President Mohammed Shahabuddin. File Photo

DHAKA, Dec 13, 2025 (BSS) - President Mohammed Shahabuddin today paid rich tributes to the martyred intellectuals of 1971 on the occasion of the Martyred Intellectuals Day to be observed tomorrow.

In a message on the eve of the day, the President said: “December 14 marks Martyred Intellectuals Day- a day of profound sorrow in the history of Bangladesh." 

On this day in 1971, the Pakistani occupation forces, along with their collaborators, brutally killed some of the nation's brightest sons, he said. 

The President paid his deepest respect and heartfelt tribute to those valiant intellectuals whose sacrifice accelerated the country's struggle for liberation. 

President Shahabuddin prayed for the eternal peace of their departed souls.

Intellectuals are the architects of a nation's development and progress, he said, adding that through the pursuit of free thought, creative endeavours, innovative capacities and the promotion of democratic ideals, they contribute to building a knowledge-based and prosperous society. 

For this reason, the occupation forces, facing imminent defeat, carried out a brutal killing mission across Dhaka and beyond to make the nation bereft of talent, he continued.
 
Renowned academics, writers, doctors, scientists, philosophers, engineers, lawyers, journalists, artists and political thinkers were mercilessly abducted and murdered, he said. 

Bangladesh still carries the wound of losing its finest minds at the dawn of independence, the President added.

The unwavering courage and resilience of the martyred intellectuals in the face of oppression remain unparalleled and eternally remembered in the nation's history, he said. 

The head of state believed that by building a discrimination-free Bangladesh based on the ideals of the martyred intellectuals, the country could become a secular and prosperous nation in the spirit of the Liberation War, honouring their sacrifice.