Martyred Intellectuals Day: Who Will Pay Back The Blood Debt?

 

The two-nation theory adopted in 1947 was an unequal and ill-motivated political intrigue that divided India into two parts on the basis of religion. Pakistan rulers wanted to impose Urdu on East Pakistan as the only state language but the Bengali-speaking people of East Pakistan did not take it for granted. Dhirendranath Dutta opposed this proposition in 1948. Muhammad Ali Jinnah was the instigator of the predicament that arose over the issue of making Urdu the state language of East Pakistan. Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a very clever and arrogant politician.

Bangladesh had to undergo a great deal of sufferings, hardship, socio-economic injustice and deprivations at the hands of the Pakistani rulers. Fighting for independence was the only choice for Bangladesh and thus the glorious Liberation War of 1971 took place. India and the then Soviet Union supported and cooperated with Bangladesh during 1971. Many Indian soldiers embraced martyrdom while fighting for Bangladesh’s independence.

An anti-liberation front was very active during 1971 who collaborated with the Pakistan Army. Anti-independence groups like Razakars, Al Badar, Al Shams etcetera were involved in the killings of intellectuals just a couple of days before Bangladesh became independent on 16 December 1971. These culprits wanted to eliminate the merit, creativity, intellect, philosophical think-tank of Bangladesh and wanted to cripple Bangladesh on the intellectual turf. The intellectuals who were killed on 14 December 1971 were the lighthouse of Bangladesh. The Pakistani forces and their accomplices wanted to cripple us by eradicating the intellectual garrisons of our country through the holocaust of 14th December 1971.

The present government of Bangladesh has in the meantime executed the death penalties of several war criminals who committed hideous murders, atrocities and many more sorts of vices during 1971 to thwart the target of the Liberation War. Through the trials and executions of the war criminals it has been proven that nobody is above the law and all culprits working against the interest of the country have to face punishments for their misdeeds. Trials are still going on to prosecute some more backstabbers who murdered innocent people during 1971 while working in favor of the Pakistan army at that time. Some of the eminent intellectuals that got killed during the genocide of 1971 include Munier Chowdhury, Anwar Pasha, Shahidullah Kaiser, Dr. Alim Chowdhury, Mufazzal Haider Chowdhury, Govinda Chandra Dev, Humayun Kabir, Rashidul Hasan, Nizam Uddin Ahmed, Selina Parvin, Altaf Mahmud and many more illuminated figures. While the freedom fighters were fighting with guns and ammunitions on the battlefields to liberate Bangladesh, the poets, authors, teachers and journalists were fighting with their intellect and creativity for the same purpose. Not just in Dhaka, intellectuals were abducted, excruciated and murdered by Pakistan army and their collaborators in Sylhet, Chittagong, Rajshahi and several other districts during the Liberation War of 1971.

Intellectuals faced tribulations at the time of war in some other countries too. Federico Garcia Lorca, one of the best-known Spanish poets was killed by the soldiers obedient to General Franco in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War. Pablo Picasso’s paintings were also burnt during the Spanish Civil War as he illustrated the ghastly scenario of the war through his artworks. The German Nazi forces killed thousands of intellectuals in Germany and Poland during the World War II. The German officials who carried out this genocide were prosecuted through the Nuremberg Military Tribunals after the war.

Intellectuals and unarmed citizens were killed in Bosnia and Kosovo too during the ethnic cleansing in former Yugoslavia under the dictatorship of Slobodan Milosevic during 1993 till 1999. The ethnic carnage and atrocities in Serbia, Kosovo and Bosnia were finally halted through attacks on the Yugoslav troops by the armed forces of NATO under a special drive called “Operation Noble Anvil”. As a result of the war across Yugoslavia, things totally fell apart and Yugoslavia got disintegrated into several independent nations like Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia and some more states. The Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic who conducted all those murders and human rights violations in his country was later on put on trial in The Hague, the Netherlands for his crimes against humanity. But he died in 2006 before the trial was over.

But it is unfortunate that we have done almost nothing for our martyred intellectuals except building up a monument in their memory in the capital’s Rayerbazar.

The committee which was in charge of carrying out the festivities of Bangladesh’s independence golden jubilee in 2021 did not do anything to preserve the memory of martyred intellectuals. We have not been able to institutionalize the spirit and patriotism of the intellectuals who laid down their lives for our independence. A special homage should have been paid to these timeless martyrs but it was not done. Martyred intellectuals are only remembered on 14 December.

There should have been a publication on the Bir Shresthos and Sector Commanders whose contribution to our independence was invaluable. Their role should be portrayed to the new generation through special initiatives by Education Ministry, Law Ministry and Liberation War Affairs Ministry. Monuments and museums should be launched in their home villages. We know that the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics is awarded every year as a token of honour to Alfred Nobel. An award termed “Bangabandhu Medal” should be introduced to pay honour to the families of freedom fighters and martyrs. We know there are awards like Shadhinata Puroskar and Ekushey Padak but a particular award named after Bangabandhu should be launched which will illuminate the new generation and will enlighten them with authentic information about our history. These awards can also be conferred posthumously. There are state-level awards in India like Bharat Ratna, Padma Shri, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan etcetera.

We should promote Bengali nationalism and keep up our combat against religious fundamentalism, bigotry and communalism. The bloodstream of the martyred freedom fighters drives us forward. It is highly unfortunate that a group of religious extremists demonstrate against the sculptures of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Lady Justice, Lalon, Oporajeyo Bangla and so on. Even these radical wings do not show respect to Bangladesh’s constitution, national anthem, Shaheed Minar and national flag. They want Bangladesh to be run by Shariah law which goes against the secular stance of Bangladesh. Bangladesh’s longstanding cultural heritage is at stake while religious extremists are allowed to carry on their political activities.

We salute the noble-hearted and valiant sons and daughters of our soil who were killed during 1971 for the creation of independent Bangladesh. At the same time, we need to make consolidated endeavors to materialize the spirit of 1971.

Shoeb Chowdhury is Chairman,
Editorial Board of The Asian Age.