first native Bishop of Dinajpur Diocese. Born in 1922 near Dinajpur,Lucas had his early schooling in the then British India. Later he had higher studies in Italy in Divine perfection and Theology. He was ordained a Bishop in 1953 in Dinajpur mission and given the charge of running Ghoraghat mission and later a boarding school in Dinajpur. Still later he was given the charge of Dinajpur diocese. His operations were concentrated in an area that had extensive land borders with Indian part of Dinajpur. The borders were porous in those days and he had devotees to be served on both sides of the border. During the Indo Pak war of 1965 he started facing difficulties as enmity between the two countries surfaced and borders were tightened. He had to compromise with the state regulations and kept his services limited to the geographical boundaries of East Pakistan. At this stage he was given the charge of Ruhia mission in Thakurgaon. Here,apart from his religious duties,he built up a missionary residential school and put special emphasis on development of agriculture. He became a leading personality amongst his indigenous Santhal community.
When the War of Liberation started after the initiation of Operation Searchlight,the Pakistani genocide started. The targeted victims started seeking safety and many of them thought that Christian Missions will be safe. Bishop Marandi accomodated safety seekers in the campus of schools and churches. For arranging food and medicines for the refugees he made a couple of trips to nearby Indian towns where he had fellow missionaries and other acquaintances. Secretly he inspired the youth amongst his disciples to join the Liberation war. By middle of April his Dinajpur area was no more safe. The Bengali and most of his Santhal safety seekers crossed the borders to take refuge in camps that were being set up in Indian territories.The authorities advised the missions to close operations and look for safety in India. Nearby christian missions were complying. He too crossed over to Indian Islampur mission with his Ruhea mission people. But as ill luck would have it,he decided to come back to Ruhea,a few days later to assess the prevailing situation. While he was at the mission in Ruhea,a Pakistani military truck appeared there on 21 April. Four heavily armed soldiers appeared. They had the information that some freedom fighters were sheltered in the mission. Their searches proved futile. Father Marandi entertained the soldiers with tea and biscuits and they left without further ado. Perhaps they had fresh orders and the truck returned three hours later. The soldiers were having different faces this time. They dragged the holy man out,tortured him inhumanly and bayoneted him to death. They left leaving the dead body lying in the mission premises. Later the martyr’s body was carried by locals to nearby Islampur mission in India and was buried there. Bishop Lucas Marandi is considered as a martyr of Bangladesh Liberation war and a memorial to him has been constructed in Ruhea mission. In Dinajpur a road has been named after him and in his native place an annual football tournament is arranged in his memory. His martyrdom at such a young age of 48 years was a great loss to the country,society,the church and his Santhal community.
Actually the first Christian priest who embraced martyrdom in the hands of barbaric Pakistani genociders was an Italian. Father Mario Veronasi was born in 1912 in Italy.He joined the Xaverian Seminary in 1941. He was sent to work in Jessore/Khulna area and has served in different parishes and churches of the area for long 19 years. He was posted in Jessore parish of his Xaverian order when the War of Liberation in Bangladesh started. With Father Veronasi, three other Xaverian priests were working in the parish and adjacent Lady Fathima Hospital. He was a very kind hearted person liked by all wherever he worked. It was late afternoon of 4 April,when a Pakistani army truck was moving through the Jessore street where Father Mario and his colleagues were at work. The soldiers on the truck were on a genocidal rampage spree. They were shooting at every building on both sides of the road. The truck stopped near the mission premises and two soldiers came out with their automatic weapons. A missionary doctor was performing a surgery on a girl when one of the soldiers opened fire at the hospital building. Father Mario came out with raised hands to appease the soldiers. He was wearing a dress with a visible red cross. Still,one of the Pakistanis opened fire at the holy man’s chest from his sten gun. Father Mario became a martyr almost immediately. Then the Pak soldiers went to another building of the parish where people took shelter for safety. They could apprehend four persons including two women and killed them all before leaving the premises. The Father was buried there in the campus of the mission.Later,in 1974 his remains were reburied in a nearby mission campus beside the grave a senior Father of the same Xaverian order. Pakistani authorities tried to hide the story of killing the revered Father. The Italian Ambassador to Pakistan visited the site and on enquiry was told by Pak administration that Father Mario was killed by rebels.
Let’s now look into the incidence of an American priest meeting the same fate. Father William Evans was born in Massachusetts in 1919. He joined the Holy Cross Seminary in 1936. In 1945 he was appointed as a priest and was posted to East Bengal in 1946 during the last days of British India where he was placed under Dhaka Archdiocese. He worked in many places in and around Dhaka during the whole Pakistani period and was in Golla Mission under Nawabgonj when the War of Liberation started. Father Evans was a very popular personality in the area and was revered by Christians,Hindus and Muslims alike, as a holy person. During the carnage of the Pakistani genociders, he always helped the internally displaced population who tried to escape Pakistani brutal and savage treatment. The information must have reached the Pakistani authorities. On 13 November,he was on a routine boat trip to nearby Bakshanagar mission to conduct a mass. While he was on his way,the boat was stopped by soldiers of the Pakistani camp set up on the bank of the river near Nawabgonj. The soldiers ordered him to come to the shore. The holy soul was beaten,bayoneted and lastly fired at. He embraced martyrdom immediately. Later, local people brought his body to Golla,where he was buried with grief,love and honour. He is still remembered and different organisations and sports tournaments still carry his name.
The two expatriate holy men Father Evans and Father Mario were honoured with the coveted Foreign Friends of Bangladesh Liberation War honorific decoration. We bow our heads to the three christian priests for their supreme sacrifice to our National cause.
It would not be out of place to mention here that around 2000 christians took part in the War of Liberation of Bangladesh and from amongst them a couple of hundred lost their lives in action. Besides,some christians at different places faced tortures of different types as their other Bengali brethren in the hands of Pakistani genociders. During the 1971 War of Liberation a poster was extremely popular. It said:
Hndus,Muslims,Buddhists and Christians of Bengal;we all are Bengalis.
In reality too,barring exceptions,we fought together,suffered together and brought about our freedom together.
