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“It was around 10 or 11am. At one point of their attack, they went down to Taltali and started firing from door to door.”

“It took until the afternoon for the violence to subside a bit. But the danger was far from over, as some soldiers remained stationed in the gunboats,” Mannan continued.

The next day, they set fire to some houses in Charmonai union and fired on their residents, he said. “The army kept marching towards Barishal city. A number of anti-Bangladesh people welcomed them in Barishal launch area.”

“The following day, all the bodies were buried,” chronicled Mannan. “It was also the day when all the seven family members of Abdus Sattar Hawladar were killed, after the occupation army found out that they were hiding in a trench.”

“A memorial for the deceased was later set up at Hawlader Bari, and another one was built at Taltoli Bazar. In addition, I’ve built a library in memory of my father, martyred Abdur Rahman,” Mannan said.

However, very few people have traced down the families of all the 47 martyrs there. Many families, including the Hawladar family, have been wiped out by indiscriminate firing of the Pakistan army, said locals.

Putul Ghosh, divisional secretary of Sector Commanders Forum, said it was the first massacre by Pakistan forces in Barishal region. Once breaching through this area, the army proceeded to set up their military base in the city’s Wapda area and continued the onslaught across different parts of Barishal over the next couple of months.

Journalist Nazrul Biswas of Charbaria told The Daily Star on Sunday, “Today is a day of mourning for the people of the union. The Charbaria massacre shall never be forgotten.”