Staff Reporter : Martyr Intellectuals Day was observed with due dignity in Sylhet on Sunday. People from all walks of life paid humble tribute to the memory of the nation’s best sons. Various programmes were organized by government and private initiatives to observe this mournful day in the history of the Bengali nation.
In the morning, people from different sections of society paid tribute at the Martyr Intellectuals Memorial at Chowhatta in the city.
According to a press release from the Public Information Department-PID, the Sylhet District Administration organized a discussion meeting on the occasion of Martyr Intellectuals Day.
Speaking as the chief guest at the discussion meeting held in the conference room of the District Administration, Sylhet Divisional Commissioner Khan Md. Reza-un-Nabi said that the unity of the people is stronger than gunshots. He remarked that those who believed gunshots were more powerful were repeatedly defeated by the strength of united people.
He said that on the eve of victory in the Great Liberation War of 1971, on December 14, the Pakistani occupying forces and their local collaborators carried out a planned massacre of intellectuals to cripple the Bengali nation in every aspect.
The discussion meeting was presided over by Deputy Commissioner Md. Sarwar Alam. He said, “We must create talented intellectuals in the Bangladesh of the future by bringing radical changes to the education system and by protecting the young generation from drug addiction and terrorist activities.”
Special guests at the meeting included Sylhet City Corporation Chief Executive Officer Rezai Rafin Sarkar, Additional Police Commissioner Md Masud Rana, Superintendent of Police Kazi Akhtar Ul Alam, and freedom fighter Mirza Jamal Pasha.