A pledge of remembrance

Martyred Intellectuals Day was observed yesterday to commemorate the intellectuals who were killed by Pakistan occupation forces and their local collaborators right before the end of the Liberation War.

President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid tributes to the intellectuals in the morning, by placing floral wreaths at the Martyred Intellectuals Memorial in the capital’s Mirpur.

Flanked by the party’s central leaders, Hasina, also president of Awami League, laid another wreath at the Martyred Intellectuals Memorial as the party chief.

Hasina 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.

Road Transport and Bridges Minister and AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader paid homage in Rayerbazar.

AL presidium members Begum Matia Chowdhury and Jahangir Kabir Nanak were present there among others.

There, Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Huq said, “There is a national committee working on the list of martyred intellectuals. We have so far added 1,500 names to the list. Another 100 applications have been submitted. Hopefully, the full list will be published before March 26 [next year].”

Family members of the martyred and freedom fighters placed wreaths in Rayerbazar and Mirpur killing grounds. People from all walks of life joined in, wearing black as a symbol of mourning.

At Rayerbazar, Asif Munir Tanmoy, son of educationist Munir Chowdhury, demanded international recognition of the 1971 genocide.

Meanwhile in Tangail, district civil and police administrations — led by deputy commissioner Jasim Uddin Haider and Tangail superintendent of police Sarkar Mohammad Kaiser — placed wreaths at the Martyr Memorial Plaque at the Collectorate area in the morning.

District Awami League and other political and socio-cultural organisations placed wreaths at the Shaheed Srity Pouro Udyan in the town.