বাংলা 
English 
8 December is Mirpur thana's liberation day from the Pakistani occupation forces. It is a memorable day in the history of the Bengali people and of Bangladesh's great Liberation War. On this day in 1971, at the cost of much sacrifice and endurance, the Mirpur thana of the district was freed from the Pakistani occupiers. Since then the day has taken its place in the pages of history as Mirpur thana's liberation day.
On 31 March 1971, over a hundred freedom-loving students and people took their oath at the mosque beside the post office on the present Mahamuda Chowdhury College Road, led by Aftab Uddin Khan, then president of the Student Struggle Council and assistant commander of the Bangladesh Muktijoddha Sangsad district unit. After being defeated in the resistance battle at the Kushtia police lines in the last hours of 30 March, fierce attack began on the Pakistani occupation forces at the Zilla School, and realising certain defeat the Pak forces sought help from the Jessore cantonment. But when word came from there not to send any help, the occupation forces fled in the darkness of night towards the Jessore cantonment in three dozen vehicles, firing as they went. At that time two of the Pakistani vehicles fell into a trap dug by the freedom forces on the road near Garaganj in Jhenaidah district, and their occupants were killed at the hands of the area's agitated populace and the freedom forces.
Six other members of the Pakistani army fled at dawn from the Zilla School towards Mirpur. They first fell into fierce resistance in the field beside Moshan Bazar, but in the firing of the Pak soldiers Dr Abdur Rashid, Hillman, Golap Sheikh, Ashraf Ali and Sonaullah of Moshan were martyred. At Kamarpara of Mirpur thana, local freedom-loving people again fought with three scattered Pakistani occupiers. In this battle Sepoy Mohiuddin of Mirpur thana was martyred; on the other side those three members of the Pak army were also killed. Notably, the Mirpur upazila Martyrs' Memorial has been built beside the grave of martyred Sepoy Mohiuddin. On 15 April the Pak army began to take up positions again at various places of greater Kushtia district. The Pak army set up a strong camp in the area of the then thana council building of Mirpur thana (now the upazila parishad compound), where a 250-strong Western militia force took up position armed with heavy weapons.
They also set up a camp at Amla Government Degree College. As the Pak army and their collaborators reorganised, thousands of people - men and women, children, old and young - began taking refuge in neighbouring India. On 16 April a Youth Camp was inaugurated at Karimpur in India. In this camp the freedom-loving people stayed to prepare for the Liberation War and to receive advanced training. Those who played an active role in setting up the camp included Alhaj Abdul Jalil, former chairman of the then Mirpur UP and commander of the Poura Muktijoddha Sangsad, the late Abdul Wahed, Khalil Ahmed Khuku, Anowar Hossain Bhashani, Golam Kibria, Aftab Uddin Khan, Rayhan Ali, Kubbet Ali and Billal Hossain. The camp's overall supervision was in the hands of the then MCA and chairman of the Zonal Command Council of the south-western region, former MP the late Abdur Rauf Chowdhury. After recruitment, the freedom fighters were sent from this camp to the Jamshedpur camp in India and then to Chakulia in Singhbhum district of Bihar province for advanced training. At the Chakulia advanced training centre, Aftab Uddin Khan - former commander of the Mirpur upazila freedom fighter command and assistant commander of the Bangladesh Muktijoddha Sangsad district unit - served as platoon commander. After the advanced training, taking charge as E-9 group commander from the Shikarpur freedom fighter action camp in India, he entered Bangladesh.
On 26 November the largest guerrilla battle of Kushtia district was fought at Mongalpur field in Sherpur village under Daulatpur upazila. E-9 group commander Aftab Uddin Khan led this battle. On the night of 25 November, E-9 group commander Aftab Uddin Khan took up position with a force of about a hundred well-equipped freedom fighters at Senpara in Sherpur. Getting wind of it, the Pak army set Sherpur ablaze at midnight and fired recklessly.
Learning the Pak army's position, the freedom forces made their position extremely strong on the bank of the Sagarkhali river, midway between the Mirpur and Daulatpur thanas. At 3 a.m. they began advancing steadily to face the Pak army. At 5 a.m. on 26 November the two sides confronted each other, and after a fierce six-hour battle the Pak army was forced to retreat. In this battle 60 Pak soldiers were killed, and one freedom fighter named Habibur Rahman of Sherpur was martyred. Besides, Hira and Azizul of the same village were seriously wounded. With the help of Mujib Bahini commander Nazmul Karim Sufi, group commander Habibur Rahman and Idris Ali, a strong camp of the freedom forces was set up at the old government primary school in Paharapur. Kushtia sub-sector commander, then Lieutenant Khandaker Nurunnabi, inspected the camp in person and granted his approval. At dawn on 7 December a raid from the Paharapur freedom fighters' camp liberated the Amla area from the Pakistani occupation forces. That very night the freedom forces took up position in Sultapur village. The Pak army's strong camp was very close to the freedom forces' position. After the Sherpur battle, word had spread in the area that a thousand freedom fighters were stationed in the area concerned. When the Pak army learned of the freedom forces' position in Sultapur village, they began fleeing in the darkness of night. While fleeing they burned all the papers and documents of the Mirpur thana (police outpost). At dawn on 8 December, E-9 group commander Aftab Uddin Khan, with 170 freedom fighters, hoisted the national flag of the independent sovereign Bangladesh at Mirpur thana with a gun salute. Afterwards, 65 collaborators and Razakars of the Pakistani occupation forces surrendered at the Paharapur freedom fighters' camp. When the news spread that Mirpur had been liberated, thousands of men and women of all ages took to the streets rejoicing on this day in 1971.
