DHAKA, Dec 14, 2022 (BSS) – Cross section of people and various political, socio-cultural organizations today paid tributes to the martyred intellectuals by placing wreaths at the Martyred Intellectuals Memorial in Rayerbazar this morning, marking the Martyred Intellectuals Day.

The ruling Awami League (AL) led by its General Secretary Obaidul Quader paid tributes at the Martyred Intellectuals Memorial at Rayerbazar here this morning.

“The defeated forces of 1971 is still have been hatching conspiracies against the country… they want to take revenge”, Obaidul Quader told the journalists after paying tributes. The pro-liberation forces must be united to thwart the conspiracy, he said.

Recalling the significance of the day, Awami League Joint General Secretary Dr Hasan Mahmud told the Journalists that the brutal killing of the intellectuals was carried out jointly by the Jamaat-e-Islami, Al-Badar and AL-Shams, saying that “The BNP is the chief patron of the killers of the martyred intellectuals.”

Those who were involved with the assassination of intellectuals are now leading the BNP, said Dr Hasan who is the Information and Broadcasting Minister now.

Scores of students from different city schools, teachers, guardians including Dhaka city north and south units of Awami League, Awami Jubo League, Swechasebak League, Krishak League, Bangladesher Communist Party, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JASHOD), Bangladesher Workers Party, Jatiya Party, Chatra Union, Samajtantrik Chatra Front, Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU), Bangabandhu Sangskrit Jote, Crime Reporters Association, Shilpakala Academy, Supreme Court Lawyers Association, Bangladesh Udichi Shilpi Gosthi, Kendrio Khelaghar Asor, Dhaka University, Jagannath University, National University, Lalmatia Girls School and Mohammadpur Girls High School also descended  and paid the tributes at the Martyred Intellectuals Memorial at Rayerbazar.

To mark the Martyred Intellectuals Day, Earlier, President M Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid respect to the martyred intellectuals by placing floral wreaths at Mirpur Martyred Intellectuals’ Mausoleum this morning.

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.

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

Flanked by central leaders of the Awami League, Sheikh Hasina, the president of the AL, laid another wreath at the memorial as the party chief.

Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader, Presidium members Begum Matia Chowdhury, Dr M Abdur Razzaque, Jahangir Kabir Nanak, Abdur Rahman, Shahjahan Khan, Mofazzal Hossen Chowdhury Maya and Quamrul Islam, Joint General Secretaries Mahbubul Alam Hanif and AFM Bahauddin Nasim, Organizing Secretaries Ahmad Hossain, SM Kamal Hossain and Afzal Hossain, Liberation War Affairs Secretary Mrinal Kanti Das, Publicity and Publication Secretary Dr Abdus Sobhan Golap, Science and Technology Secretary Abdus Sabur, Office Secretary Barrister Biplob Barua and Deputy Office Secretary Sayem Khan, among others, were present at that time.

Later, Jatiya Sangsad Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, central 14-party alliance, the family members of the martyred intellectuals and war-wounded freedom fighters also paid tributes at the mausoleum of the martyred intellectuals at Rayerbazar.

The Prime Minister then went to Dhanmondi and placed a wreath at the portrait of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in front of the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum.

After placing the wreath, she stood there for some times as a mark of profound respect to the memory of Bangabandhu, the architect of Bangladesh's independence.

Just two days ahead of the country's final victory in 1971, more than 200 intellectuals, including educationists, journalists, litterateurs, writers, physicians, scientists, lawyers, artists, philosophers and political thinkers, were picked up in Dhaka by the Pakistani occupation forces, aided by their local collaborators.

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