Bangladesh observes Martyred Intellectuals Day

Numerous events are being held across the country on Tuesday to observe Martyred Intellectuals Day to commemorate the intellectuals killed systematically by Pakistan occupation forces and their local collaborators at the tail-end of the Liberation War.

Just two days ahead of the country's cherished victory on this day 50 years ago, the country’s renowned academicians, doctors, engineers, journalists, artists, teachers and other eminent personalities were dragged out of their homes, blindfolded and taken to unknown places and then brutally tortured and murdered by the Pakistan army in collusion with their local collaborators — Al-Badr, Al-Shams and Razakars.

The Pakistani troops and their Bangla-speaking collaborators belonging to Razakar or other auxiliary forces killed a number of intelligentsia throughout the nine-month long Liberation War.

But the Pakistan occupation force visibly engaged the infamous Gestapo like Al-Badr and Al-Shams personnel on December 14, 1971 to carry out a clandestine systematic campaign to kill the best academics and professionals like doctors, engineers and journalists to turn the newborn nation into a state of brainlessness.

The then Bangladesh government and victorious freedom fighters, however, came to know about their last brutal massacre only when the Pakistani troops surrendered on December 16, 1971 and their top accomplices mostly belonging to Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing went into hiding to resurface years later.

President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid rich tributes to the martyred intellectuals.

On behalf of the head of the state, his Military Secretary Major General SM Salah Uddin Islam placed a wreath at Martyred Intellectuals Memorial in Mirpur.

On behalf of the Prime Minister, her Military Secretary Major General Naquib Ahmed Chowdhury laid a wreath at the monument.

President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued separate messages on this occasion on Monday.

Apart from the family members of the martyred and freedom fighters, the general public also placed wreaths at Martyred Intellectuals Memorial in the morning.

To mark the 50th anniversary of Martyred Intellectuals Day, various cultural organisations in Bangladesh on Monday organised several cultural programmes and paid floral tributes to those men of letters killed by the Pakistani forces and their collaborators during the Liberation War.

Bangladesh Television and private television channels are also airing special programmes highlighting the significance of the day. Among the martyred intellectuals are Prof Munier Chowdhury, Dr Alim Chowdhury, Prof Muniruzzaman, Dr Fazle Rabbi, Sirajuddin Hossain, Shahidullah Kaiser, Prof GC Dev, JC Guha Thakurta, Prof Santosh Bhattacharya, Mofazzal Haider Chowdhury, journalists Khandaker Abu Taleb, Nizamuddin Ahmed, SA Mannan (Ladu Bhai), ANM Golam Mustafa, Syed Nazmul Haq and Selina Parvin.