Bangla Academy Director General Professor Dr. Muhammad Azam today presided a seminar titled "The Voice and Life of the Intellectual". Photo: BSS

DHAKA, Dec 14, 2025 (BSS) - The Bangla Academy authorities today held a seminar titled "The Voice and Life of the Intellectual" (Buddhijibir Joban O Jibon) in commemoration of the martyred intellectuals who were brutally killed by then Pakistani forces this day during the 1971 Liberation War.

The seminar, organized to observe the Martyred Intellectuals Day 2025, was held at the academy's Kabi Shamsur Rahman Seminar Room.

Bangla Academy observed the day with a series of events, beginning with placing floral tributes at the Rayer Bazar Intellectuals Graveyard in the morning.

Academy Director General Professor Dr. Muhammad Azam presided over the seminar while Secretary Dr. Mohammad Selim Reza delivered the welcome address.

Researcher Tahmid Al Jami presented the keynote paper.

Dr. Selim Reza said the ruthless murder of the country's intellectual community by the Pakistani military and their domestic collaborators was a consequence of the immense contribution the intellectuals made in mobilizing the masses for the Liberation War. 

"This systematic killing began on the night of March 25 and reached its climax on December 14,"he said.

Dr. Reza emphasized that the intellectuals' aspiration was for an independent, sovereign and egalitarian state where equality and rights for all would be established. 

The killings were perpetrated as part of a "blueprint" intended to "de-intellectualize" the nation," he said noting the Bangla Academy's commitment to heighten the dignity of the martyred intellectuals.

Keynote speaker Tahmid Al Jami focused on the relationship between intellectual expression and power, linking historical events like the 1969 uprising and the 1971 war to the recent 2024 mass uprising.

Professor Dr. Muhammad Azam noted that the martyred intellectuals were killed because of their "potential importance."

"Their existence and the risk taken through conscious expression made them targets of the Pakistani Army and its collaborators," he added.

Dr. Azam outlined three major challenges currently facing intellectual discourse in Bangladesh as: public alienation, the difficulty of recognizing local history without comparing it against idealized foreign models and the new perspectives and risks introduced by social media.

The seminar concluded with paying gratitude and respect to the martyred intellectuals.

Professor Dr. Navine Murshid, artist and writer Arup Rahi, Rashtra Sanskar Andolan president Hasnat Kayum spoke at the event, among others.