SILIGURI, India—I am one of the unfortunates who managed to escape from the massacre perpetrated on the morning of June 13th at Saidpur (Rangpur), a non‐Bengali Muslim majority town of North Bengal in Bangla Desh. I call myself unfortunate because I left behind 150 members of my community including my parents, brothers, sister‐in‐law, nephew and nieces—butchered by the goondas of the Pakistan army in collaboration with the non‐Bengali police.

It all began when the hordes of Yahya Khan raided our house in the early hours of March 26th, 1971. At least 20 army personnel entered at 4 A.M. and arrested my father, Tulshiram Agarwala, at gunpoint and ransacked the premises. They beat all mercilessly. At about 4:45 A.M. they left the place along with my father. After that all our valuables—cash, ornaments, radio, watches, even garments—were missing.

Soon after it was announced that not a single Hindu would be allowed to leave Saidpur. We were subjected to forced labor from April 3d onwards, on the construction of the Garodangi bridge from 7 A.M. to 7 P.M. under the supervision of Havaldar Fateh Khan. Fateh Khan carried a scourge in his hand and whipped us cruelly. He also used very abusive language such as “Kafiron Ki Aulad,” “Gaddaro,” etc. He also used to take bribes from us.

Later we worked on the Bhadgaon Bridge and the aerodrome. On May 18th at about 11 P.M. eight persons were kidnapped by army personnel with the help of local goondas. They were killed by bayonets that same night.

On June 6 we were put aboard a bus under police escort and taken to a cantonment. In such a treacherous way all Hindu male members of the community numbering about 80 above the age of 12 were arrested and kept confined in military cells.

On June 8th we were called before a commission. They made a list of our properties, movable and immovable, and then Major Javed put forward the following question:

Whether we wanted to go to India.

Whether we wanted to stay in Pakistan. If we chose to live in Pakistan we would have to embrace Islam.

We thought these contentions absurd and rejected them outright.

On June 9th, Major Javed, Captain Bakhtiar Lall, Md. Quiyun and Md. Zamal went to our houses and threatened the women that their male members would be shot dead if they kept concealed any valuables. They looted all the remaining cash, ornaments and other valuables. They also forced us to sign blank papers and cheques. Bank vaults were opened and the contents snatched away.

On June 13th at about 2 A.M. we were awakened by the guards and put aboard a bus in a great haste and brought to the Saidpur Railway Station. Our family members were also brought there. We were informed by Major Zamal of Saidpur Police Station, that we would be sent to India‐via Chilhati border. We were put aboard a train along with our family members totalling about 400 Marwaries, Bengalis and Behars (all Hindus) in four compartments under non‐Bengali policemen and military supervision.

In the early hours when it was still dark outside, the train started but it stopped about one mile from the station near a graveyard known as “Maran Kuthir.” There we found the goondas of Saidpur armed with swords and daggers ready for butchering. We also found that large trenches were dug for burying the bodies after killing.

As soon as the train stopped, police and military numbering about 25 alighted from the train and took positions with their guns outside the cars. After a while the executioners started their work. We saw to our amazement three or four goondas boarding the first car (we were occupying the second). They tied the hands of one person, took him away and cut his neck very neatly with swords and threw him in the ditch.

When I saw the fate of the seventh person I personally requested the guards to shoot us all instead of butchering us. They told us to keep quiet as we would be executed in the manner prescribed by the higher authorities because bullets were not so cheap to be used on Kafirs and Gaddars.

The next moment we started to jump from the train. They opened fire from all directions indiscriminately. We ran helter skelter and in the confusion out of 80 occupants of the second car, twenty‐one managed to escape. We took shelter in a nearby village and with the help of Bengali Moslems after traveling 125 miles on foot we crossed the border and reached India on June 20th.