Legacy disgraced in Bangladesh yet again as radicals destroy Dhaka’s Martyred Intellectuals Memorial

Dhaka: In yet another shocking incident, a mob of radicals demolished the Martyred Intellectuals Memorial in Dhaka’s Mirpur area on Tuesday. The monument was a symbol of the genocide committed by the Pakistan Army during the Liberation War of Bangladesh.

The destruction of the memorial took place just a few days ahead of Pakistan Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar’s visit to Dhaka.

“Before Pakistani Foreign Minister arrives in Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus and his pro-Paki Islamist-jihadist cronies began demolishing ‘Martyred Intellectuals Memorial’ in Dhaka’s Mirpur area. On December 14, 1971, hours before independence of Bangladesh, Pak occupation forces picked up and murdered intellectuals and threw their bodies in a pond at this place,” Dhaka-based counter-terrorism expert, Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury posted on X.

As the video of the demolition went viral, several Bangladeshis took to social media, severely condemning the disturbing act which displays the current lawlessness prevailing in Bangladesh under the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus.

Experts perceived this act of the interim government as an insult to the martyrs and a part of their appeasement policy towards Pakistan.

“The Martyred Intellectuals Memorial in Mirpur — where the Bengali nation bows in silent reverence — is now being demolished. After the infamous Chapter of House No. 32, this stands as the second great stain in our history, etched upon the forehead of the nation. We are a humiliated people — a nation that forgets the debt of its martyrs’ blood and destroys their memory. This failure is not the government’s alone, but a moral collapse of an entire people,” wrote B M Jahid Hasan, a former Vice President of Rajshahi University Camps unit Chattraleague.

The memorial in Mirpur area of Dhaka honours the luminaries who sacrificed their lives for the country’s independence during the war with Pakistan.

It was on the night of December 14, 1971 – just two days before the shameful surrender of the Pakistani forces – that hundreds of leading intellectuals of the region were killed systematically by the Pakistani army and their local collaborators.

Teachers, journalists, doctors, engineers, lawyers, artists-litterateurs, cultural workers and high-ranking government and private officials were dragged out of their homes and killed and their bodies left in the silent, eerie darkness.

Reports further stated that the next morning, many lifeless bodies were seen lying scattered in the ditches and drains of Mirpur and Rayer bazar brickyards in Dhaka. Some were killed in bullet firing and tortured inhumanly.

Victims were found with hands tied behind their backs, and some had their intestines removed with bayonets. Since then, Martyred Intellectuals Day is observed in a mournful remembrance on December 14, every year.

Recently, in a similar act, the mural of the Liberation War Memorial Mancha in Lalmonirhat district in Bangladesh was demolished at the instruction of the Yunus-led interim government.

The mural showcased the background of the 1950s language movement, the historic March 7 speech, the War of Independence, the formation of the Mujibnagar government, the dawn of the new sun in the independent land, the 1971 genocide by Pakistan, the heroic freedom fighters exulting in victory, the seven great heroes, the surrender of the Pakistani army, the jubilant crowd holding the national flag, and many other historic moments.

Last month, the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) rechristened different roads, buildings, and structures previously named after Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, his family members, and leaders of the Awami League. Bangabandhu Avenue has now been renamed as Shaheed Abrar Fahad Avenue, according to an order issued by the DSCC.

About 1500 sculptures, murals, and memorials have been vandalised, set on fire, and uprooted all over the country since the Yunus government came to power in August 2024 after the fall of Awami League government led by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

IANS