Nation pays humble respects to the best sons of the soil

The nation remembered the best sons of the soil on Sunday (December 16) with deep respect by observing Martyred Intellectuals Day.

It is a sad day in our national life. On this day in 1971, a shameful chapter was added to the history of Bangladesh.

On the eve of our victory in the Liberation War, the occupying Pakistani forces and their allies, knowing that defeat was certain, indulged in the murder of intellectuals. Out of revenge, they killed many of the nation’s most talented sons. One of the main objectives of this massacre was to demoralize the Bengali nation before it gained independence.

Marking the day, President Mohammed Shahabuddin paid homage to the nation’s intellectuals at the Martyred Intellectuals Memorial in Mirpur at about 7:00am.

Followed by the president, Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus paid tribute to the nation’s finest intellectuals and observed a silence for a while there. Later, people of walks of life were allowed to pay tribute to the martyrs.

Since the beginning of the attack on unarmed Bengalis on March 25, Pakistani forces and their allies, in addition to committing genocide, selectively killed some people who were considered prominent citizens of the country.

Throughout the Liberation War, the Pak forces killed intellectuals in various district towns besides Dhaka. After the brutal massacre, they left the bodies in various parts of the country, including Rayerbazar and Mirpur in Dhaka.

Immediately after the victory in the Liberation War on December 16, their close relatives found the bodies of their relatives in the slaughterhouse. The barbaric Pakistani forces and their allies had brutally tortured the best sons of this country.

The bodies of the intellectuals were found in injury marks, some of them had their eyes, hands, and feet tied, some had their bodies mutilated. Many were unable to identify their loved ones due to the injuries on the bodies. The bodies of many were never found.

Our victory in the bloody nine-month war led to the emergence of an independent state called Bangladesh on the world map. But the joy of victory turned into sadness due to the killing of millions of ordinary people and intellectuals. We have achieved our beloved independent motherland in exchange for the blood of three million martyrs, including intellectuals.

We hope that our scholars and academics will be inspired by the ideals of the martyred intellectuals during the Liberation War and fulfill their great responsibility. We pay our humble respects to the martyred intellectuals.