By IANS,
Dhaka: Bangladesh has asked India to preserve the graves of those who died fighting Pakistani forces during its 1971 freedom struggle.
Several graves, some of them part of mass burials, are on both sides of the Bangladesh-India border. They include those of intellectuals who were killed by the Pakistani forces or local Islamist militia during the last days of the country’s freedom movement.
A mass grave with 238 bodies was located at a village near Akhaura on the border with the northeastern Indian state of Tripura, The Daily Star newspaper said Wednesday.
The newspaper quoted government officials and a spokesperson of the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi as saying that Dhaka had sent letters to New Delhi urging that the graves be located and preserved.
Wednesday began with celebrations of the 38th Bijoy Diwas, a victory day when 93,000 Pakistani officers and men surrendered after a 14-day military campaign carried out jointly by the Indian and Bangladeshi forces and freedom fighters.
President Zillur Rahman led the nation by placing wreaths at the War Memorial at Savar, 20 km outside the national capital.