President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday paid rich tributes to the martyred intellectuals on the occasion of Martyred Intellectuals Day.
The president and the prime minister placed wreaths at the Martyred Intellectuals Memorial at Mirpur.
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 smartly turned-out contingent of the Bangladesh Armed Forces gave a state salute.
Flanked by the party’s central leaders, Sheikh Hasina, also the President of Bangladesh Awami League, laid another wreath at the Martyred Intellectuals Memorial as the party chief.
Later, the Prime Minister talked to the war-wounded freedom fighters and the family members of the martyred intellectuals.
Sheikh Hasina, then, went to Dhanmondi and placed a wreath at the portrait of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in front of the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum marking Martyred Intellectuals Day.
After placing the wreath, she stood there for some time as a mark of profound respect to the memory of Bangabandhu, the architect of the independence of Bangladesh.
On the night of December 14, 1971, over 200 intellectuals including educationists, journalists, litterateurs, writers, physicians, scientists, lawyers, artists, philosophers and political thinkers were picked up by the Pakistani occupation forces, aided by their local collaborators.
The intellectuals were taken to torture cells blindfolded 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.
Since then, the day has been observed as Martyred Intellectuals Day.