We pay our rich tributes to the Martyred Intellectuals, who were picked up from their residences blindfolded and murdered brutally during December 10 to 14 in 1971, just two days ahead of the country’s victory day. With due respect and heavy heart, we will observe the Martyred Intellectuals’ Day today (Tuesday) to commemorate and pay homage to its illustrated sons brutally killed by the Pakistani forces and their collaborators on this day in 1971.
On this day in 1971, the country’s renowned academicians, physicians, 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. Their bodies were later dumped at Rayerbazar, Mirpur and some other killing fields in the capital. Sensing an imminent defeat, the Pakistani forces and their local collaborators like Al-Badr, Al-Shams and Razakar committed the cold-blooded mass murders aiming to annihilate the country’s intelligentsia and cripple emerging Bangladesh intellectually.
We hope the government will
prepare a correct and complete
list of the martyred intellectuals
and publish it as early as possible
Martyred Intellectuals Day is a black day in our history as we lost our valiant and illustrated sons. Many intellectuals--including 991 teachers, 13 journalists, 49 physicians, 42 lawyers, and 16 writers, artists and engineers-- were picked up between December 12 and 14 in 1971 from different places, including capital Dhaka, and most of them did not return. Of them, Prof Muneir Chowdhury, Dr Alim Chowdhury, Prof Muniruzzaman, Dr Fazle Rabbi, Sirajuddin Hossain, Shahidullah Kaiser, Prof G C Dev, JC Guha Thakurta, Prof Santosh Bhattacharya, Mofazzal Haider Chowdhury, journalists Khandaker Abu Taleb, Nizamuddin Ahmed, SA Mannan [Ladu Bhai], ANM Golam Mustafa, Anwar Pasha and Selina Parvin were brutally tortured and killed by the anti-liberation force.
Just after two days, on December 16 in 1971, Bangladesh was born as an independent country under the leadership of Bangabandhu at the cost of supreme sacrifice of three million people and the honour of nearly half a million women. However, most wanted war criminals, who managed to make their room in the national politics with the patronage of influential vested quarters emerged after the August 15, 1971 assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, were executed for war crimes.
Earlier, the Liberation War Affairs Ministry has formed a committee to prepare the list of martyred intellectuals who sacrificed their lives on December 14, 1971. We hope the committee will prepare a correct and complete list of the martyred intellectuals and publish it as early as possible.
Besides, we all people imbued with the spirit of the Liberation War must remain alert as the anti-liberation forces, war criminals and killers of Bangabandhu are trying to create political unrest again to play with the fate of people.
