The nation remembered martyred intellectuals

The murderers brutally eliminated the brightest and worthiest sons and daughters of this soil, but they could not extinguish the light and spirit of freedom they nurtured in their heart

Yesterday the nation with deep and profound respect remembered those bright sons of this soil who were brutally murdered by cohorts of the Pak army when they realized their defeat was just imminent. The systematic killing that started with Pakistani military’s “Operation Searchlight” on March 27, 1971 was culminated in this dastardly event of which there is hardly any parallel in the human history. Just before Pakistani marauders surrendered on December 16, they, with the help of the local collaborators known as Al-Badr, Al-Shams and Razakars who were opposing all through our noble goal for freedom, singled out the pro-liberation intellectuals of our nation and brought the colossal damage by killing them in a most barbaric fashion. 
They were about 200 of them: professors, journalists, doctors, artists, engineers and writes. They were picked up unaware from their homes by the abject forces, blindfolded and then taken to the various torture cells in Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Nakhalpara, Rajarbagh and other places in the city. They killed these notable professionals en masse and then threw their bodies in the marshland of Rayer Bazaar and Mirpur. To remember this cruelty of 1971, the nation every year pays homage—and pays it must—to these martyred intellectuals with deep and profound respect. 
The killing of these accomplished people, who could contribute greatly in the nation building efforts, was a vein effort of the Pak junta to cripple the nation. Some of the bright names that flash in our minds who were killed during this time included Govinda Chandra Dev (philosopher, professor at DU), Munier Chowdhury (litterateur, dramatist, professor at DU), Dr Jyotirmoy Guha Thakurta (professor at DU), Mufazzal Haider Chaudhury (litterateur, professor at DU), Anwar Pasha (litterateur, professor at DU), Dr. Mohammed Fazle Rabbee (cardiologist), Dr. Alim Chowdhury (ophthalmologist), Shahidullah Kaisar (novelist and journalist), Nizamuddin Ahmed (reporter), Selina Parvin (reporter), Altaf Mahmud (lyricist and musician), Dr. Hobibur Rahman (mathematician, professor at RU), Dhirendranath Datta (politician), Ranadaprasad Saha (philanthropist), Lt. Col. Moazzem Hossain (ex-soldier), Mamun Mahmood (police officer), Dr Abul Kalam Azad (mathematician), Dr Ghulam Murtaza (a physiologist) and many others. Most of these people were killed on Dec 14. Rao Farman Ali, a Pakistani army general who was the adviser to the governor of East Pakistan, prepared the list of people to be killed before they surrendered. 
The murderers could most foully wipe out the brightest and worthiest sons of this soil, but they could not extinguish the light and spirit of freedom they nurtured in their heart. It has rekindled and will continue to do so the mind of successive generations of this nation for an unknown period of time.    

The nation remembered martyred intellectuals

The murderers brutally eliminated the brightest and worthiest sons and daughters of this soil, but they could not extinguish the light and spirit of freedom they nurtured in their heart

Yesterday the nation with deep and profound respect remembered those bright sons of this soil who were brutally murdered by cohorts of the Pak army when they realized their defeat was just imminent. The systematic killing that started with Pakistani militarys Operation Searchlight on March 27, 1971 was culminated in this dastardly event of which there is hardly any parallel in the human history. Just before Pakistani marauders surrendered on December 16, they, with the help of the local collaborators known as Al-Badr, Al-Shams and Razakars who were opposing all through our noble goal for freedom, singled out the pro-liberation intellectuals of our nation and brought the colossal damage by killing them in a most barbaric fashion. They were about 200 of them: professors, journalists, doctors, artists, engineers and writes. They were picked up unaware from their homes by the abject forces, blindfolded and then taken to the various torture cells in Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Nakhalpara, Rajarbagh and other places in the city. They killed these notable professionals en masse and then threw their bodies in the marshland of Rayer Bazaar and Mirpur. To remember this cruelty of 1971, the nation every year pays homageand pays it mustto these martyred intellectuals with deep and profound respect. The killing of these accomplished people, who could contribute greatly in the nation building efforts, was a vein effort of the Pak junta to cripple the nation. Some of the bright names that flash in our minds who were killed during this time included Govinda Chandra Dev (philosopher, professor at DU), Munier Chowdhury (litterateur, dramatist, professor at DU), Dr Jyotirmoy Guha Thakurta (professor at DU), Mufazzal Haider Chaudhury (litterateur, professor at DU), Anwar Pasha (litterateur, professor at DU), Dr. Mohammed Fazle Rabbee (cardiologist), Dr. Alim Chowdhury (ophthalmologist), Shahidullah Kaisar (novelist and journalist), Nizamuddin Ahmed (reporter), Selina Parvin (reporter), Altaf Mahmud (lyricist and musician), Dr. Hobibur Rahman (mathematician, professor at RU), Dhirendranath Datta (politician), Ranadaprasad Saha (philanthropist), Lt. Col. Moazzem Hossain (ex-soldier), Mamun Mahmood (police officer), Dr Abul Kalam Azad (mathematician), Dr Ghulam Murtaza (a physiologist) and many others. Most of these people were killed on Dec 14. Rao Farman Ali, a Pakistani army general who was the adviser to the governor of East Pakistan, prepared the list of people to be killed before they surrendered. The murderers could most foully wipe out the brightest and worthiest sons of this soil, but they could not extinguish the light and spirit of freedom they nurtured in their heart. It has rekindled and will continue to do so the mind of successive generations of this nation for an unknown period of time.