Jahajmara battle: An attack that turned the tide of the war

In the midst of a war that had stretched the courage of a nation to its limits, the quiet village of Matikata became the unlikely stage for a momentous strike. 
In this attack, the extraordinarily brave fighters of Kaderia forces in Tangail, under the leadership of Commander Habibur Rahman, destroyed two enemy warships loaded with Pakistani weapons and supplies at the confluence of the Jamuna and Dhaleshwari rivers. Before destroying the ships, the Mukti Bahini managed to seize a large quantity of arms and ammunition from them.
In the history of the Liberation War, this historic battle is known as the “Jahajmara Battle” (Ship-Destroying Battle). During the nine months of the war, nowhere else in the country did the Pakistani forces suffer such heavy losses at the hands of the Mukti Bahini. A large amount of enemy weapons fell into the hands of the freedom fighters. The greatest achievement, however, was the blow to the enemy’s morale.
What began as a bold, calculated attack by a small band of freedom fighters soon erupted into a confrontation that would alter the course of the conflict.
This battle is mentioned in several works, including “Bangladesher Swadhinata Juddho Sector-Bhittik Itihas” (Sector-11), “Tangail Jelar Muktijuddher Itihas” by Md Habibullah Bahar, and “Swadhinata ’71” by Kader Siddiqui Bir Uttam.
In his book “Swadhinata ’71”, Kader Siddiqui writes on 3 August, the Pakistanis began loading seven ships at Dhaka’s Sadarghat with weapons, ammunition, oil, and supplies, using 600 East Pakistan Riffles (EPR) members they imprisoned earlier.
Among these ships, one Bengali boatswain, Golam Mostofa, secretly sent a message to the Mukti Bahini, reporting that the ships would sail via the Jamuna River to dock at Fulchhari Ghat in Bogura.
The Kaderia forces’ headquarters instructed Habibur Rahman, the area commander of Bhuapur in Tangail, to maintain a sharp watch over the river route. On 7 August, the fleet of Pakistani ships set off from Sadarghat and on 9 August paused at Sirajkandi in Bhuapur along the banks of the Dhaleshwari River. 
Among the fleet, two of the ships were particularly large and covered with tarpaulin. After being confirmed of the ships loaded with arms and ammunition, Habibur, sought more manpower to Kaderia Bahini headquarter for more manpower and weapons.
On 10 August, another team of Mukti Bahini fighters, led by Rajshahi University student Rezaul Karim, arrived in Bhuapur. The next day, at around 9 am, a few volunteer fighters brought news to Commander Habib that the fleet was moving north toward Sirajganj. By 11 am, the Mukti Bahini saw the ships slowly approaching.
Soon, a few smaller vessels at the front of the fleet passed directly in front of the Mukti Bahini’s position and the two largest ships of the fleet came very close. Then Commander Habib’s LMG fired. Weapons of the other Mukti Bahini fighters also responded. 
While the bullets from their Chinese rifles and British LMGs caused only limited damage, the mortar shells thrown by Rezaul and his companions nearby tore apart the soldiers on the decks of the two ships.
The two large ships ran aground on a nearby river sandbar and some Pakistani soldiers on board escaped quickly toward Sirajganj in a speedboat.
Soon the freedom fighters concentrated on unloading the ships with the help of villagers as boatswain Mostofa reported that immediately after the attack, the Pakistani soldiers had sent radio messages calling for reinforcements from other positions.
Later, the weapons and ammunition were loaded onto boats and moved to a safe location. Finally, around 10 pm, the two ships were set on fire.
However, the Mukti Bahini fighters were able to unload only a portion of the vast stock of arms and ammunition, including 120,003 Chinese 3-inch mortar shells, 10,000 Chinese 2.5-inch mortar shells, 40,000 British 2-inch mortar shells, 500 Chinese rifles, 70,000 hand grenades, 10,000 smoke grenades, 100 .303 rifles, 2 Chinese machine guns, 1,000,000 Chinese 7.62mm bullets, 200,000 Chinese 7.65mm bullets, 5,000 Chinese machine gun rounds, and other items.