Published 16:34 IST, December 14th 2020
Martyred Intellectuals Day: Indian Air Force remembers 'dramatic end' to Liberation War
Indian Air Force remembered ‘dramatic’ end to the Liberation War in the East in 1971 on December 14, observed as the Martyred Intellectuals Day in Bangladesh.
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Indian Air Force remembered the ‘dramatic’ end to the war in the East in 1971 on December 14, observed as the Martyred Intellectuals Day in Bangladesh. The day is marked every year to commemorate the death of intellectuals in Bangladesh who lost their lives to Pakistani forces and their collaborators during the Liberation War 1971, particularly between March 25 and December 14, 49 years ago. In a Twitter post, the Indian Air Force shared the images from the time and informed that MiGs, as well as Hunters, struck the Government House in Dhaka and disrupted a meeting that was being chaired by the Governor, East Pakistan, who resigned then and there.
#Remembering1971
— Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) December 14, 2020
14 Dec 1971
Bringing the war in the East to a dramatic end, MiGs and Hunters of 28 Sqn, 04 Sqn & 37 Sqn struck the Government House Dhaka, disrupting an ongoing meeting chaired by the Governor, East Pakistan. The Governor resigned on the spot. pic.twitter.com/7dYdTA2sL1
Bangladeshi intellectuals brutally killed
On this day in 1971, Bangladesh’s well-known academicians, doctors, engineers, journalists, artists, teachers along with other renowned personalities were not only dragged out of their homes but were reportedly blindfolded to take to unknown places followed by torture and murder. As per UNB report, the bodies all intellectuals were later dumped at Rayerbazar, Mirpur and some other fields in the capital.
The Pakistani forces and its collaborators had sensed their imminent defeat in 1971 and thus committed the mass murders that reportedly aimed to annihilate the Bangladeshi intelligence and cripple it intellectually. Since then, to commemorate the tragic deaths, the Bangladeshi government has chalked out a range of programs for the December 14 tragedy.
On December 13, Bangladesh President Md Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid their deep respects and tributes to the ‘best sons’ of the nation. In a separate message on the eve of the day, both Bangladesh President and PM called for the nation to unite and being imbued with the ideology of the intellectuals that lost their lives along with the spirit of the Liberation War to build a non-communal “Sonar Bangla”.
Hamid also noted, in his message that the intellectuals are the main conscience of the nation and they had played a significant role with writing and spirit to mobilise public opinion in favour of the Liberation War. However, the Bangladeshi PM added that it was ‘unfortunate’ that the occupation forces and its local collaborators had brutally killed the intellectuals and other litterateurs just on the eve of the victory.
16:36 IST, December 14th 2020