1974 Ramna massacre

After Bangladesh won its independence through the liberation war of 1971, an ideological conflict was raised on the question of how Bangladesh would be governed. When Awami League leadership opted for democracy as its first choice, a large section of Awami League's student front, the Bangladesh Students League, led by A. S. M. Abdur Rab and Shajahan Siraj, expressed their dissent with the idea. This section, mostly the followers of former General Secretary of the front Serajul Alam Khan, formed a new political party opposing the Awami League's view and to establish a form of socialism they called Scientific Socialism. Soon after the formation of the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, the Jasad-fueled protests were met with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini personnel, who were accused of conducting raids in the opposition politicians houses, torture, murders and abductions of the opposition activists. == Declaration ==

Due to corruption, misappropriation of relief items, hoarding of essential goods by marketeers, and smuggling of food grain to India, during the initial days of 1974 there was inflation. Moreover, the Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini came down hard on the protests. Jasad presented 29 points and promised to surround the government establishments those were linked with the distribution of relief goods and food grain on 10 February 1974 through a public statement if the points were ignored. The statement read, The declaration gave the Awami League government around one month's time to take necessary measures or to face dire consequences on 17 March. == 17 March ==

On 17 March, supporters of Jasad and the angry people of the capital and its surrounding areas started gathering at the Paltan ground of the capital as Jasad called a public meeting to mark the deadline of the ultimatum. They also distributed anti-government leaflets. The rally was supposed to end before sunset and then march towards the residence of Home Minister Mansur Ali to submit a Memorandum of Redemption after briefly laying siege around the house. Police charged the crowd to disperse the rally and foil the siege, and a clash ensued between the police and the Jasad men. Jasad men started throwing brickbats targeting the police after the police started firing tear gas shells over the crowd. Within minutes, the area turned into a battlefield and the Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini was called on. Once the armed Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini personnel reached the place with trucks, they started firing live bullets on the crowd. At this point the Jasad activists fell down on the streets to save themselves from the bullets. But the Rakkhis then started firing at the ground to ensure that the death toll gets higher than ever. According to A. S. M. Abdur Rab: == Death toll ==

Jasad in an official statement claimed that the death toll is at least fifty. Ahmad Ullah Khan was a Deputy Superintendent of Police at Tejgaon in the capital Dhaka. He confirmed that 40-50 dead bodies were taken away by Rakkhi Bahini in their trucks that day. == Aftermath ==

All but Momtaz Begum, who was a student, were landed in the jail that day. They were released only after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. However, Moinuddin Khan Badal eloped from the hospital. ==References==