Online Desk  :  The nation is observing Martyred Intellectuals Day today (December 14) commemorating the intellectuals killed systematically by Pakistan occupation forces and their local collaborators at the fag-end of the Liberation War in 1971. On this day in 1971, prominent scholars, physicians, engineers, journalists, artists, educators, and other distinguished figures were forcibly taken from their homes. They were blindfolded, transported to undisclosed locations, brutally tortured, and executed.

The nation, however, came to know about the loss only after the surrender by the Pakistani troops on December 16, 1971. Those who were killed on December 14, 1971, included Dr Alim Chowdhury and Dr Fazle Rabbi, journalists Shahidullah Kaisar, Sirajudddin Hossain, Nizamuddin Ahmed, S A Mannan and Selina Parveen and litterateur Munir Chowdhury. Most of the December 14 victims were picked up from their houses blindfolded and killed between December 10 and 14 in 1971. Their bodies were later found at Rayerbazar, Mirpur and some other killing fields in the capital.

The tragic killing of these intellectuals at the end of the Liberation War was a calculated attempt to disable the newly independent Bangladesh intellectually. The interim government has organized various events to mark the day. President Mohammed Shahabuddin and Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus paid homage to the martyred intellectuals marking Martyred Intellectuals Day today (December 14).

The President and the CA laid wreaths at the Martyred Intellectuals Memorial in Mirpur at 7 am and 7:15 am, paying tribute to those who were brutally killed just two days before Bangladesh’s final victory in the 1971 Liberation War. Following the tributes they paid, people from all walks of life arrived in groups, carrying banners of various parties and associated organizations to pay their respects.

During this time, leaders and activists from different BNP-affiliated organizations were also seen raising party slogans. Special prayers and munajats are being held at mosques, temples, churches, pagodas, and other places of worship.