Martyred Intellectuals Day is the most poignant day in the history of the country’s independence and struggle for freedom. This day, December 14, 1971, is a day of profound sorrow as the nation had lost its best intellectuals on the brink of final victory of the War of Liberation.
At the end of the nine-month blodstained liberation war, when the people of the entire country were on the verge of final victory, the members of Razakars, Al-Badr, Al-Shams and the Peace Committee indulged in the massacre of intellectuals on that day.
This barbaric act, aimed at depriving the nation of its brightest minds, shocked both the country and the world.
Just two days before the surrender of the Pakistani occupation forces, on the dark night of December 14, 1971, a gang of assassins blindfolded and took about 150 intellectuals and people of various professions to an unknown location in Dhaka city alone.
That night, under the curfew, teachers, journalists, doctors, engineers, lawyers, artists-litterateurs, cultural workers and high-ranking government and private officials were dragged out of their homes by following a list. Later, they were killed and left in the silent, eerie darkness.
The next morning, many lifeless bodies were seen lying scattered in the ditches and drains of Mirpur and Rayer bazar brickyards in Dhaka. Some were killed in bullet firing or tortured inhumanly.
Victims were found with hands tied behind their backs, and some had their intestines removed with bayonets.
From the nationally published Martyred Intellectuals Day collection in 1972, news published in various publications and from the write-up of internationally renowned journalist Nicholas Tomalin at the international news magazine “Newsweek”, the total number of martyred intellectuals is as high as 1,070.
Throughout the long struggle for liberation, these intellectuals inspired the movement for independence through their intellect, writings, and vision. Their guidance showed the path to liberation and motivated the nation in its fight for justice. However, the anti-liberation forces could not tolerate the birth of an independent Bangladesh and conspired to eliminate these brilliant minds.
Although December 14 is remembered as the day of the massacre of intellectuals, this most heinous crime in history actually began on December 10. Throughout the week, the names of intelligent and courageous people appeared one by one on their list.
Originally, from December 10, the listed intellectuals were blindfolded and taken from their homes to Rayerbazar and Mirpur killing grounds in the dark of night and brutally killed.
The first Martyred Intellectuals Memorial was built in Mirpur, Dhaka in memory of the martyred intellectuals. In 1991, construction of another memorial named the Martyred Intellectuals Memorial began in Rayerbazar, Dhaka, which was inaugurated on December 14, 1999.
Martyred Intellectuals Day is observed in a mournful atmosphere on December 14 every year. The national flag is kept at half-mast all over the country. The black flag, symbol of mourning, is hoisted.
Various political, social, cultural and professional organizations across the country pay tributes by laying wreaths at monuments, organize milad and doa mahfils, discussion, cultural function, screening of liberation war-based documentaries and organizing photography exhibitions, voluntary blood donation programme, and painting competitions in memory of the martyrs.
On the occasion of Martyred Intellectuals Day, the first person to lay wreaths at the Mirpur Martyred Intellectuals Memorial will be Head of the State Mohammed Shahabuddin and then Head of the Government Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus.
After that, the family members of the martyred intellectuals and the war-wounded and heroic freedom fighters, led by the Liberation War Affairs Adviser, will lay wreaths at the Mirpur Intellectuals Memorial and the Rayerbazar Killing Ground in the morning. Then people from all walks of life will place wreaths at the Intellectuals’ Memorial.
Bangladesh Betar and Bangladesh Television and private TV channels broadcast special programs on this day highlighting the significance of the day.
Newspapers publish special supplements and articles. Various programs are also organized at the district and upazila levels. Special prayers are offered in all mosques, temples, churches, pagodas and other places of worship in observance of the day.