President, CA pay homage to martyred intellectuals

President Mohammed Shahabuddin and Chief Adviser (CA) Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus have paid rich tributes to the martyred intellectuals of 1971 on the occasion of the Martyred Intellectuals Day.

The President and the Chief Adviser placed separate wreaths at Mirpur Martyred Intellectuals Memorial at 7:05am and 7:06am on Saturday (December 14) respectively.

They stood there in solemn silence for a while as a mark of profound respect to the memories of the illustrious sons of Bangladesh.

A contingent of the Bangladesh Armed Forces gave a state salute.

On the eve of the day, the President and the Chief Adviser issued separate messages paying profound respect to the memories of martyred intellectuals.

National programmes have been chalked out to observe the Martyred Intellectuals Day in a befitting manner. Different political and socio-cultural organizations have also drawn up various programmes in observance of the day.

Different television and radio channels including Bangladesh Television (BTV) and Bangladesh Betar will air special programmes while national dailies will publish special supplements highlighting the significance of the day.

On the night of December 14, 1971, over 200 intellectuals, including educationists, journalists, litterateurs, writers, physicians, scientists, lawyers, artists, philosophers and political thinkers, were picked up in Dhaka by Pakistani occupation forces, aided by their local collaborators.

They were then taken in blindfolds to torture cells in Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Nakhalpara, Rajarbagh and other locations in different parts of the city and later executed en masse on different killing grounds, most notably Rayerbazar and Mirpur.

Since then, the day has been observed as Martyred Intellectuals Day.