President, CA pay homage to martyred intellectuals

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

Shahabuddin placed the wreath at the Martyred Intellectuals Memorial at Mirpur at about 06:59am to pay tributes to those who were brutally killed just two days before Bangladesh's final victory in the War of Liberation in 1971.

The chief adviser paid homage by placing a wreath at the memorial around 7:15am.

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

Both of them paid glowing tributes to the memories of the martyrs of the Liberation War including the martyred intellectuals and prayed for the eternal peace of the departed souls.

A contingent of the Bangladesh Armed Forces offered a state salute while the bugle played the last post.

After paying the homage, the president and the chief adviser also exchanged greetings with the injured brave freedom fighters and other people who came to pay respect to the martyred intellectuals.

Earlier, in separate messages on the eve of the day, the President and the Chief Adviser urged the people to be united with discrimination-free spirit and play role from their respective positions to build a new Bangladesh by defeating all the conspiracies of the anti-liberation forces.

“On this day in 1971, on the eve of the final victory in the Great Liberation War, the invading forces, in collaboration with anti-liberations forces, brutally murdered the nation’s best sons of the soil, renowned educationists, doctors, scientists, writers, journalists, artists and many other distinguished persons,” the President said in his message.

Underlining Bengali’s gradual struggle to liberate the country from the clutch of subjugation the President said the struggle was against long-standing exploitation, deprivation and discrimination.

With the declaration of independence on March 26, 1971, the entire nation jumped into the liberation struggle. The final victory was achieved through a long war, he added.

The President said, “Our intellectuals, through applying their talent and wisdom, practice of art and literature and sharp writing made an immense contribution to shaping public opinion in favour of the Liberation War and provided strategic advice to the Mujibnagar government during the war, bringing the Great Liberation War to the success.”

“The anti-liberation forces, sensing that their certain defeat, launched a barbaric killing spree throughout the country including Dhaka on December 14, 1971, with the aim of demoralizing the nation,” president Shahabuddin said.

They mercilessly killed the best sons of the soil. In fact, intellectuals were killed throughout the entire period of the liberation war, starting from the night of March 25, the president noted.

However, on the eve of victory, this killing spree took a horrific turn on December 14,” he added.

In his message, Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus said the anti-liberation forces on the eve of the victory of the Bengali nation, abducted and brutally killed country's intellectuals, including educationists, journalists, writers, doctors, scientists, lawyers, artists, engineers, philosophers and political thinkers.

Mofazzal Haider Chowdhury, Munier Chowdhury, Anwar Pasha, Shahidullah Kaiser, Giasuddin, Dr Fazler Rabbi, Abdul Aleem Chowdhury, Sirajuddin Hossain, Selina Parveen, Dr Jyotirmoy Guha Thakurta and many more were among the victims of their brutality.

The anti-liberation forces took the most heinous revenge for their defeat in the Great Liberation War through this planned massacre with an objective to demoralize the Bengali nation, he said.

At the end of the liberation war, the brilliant minds of the soil were killed in a bid to make cripple the newly emerging Bangladesh intellectually.