The Golahat: A Massacre, A Memory, A Moksha Denied

By Vinay Nalwa

In Remembrance — 13 June, Marwari Hindu Massacre

On this day in 1971, over 440 Hindus men, women, and children, mostly from the Marwari community were brutally massacred near the railway culvert at Golahat in Bangladesh.

It is said:-

“The soul is never born, nor does it ever die; nor having once existed, does it ever cease to be. It is unborn, eternal, everlasting, and ancient; it is not slain when the body is slain.”

na jāyate mriyate vā kadācinnāyaṁ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥajo nityaḥ śāśvato’yaṁ purāṇona hanyate hanyamāne śarīre   

-       Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2 (Sankhya Yoga), Verse 20 on the immortality of the soul (Ātman)

The genocide that accompanied Bangladesh’s liberation in 1971 left behind haunting images of Hindu bodies strewn across roads and fields, often left to rot, devoured by animals. At Golahat, the horror was stark: the bodies of Hindu victims dumped beside the railway tracks were denied even the dignity of a final rite.

For Hindus in East Pakistan, their faith marked them for slaughter branded as enemies in a war twisted by ideology. Their homes, temples, and daughters were ravaged, not just by the state, but by a belief system that saw them as impure. Their cries were drowned by chants of God and nation. This was not only physical persecution it was an existential erasure. Entire villages were burned and looted, and the scale of the genocide three million lives in nine months remains one of history’s most chilling atrocities.

The Pakistan Army’s actions in 1971 were not just military operations they were ideologically charged campaigns, where Bengalis were seen as traitors, and Hindus as enemies of Islam. Soldiers were indoctrinated to believe they were fighting a religious war, and this communal mindset legitimized unspeakable crimes against Hindu civilians. This wasn't just a war it was a systematic, state-driven purge, where Islamic nationalism and anti-Hindu sentiment combined to unleash genocide-level brutality.

By early 1971, East Pakistan simmered with resentment over decades of domination by West Pakistan. Politically, despite having the demographic majority, Bengalis were consistently denied real power, culminating in the refusal to honour the Awami League’s victory in the 1970 elections. Culturally, the imposition of Urdu over Bengali and the suppression of regional identity deepened alienation. Economically, East Pakistan generated much of the country’s export revenue yet remained underdeveloped and neglected in state investment.

The crisis reached its peak on the night of 25 March 1971, when the Pakistan Army launched Operation Searchlight, a planned military operation to crush Bengali resistance unleashing mass killings, with Hindus often singled out for elimination.

By early June 1971, the Hindus of Saidpur mainly Marwaris had been rounded up on the pretext of being sent to India. They were told by Pakistan Army and their local collaborators that they’d be escorted safely. Instead, on the 13th of June, three railway carriages were loaded with Marwaris—men, women, and children except for 20 young Marwari girl. They were abducted and were never found again. 

What happened next was not war. It was cold-blooded religious extermination.

Though the incident and its brutality find little mention in political or social discourse, the Golahat massacre surfaces once in a while in journalistic remembrance or oral history. In a The Daily Star report titled “ A train to Massacre” dated December 16, 2020, it is mentioned that the newspaper spoke to three survivors who lost their family members and personally witnessed the barbaric Golahat massacre in Nilphamari's Saidpur upazila. The massacre, which occurred on June 13, 1971, claimed the lives of at least 448 people, mostly Marwaris Hindus. Quoting the witnesses, the report states what happened:

“In the early hours of June 13, the train began its short journey on the Saidpur-Chilahati route.

Tapan Kumar Das, a 70-year-old survivor, said the train moved very slowly along the steel tracks before it reached near railway culvert No 338 in the Golahat area and rolled to a stop.

To their horror, he said, those inside found that all gates and windows of the train were locked from the outside and peeping through a crack, he noticed that the train was encircled by local collaborators carrying knives and bayonets and Pakistani soldiers in civil dress at a slight distance.

The killers then opened the gates of each compartment one by one to drag finally stabbing and cutting them down to their harrowing deaths, according to the few remaining survivors.

Binod Agarwal, 65, said some victims requested they be killed by shooting but they were kicked at and the soldiers shouted that the Pakistan government would not waste their bullets on them.

Survivors Nijhu and Binod said during the massacre, the killers were shouting "kharcha khata, kharcha khata".

Later, the bodies were carelessly buried in knee-deep holes on one square kilometre area on both sides of the rail tracks. They were mostly eaten by jackals and dogs, he said.”

The Marwaris of Saidpur were peaceful, prosperous traders who played a vital role in the local economy. Their wealth and Hindu identity made them prime targets during the 1971 purge.

While Bangladesh celebrates its Liberation Day, the truth of 1971 remains unresolved. The nation's birth came at an immense cost—especially to Hindus—yet neither Pakistan nor Bangladesh fully confronts the horrors of that war. Pakistan denies the genocide; Bangladesh seeks apology but rarely acknowledges the targeted killings of Hindus. India, too, has yet to fully honour their suffering.

For survivors, the war is not history—it is a wound. Women still recall how their violators included not only Pakistani soldiers, but also local collaborators—Urdu-speaking Biharis, Jamaat-e-Islami men, and even trusted neighbours. The enemy wore many faces.

Across Bangladesh, 942 killing fields hold the remains of thousands. In Golahat, a quiet station in Nilphamari bears witness to one such atrocity hundreds massacred for being Hindu, for being Marwari.

Let Golahat not fade into silence. Let the Vedic fire, denied to them, now burn bright in our memory.

(The writer is an author and columnist)

Explanatory Notes on Places and Terms

Golahat - is a locality near Saidpur town in the Nilphamari District of northern Bangladesh. It lies close to the Saidpur–Chilahati railway line, and the massacre site is specifically located near railway culvert No. 338, a short distance from the Saidpur railway station.

Local or Bihari collaborators - Urdu-speaking Muslims who migrated from Bihar, India to East Pakistan after Partition. Many supported the Pakistan Army during the 1971 war and were involved in atrocities against Bengalis and Hindus. Some were part of paramilitary groups like Razakars, Al-Badr, and Al-Shams, which were organized to target intellectuals, minority Hindus, and pro-independence activists through killings,