People from all walks of life pay homage to martyred intellectuals

People from all walks of life have paid homage to a large number of Bangladesh’s top brains who were brutally killed by the Pakistan army and their collaborators visibly sensing their defeat just two days ahead of the emergence of Dhaka as the free capital of free Bangladesh.

On the occasion of the Martyred Intellectuals Day, President Mohammed Shahabuddin and Chief Adviser (CA) Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus have paid rich tributes to the martyred intellectuals by placing 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 smart turned-out contingent of the Bangladesh Armed Forces gave a state salute to them.

Later, various political parties, social organizations and people from all walks of life paid their rich tributes to the memories of martyred intellectuals after the main gate of Martyred Intellectuals Memorial was open for all.

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.