Pakistani Army had killed over 400 innocent villagers at Thanapara village under Charghat Upazila in the district on this day in 1971.
On that day, hundreds of people including women and children from Thanpara adjacent to Sardah Police Academy, half-a-kilometer north-west from Charghat Bazar, left their houses and took shelter on the bank of river Padma.
Later, the Pakistan army surrounded them and opened fire indiscriminately, leaving as many as four hundred people dead. The area witnessed mass killing of Bangladeshi freedom fighters during the Liberation War.
The brutal attack by Pakistan invaders killed the unarmed men and injured many others in the Thanapara village that was later declared as a widow village after independence.
The horror of Thanapara mass killing has been remembered with placing floral wreaths, special prayers and discussion. Upazila Nirbahi Officer Sohrab Hossain, Charghat Piurasava Mayor Ekramul Haque and Union Parishad Chairman Hasanuzzaman Madhu were present on the occasion.
Meanwhile, around 300 people both male and female of martyred families have attained economic emancipation through income-generating activities related to handicrafts and handloom industries at the village.
Representatives of the Swallows in Sweden came to work for the victims of the Liberation War in the devastated village in a post-war time in 1972.
In order to create self-employment opportunities, they first established weaving and initially started training 13 widows.
At present Thanapara Swallows Development Society (TSDS) employs about 350 rural backward women through handicraft projects.
The women behind these stocks are making garments through the works of yarn dyes, weaving fabrics, hand embroidery and sewing and the garments are exported to almost eight countries of the world.
Children's day care and primary education activities are being carried out with productive children, including fair wages, improved working conditions, transparency and accountability, child labor avoidance, gender equality and timely training.
Nazrul Islam Bachhu, one of the local elites, said the women workers by themselves do all the dyeing with hands without involving any machine. Ten women are working full time under the supervision of a dyeing master.
He also said many of the beneficiary people were brought under educational schemes besides imparting training on agriculture, fish farming and vocational crafts for making them income-generators.
TSDS Executive Director Raihan Ali told BSS that they are working to eliminate the causes of poverty in the remote village and to alleviate suffering.
He said the Thanapara village with areas of concentration focusing on skills development for the affected women which led to the establishment of the handicraft program and the marginal women are becoming self-reliant through producing the products and selling those to the international markets.
Ali said their mission is to empower the poor and underprivileged population by eradicating illiteracy, creating health awareness and self-employment, raising awareness among the landless for the rights of land and empowering women by creating economic and social awareness.
Vision of the venture is to establish a democratic society by developing the socio-economic condition of the poor.
Raihan Ali said the embroidery section is focusing on hand stitching. Traditional skills and cultural designs are being used for making the products. All the raw materials like threads and cloth are eco friendly. In this section, 50 women are working full time.
Apart from this, modern machineries are also being used for stitching, over locking and finishing. Subsequently, each of the finished items goes through acceptance quality label performance to ensure quality of the products.
There are 35 tailors, including three cutting masters, in the tailoring unit. Jahanara Begum, 54, one of many other rehabilitated beneficiaries, has been working in the TSDS for around 35 years and made her family self-reliant. Her mother had joined the factory after two years of her father's killing in the barbaric attack.
Begum said they become self-reliant in the long-run as a result of establishing different income generating projects for self employment contributing to the efforts of poverty alleviation.
"Our weaving section is famous for its unique technique as we still run the traditional handloom for woven the fabric," she added.
They use the same yarn that they have dyed in the dyeing section for making the cloth. So, the clothes made are also eco-friendly.
She opined that utmost emphasis has been given on advancing and promoting the equal status of women in the family, as well as in society, through incorporating gender issues and awareness-raising activities and programs.
October 17 last, was the 50th founding anniversary of the TSDS and it had chalked out elaborate programmes throughout the day marking the anniversary, mentioned Raihan Ali.
Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha