DHAKA, Dec 13, 2020 (BSS) – The nation is set to observe the Martyred
Intellectuals’ Day tomorrow in a befitting manner.
Just two days ahead of the country’s victory on this day 49 years ago, the
marauding Pakistan army in collusion with their local collaborators – Al-
Badr, Al-Shams and Razakars – killed the most prominent intellectuals of the
country in a bid to cripple the newly emerging nation of Bangladesh.
A memorial erected in memory of the martyred intellectuals at Mirpur in
the capital has been readied as national leaders and people from all walks of
life will pay tributes by placing wreaths there.
The Pakistani troops and their Bengali-speaking collaborators belonging to
Razakar or other auxiliary forces killed a number of intelligentsia
throughout the nine-month long Liberation War.
But, they visibly engaged the infamous Gestapo like Al-Badr and Al-Shams
forces on December 14, 1971 to carry out a systematic campaign to kill the
most eminent academics and professionals like doctors, engineers and
journalists to make the newborn nation to 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.
Those who were exposed to the killers’ wrath on December 14, 1971 included
Dr Alim Chowdhury and Dr Fazle Rabbi, Journalists Shahidullah Kaisar,
Sirajudddin Hossain, Nizamuddin Ahmed, SA Mannan and Selina Parveen and
litterateur Monier Choudhury.
Most of the December 14 victims were picked up from their residences
blindfolded and killed between December 10 and 14 in 1971.
President M Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued separate
messages on the eve of the day, paying homage to the martyred intellectuals.
Elaborate programmes, including paying homage to Father of the Nation
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, hoisting the national and black flags at
half-mast and placing wreaths at the Martyred Intellectuals Memorial at
Mirpur and Rayerbazar Killing Ground at Mohammadpur in the city, have been
taken to observe the day.
The programmes marking the Martyred Intellectuals Day, however, will be
observed following the health and hygiene rules due to the coronavirus
pandemic situation.
Marking the day, ruling Awami League (AL) also chalked out various
programmes.
As part of the programmes, the national flags and AL’s party flag will be
hoisted half-mast at its central office, Bangabandhu Bhaban and all party
offices across the country at dawn tomorrow while Black flags will be hoisted
at AL’s all party offices, including the central office and Bangabandhu
Bhaban, across the country.
The ruling party will place wreath at the Martyred Intellectuals Memorial
at Mirpur in the city at 9 am while it will pay tribute to Father of the
Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by placing wreath at his
(Bangabandhu) portrait in front of Bangabandhu Bhaban in the city at 9.30am.
Later, AL will place wreath at the Rayerbazar Killing Ground at
Mohammadpur in the city at 10 am on the day.
After assuming the state power in 2009, the ruling AL has brought the
perpetrators of intellectuals killing and the war criminals of 1971 under
justice.
Jamaat-e-Islami Amir Matiur Rahman Nizami, secretary general Ali Ahsan
Mohammad Mujahid and assistant secretary generals Abdul Qader Mollah and
Mohammad Qamaruzzaman have already been executed for committing crimes
against humanity during the country’s Liberation War and killing
intellectuals in 1971.
However, the trials of two masterminds — Chowdhury Mainuddin and
Ashrafuzzaman Khan — behind the killing of intellectuals are yet to be
completed as they remain fugitives in the United Kingdom and the United State
of America (USA) respectively.