How Bangladesh’s Substandard Intellectuality Augments Today’s Anarchy

 

Every year December 14 is celebrated as the Martyred Intellectuals Day. On the night of March 25, 1971, the Pakistani invasion forces planned to kill the intellectuals along with the massacre of innocent unarmed Bengali people. Since the beginning of the liberation war, the Pakistani invaders started making a list of intellectuals with the help of their local accomplices: Razakars, Al-Badars, Al-Shams and started killing the intellectuals according to that list. Many teachers of Dhaka University were killed on the night of March 25.

When the Pakistani invaders started the barbaric massacre in history on the unarmed people of this country on the night of March 25, our intellectual society became their first victim. When the defeat of the Pakistani forces was imminent in the final phase of the liberation war, they indulged in yet another round of intellectuals killing. That is, our liberation war started and ended with the killing of intellectuals.

Since the beginning of the liberation war, the Pakistani invaders started making plans to kill out intellectuals. Major General Rao Farman Ali was the main planner of this work on behalf of the Pakistani forces. After independence, the handwritten diary of this Pakistani Major General was found in the destroyed Bangabhaban, which contained the names of many dead and living intellectuals. Even after all these years, it is not possible to make a complete list of exactly how many intellectuals were martyred in the liberation war, but an official initiative has been taken to make a list of intellectuals. Recently, the government has also approved a list of 1,222 people as part of the complete list of martyred intellectuals in the liberation war.

A new curfew was issued in Dhaka from December 4, 1971. Basically, from 10th December, preparations were made to kill the intellectuals, which was fully implemented on December 14. In the main part of the plan, identified intellectuals including academics, writers, journalists, artists, doctors, engineers, lawyers, litterateurs and researchers were forcibly kidnapped by the Pakistani invaders and their local allies. About 200 intellectuals were abducted from their homes that day. They were blindfolded and taken to torture cells in Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Nakhalpara, Rajarbag and many other places and subjected to inhumane torture. Later they were brutally killed in Rayerbazar and Mirpur slaughtering ground.

After independence in 1972, an approximate district-wise list of martyred academics and lawyers was published. The list included 968 academics not affiliated with universities and 21 university teachers. Additionally, according to information from Banglapedia, among the martyred intellectuals were 991 academics, 13 journalists, 49 doctors, 42 lawyers, and 16 cultural figures, artists, and engineers. From 25 March to 16 December 1971, several distinguished intellectuals lost their lives at the hands of the Pakistani army.

Notable among them are: Professor Munier Chowdhury, Professor Govinda Chandra Dev(G.C. Dev), Professor Jyotirmoy Guhathakurta, Professor Mofazzal Haider Chowdhury, Professor Anwar Pasha, Professor Ghiasuddin Ahmed, Fazlur Rahman Khan, Humayun Kabir, Dr. Fazle Rabbi, Dr. Mohammad Murtaza, Dr. Shamsuddin Ahmed, Professor Rashidul Hasan, Dr. Santosh Bhattacharjee, Dr. Mohammad Shafi, journalist Sirajuddin Hossain, Shahidullah Kaiser, Nizamuddin Ahmed, Khandaker Abu Taleb, ANM Golam Mostafa, Shaheed Saber, Syed Nazmul Haque, Zahir Raihan, Altaf Mahmud, Dhirendranath Datta, Randaprasad Saha, Dr. Abdul Khair, Dr. Sirajul Haque Khan, Dr. Faizul Mahi, Dr. Abdul Alim Chowdhury, Selina Parvin, Professor M Habibur Rahman, poet Meherunnesa, lawyer Nazmul Haque Sarkar etcetera.

The question may arise—why did the Pakistani invaders plan to selectively kill the intellectuals among the common people? Why did they decide to kill people engaged in intellectual pursuits or professions including academics, litterateurs, journalists, lawyers, artists, doctors, engineers, writers and researchers? And at the moment of their final defeat, why did they again choose to exterminate our intellectuals?

The answer is--they understood that a nation is fully built by following the path shown by its intellectuals. A nation cannot progress without thinkers, and a nation without intellectuals achieves nothing. The Pakistani invaders grasped this truth very well. That is why their first blow targeted Bengali intellectuals, and their final strike aimed at the same. Through this campaign of extermination, the Pakistani rulers sought not only to assert their domination but also to make the nation-building of the Bengali people extremely difficult by leaving them bereft of intellectual guidance.

The vicious aim of the Pakistani invaders had come true. By killing our intellectuals, they have set Bangladesh back from the world for almost half a century. The evidence of killing our intellectuals has been seen in the years after the independence of Bangladesh. Due to the lack of intellectuals, there was a lack of national unity and solidarity, a dictatorship and fascism developed, and the state structure collapsed. At that time, when the initiative was taken to establish a one-party rule in independent Bangladesh, there was no protest against it, let alone a movement. The reason was our intellectual bankruptcy—the vacuum left by the loss of our intellectuals.

When irregularities arose in the state under Pakistan, the first revolt against it was felt in the minds of the intellectuals. The intellectual’s voice would break out in protest. But in today’s independent Bangladesh, such responsibility of intellectuals is not observed. Today’s intellectuals have been involved in flattering various political parties, and have forgotten what is the nature of an intellectual, and what is his responsibility towards the society and state as an intellectual.

Looking back on history, we see how responsible and vocal our intellectuals were toward society and the state before independence. Today, our intellectuals must once again engage in a movement of intellectual revival. As intellectuals, they must cultivate self-awareness and moral courage within themselves. It is their ethical duty to call truth as truth, falsehood as falsehood, white as white, and black as black. Yet, responsible intellectuals are sparse now. Still, many patriotic and humanitarian intellectuals continue to uphold this duty despite immense challenges.

The contribution of intellectuals to shaping the thought and consciousness of a nation is undeniable. Without proper guidance in thought and reasoning, disorder and irregularities now permeate every sector. The country is currently facing a severe “intellectual crisis,” which is why, even 54 years after independence, desired liberation remains elusive. On Martyred Intellectuals Day, I pay tribute to the great sons of the nation. The wound of their loss still lingers across the homeland. It is hoped that following in their footsteps, a renewed “intellectual consciousness” will awaken in the generations that will lead Bangladesh forward in days to come.


Emran Emon is a Sub-Editor
at The Asian Age. He can be
reached at [email protected]