Day of the Martyred Intellectuals

Day of the Martyred Intellectual
Martyred Intellectuals' Memorial at Rayerbazar, Dhaka
Official name	[শহীদ বুদ্ধিজীবি দিবস Shaheed Buddhijibi Dibôsh'] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help)
Observed by	Bangladesh
Significance	commemoration of executions of Bengali intellectuals
Date	14 December

Day of the Martyred Intellectuals (Bengali: শহীদ বুদ্ধিজীবি দিবস Shaheed Buddhijibi Dibôsh) is mourned in Bangladesh, in memory of the martyred intellectuals, who were systematic executed during the Bangladesh liberation war of 1971 by Pakistan Army and their local collaborators, most notably the extreme right wing Islamist militia groups like Razakar, Al-Shams, Al-Badr. Intellectuals were killed during the entire duration (9 months) of the war. However, the largest number of executions took place on 25 March and 14 December 1971.

History

Since the establishment of the State of Pakistan, the rulers of West Pakistan discriminated the Bengalis (East Pakistanis at that time) from their rights. The discrimination was visible in all disciplines and the attack on the language and culture was direct. As a result, the discontent and anger in the minds of Bengalis turned to political and cultural protests and these movements were led by intellectuals from all parts of the society. They encouraged and seeded the idea of nationalism in the heart of Bengalis through social and cultural activities. As a result of their cultural movement, the people of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) gradually became aware of their rights which turned the movement towards political protests . Hence the intellectuals were the target of the Pakistani rulers since the beginning. As soon as the liberation war of Bangladesh started Pakistan Army started systematic killing of the selected intellectuals. As the war was nearing the end and the victory of Bangladesh was imminent, to cripple the Bengalis in the area of education and culture they made a list of highly recognized intellectuals of the society and annihilated them on December 14, 1971 two days prior to the surrender of Pakistan army and victory of Bangladesh.

14 December executions

On 14 December 1971, over 200 of East Pakistan's intellectuals including professors, journalists, doctors, artists, engineers, and writers were picked up from their homes in Dhaka by the Al-Badr militias and Pakistani Army. They were taken blindfolded to torture cells in Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Nakhalpara, Rajarbagh and other locations in different sections of the city. Later they were executed en masse, most notably at Rayerbazar and Mirpur.

It is widely speculated that the killings of 14 December was orchestrated by Maj Gen Rao Farman Ali. After the liberation of Bangladesh a list of Bengali intellectuals (most of whom were executed on 14 Dec) was discovered in a page of his diary left behind at the Governor's House. The existence of such a list was confirmed by Ali himself although he denied the motive of genocide. The same was also confirmed by Altaf Gauhar, a former Pakistani bureaucrat. He mentioned an incidence in which Altaf requested Ali to delete a friend's name from the list and Ali did that in front of him.

Statistics

The number of intellectuals killed is estimated in Banglapedia as follows -

• Academics - 991
• Journalist - 13
• Physician - 49
• Lawyer - 42
• Others (litterateur, artist and engineer) - 16

The district wise break-up of the number of martyred academicians and lawyers published in 1972 was as follows -

District and Division	Academicians			Lawyers
	Primary	Secondary	Higher Secondary
Dhaka	37	8	10	6
Faridpur	27	12	4	3
Tangail	20	7	2
Mymensingh	46	28	1	2
Dhaka Division	130	55	17	10
Chittagong	39	16	7	1
Chittagong Hill Tracts	9	4	1	1
Sylhet	19	7		2
Comilla	45	33	1	4
Noakhali	26	13	4	2
Chittagong Division	138	73	13	10
Khulna	48	15	2	2
Jessore	55	31	5	4
Barisal	50	21	4
Patuakhali	3	1
Kushtia	28	13	4
Khulna Division	184	81	15	6
Rajshahi	39	8	3	5
Rangpur	41	22	9	4
Dinajpur	50	10	1	2
Bogra	14	12		2
Pabna	43	9	1	2
Rajshahi Division	187	61	14	15
Bangladesh	639	270	59	41
Martyred academicians (not affiliated to universities) = 968
Martyred university teachers = 21
Total martyred academicians = 989

Administrative districts and divisions mentioned here are as they were in 1972.

Martyred Intellectuals Memorial

Closer view of Rayerbazar intellectuals' memorial.

Martyred Intellectuals Memorial(Bengali: বুদ্ধিজীবি স্মৃতি সৌধ) is a memorial built in memory of the martyred intellectuals of Bangladesh Liberation War. The memorial, located at Rayerbazar, Mohammadpur Thana in Dhaka, was designed by architect Farid U Ahmed and Jami Al Shafi. The initial proposal for a memorial at Rayer Bazar was brought forward by Projonmo 71 (organisation of the children of the martyrs of liberation war), who also laid a temporary foundation stone in 1991.

See also

• 1971 Bangladesh atrocities
• 1971 Dhaka University massacre
• Martyred Intellectuals Memorial
• Bangladesh Liberation War
• List of massacres in Bangladesh