People of Jhenaidah will observe the 45th death anniversary of 27 martyrs who sacrificed their lives to liberate Bangladesh on November 26, 1971. Milad mahfil and distribution of sweets would be organised to show respect to the martyrs on the day. Opinions, however, vary over the date of the incident, as some say it was November 27 rather than November 26. According to local people, around 35 freedom fighters had been camping in Madhab Bhowmik's two-storey tin-shed house in Kamanna since November 23, 1971. They were from Sailkupa of Jhenaidah, Sripur and Magura Sadar. Alamgir of Sailkupa and Abu Bakar of Sripur in Magaura were leading the team of freedom fighters, said some bonafide freedom fighters.
Some spies, however, sent the news to Razakar camps in Sailkupa, Jhenaidah and Magura. Armed with guns, Pakistani soldiers and their collaborators entered the area and started firing at the freedom fighters. They killed Momin, Kader, Shahidul Islam, Soleman, Abdur Razzaque, Abdul Wahed, Riyad, Alamgir Hossain, Abdul Motaleb, Ali Hossain, Sariful Islam, Anisur Rahman, Alimuzzaman, Tajul Islam, Maniruzzaman, Nasim, Razzaque-2, Kawser Ali, Abdul Malek, Abdul Aziz, Akbar Hossain, Selim, Hossain, Rashed, Golzer Ahmed, Adhir and Gour.
The soldiers and their collaborators left the place setting a number of houses on fire.
Reminiscing the day, Samena Begum, who had witnessed the massacre, said a young man with bullet injuries was looking for water and she offered him an earthen pot of water. But a soldier came and shattered the jar with a bullet, she recalled.
Locals said the bodies of the 27 martyrs were dumped into six mass graves near Kamanna High School on the northern bank of the Kumar river.
They also said  a number of ministers, lawmakers, political leaders and administrative officials visited the place and promised to set up a freedom fighters’ complex and museum in Kamanna. However, nothing has been done over the past 45 years. Biswas Lutfar Rahman, a retired joint secretary of the Election Commission and a bonafide freedom fighter from Sailkupa, said he had formed a committee called Kamanna 27 Shahid Smrity Sangha immediately after the Liberation War to show respect to the martyrs. Local people, Bogura union parishad and the Awami League will hold milah and dowa mahfil on November 26 in Kamanna. A meeting will also be held on the day, Lutfar Rahman said. Ex-commander of the Bangladesh Muktijoddha Sangsad Sailkupa upazila unit command, Rahmat Ali, said the freedom fighters had sacrificed their lives in the early hours of November 26 and not November 27, while the incumbent commander of the Sangsad, Manwar Hossain Malita, said it was quite the opposite.