Martyred Intellectuals Day in Bangladesh Date in the current year: December 14, 2024

After the exit of the United Kingdom from India and Pakistan Bengal was joined to Pakistan as its eastern part. Eventually this led to confrontation of East Pakistan and West Pakistan and the 1971 Liberation War. One of the bloodiest and the most sorrowful event of the war took place on December 14, 1971.

The government of Pakistan understood, that it was loosing, that is why the decision to wipe as many Bengali intellectuals as possible was made. The Pakistani occupation forces and their local collaborators abducted, blindfolded and then killed Bengali intellectuals – teachers, physicians, engineers, academics, journalists. The bodies were damped in killing grounds in Dhaka. On December 16, two days after these events, Bangladesh defeated the Pakistani forces and the war was over.

Every year the anniversary of this event is observed in Bangladesh as Martyred Intellectuals Day. President, Prime Minister and the heads of armed forces, as well as thousands of people come to Mirpur to lay flowers at the Martyred Intellectuals Monument.