1971 killing of Bengali intellectuals

War crime by the Pakistan Army during the Bangladesh War of Independence March 2017 March 2017 1971 killing of Bengali intellectuals the Bangladesh genocide 1971 intellectuals.JPG 300px A sculpture in Meherpur showing the execution of intellectuals by the Pakistan Army in 1971 East Pakistan Bengali intellectuals 25 March, 14 – 16 December 1971 Deportation Ethnic cleansing Mass murder Genocidal massacre 1,109Bangladesh – The Victory Day Memento published by the government of People's Republic of Bangladesh, 16 December 1972; Editor – Syed Ali AhsanKilling of Intellectuals - 1,111 Pakistan Army Rao Farman Ali Shanti CommitteeRazakarsAl-BadrAl-Shams Anti-Bengali sentiment, destruction of Bengali Intelligentsia In 1971, the Pakistan Army and their local collaborators, most notably far-right militia group Al-Badr, engaged in the genocidal massacre of Bengali intellectuals during the Bangladesh War of 1971. Bengali intellectuals were abducted, tortured, and killed during the entire duration of the war as part of the Bangladesh genocide. However, the largest number of systematic executions took place on 25 March and 14 December 1971, two dates that bookend the conflict. 14 December is commemorated in Bangladesh as Martyred Intellectuals Day. Black Night of 25 March 1971 Dhaka University massacre On 25 March 1971, the Pakistan army launched an extermination campaign, codenamed Operation Searchlight, against the Bengali people in East Pakistan.Ganguly Sumit https://archive.org/details/conflictunending0000gang/page/60 Conflict Unending: India-Pakistan Tensions Since 1947 Columbia University Press 2002 978-0-231-12369-3 60 A number of professors, physicians, and journalists were abducted from their homes by armed Pakistani soldiers and their local collaborators, and executed during this operation and its aftermath.Annual Report: Dhaka University 1971–72, Dr. Mafijullah Kabirhttps://2001-2009.state.gov/documents/organization/48049.pdf Telegram 978 From the Consulate General in Dacca to the Department of State, March 29, 1971, 1130Z US Department of State 25 May 2019 21 April 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200421035938/https://2001-2009.state.gov/documents/organization/48049.pdf live 14 December executions thumbnail|Dead bodies of Bengali intellectuals found on 15 December 1971 As the war neared its end and Pakistani surrender became apparent, the Pakistan Army made a final effort to eliminate the intelligentsia of the new nation of Bangladesh.Hensher Philip The war Bangladesh can never forget https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/the-war-bangladesh-can-never-forget-8501636.html https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/the-war-bangladesh-can-never-forget-8501636.html 1 May 2022 subscription live The Independent 19 February 2013 On 14 December 1971, over 200 Bengali intellectuals, including professors, journalists, doctors, artists, engineers, and writers, were abducted from their homes in Dhaka by the Al-Badr militia and the Pakistan Army. Novelist Shahidullah Kaiser and playwright Munier Choudhury were among the victims. They were taken blindfolded to torture cells in Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Nakhalpara, Rajarbagh, and other locations in different parts of the city. Later they were executed en masse, most notably at Rayerbazar and Mirpur. In memory of the martyred intellectuals, 14 December is mourned in Bangladesh as Shaheed Buddhijibi Dibosh, or Day of the Martyred Intellectuals.http://www.newstoday.com.bd/index.php?option=details&news_id=2331520&date=2012-12-14 DU set to observe Martyred Intellectuals Day, Victory Day News Today 14 December 2012 14 December 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20131214080454/http://www.newstoday.com.bd/index.php?option=details&news_id=2331520&date=2012-12-14 dead After the independence of Bangladesh, a list of Bengali intellectuals was discovered on a page of Major General Rao Farman Ali's diary left behind at the Governor's House. The existence of such a list was confirmed by Ali himself, although he denied the motive of genocide. The same was also confirmed by Altaf Gauhar, a former Pakistani bureaucrat. He mentioned an incident in which Gauhar asked Ali to remove a friend's name from the list, and Ali did so in his presence.Mamoon Muntassir Muntassir Mamoon Ibrahim Kushal The Vanquished Generals and the Liberation War of Bangladesh Somoy Prokashon June 2000 984-458-210-5 29 Notable victims Many notable intellectuals who were killed from 25 March to 16 December 1971 in different parts of the country include: December 2015 Abul Fazal Ziaur Rahman (physician)Rahman, Abul Fazal Ziaur ABM Nurul Alam (physician)Alam, ABM Nurul A. B. M. Abdur Rahim (labor union leader) AFM Alim Chowdhury (ophthalmologist) Ataur Rahman Khan Khadim (physicist)Khadim, Ataur Rahman Khan Atiqur Rahman (doctor)Rahman, Atiqur Azharul Haque (doctor)Haque, Azharul AKM Asadul Haq (doctor) Altaf Mahmud (lyricist and musician) ANM Golam Mostafa (journalist) ANM Muniruzzaman (statistician)Muniruzzaman, ANM Anwar Pasha (Bengali litterateur) Ayesha Bedora ChoudhuryChoudhury, Ayesha Bedora Syed Nazmul Haque (journalist)Haque, Syed Nazmul Dhirendranath Datta (lawyer and politician)8 November 2021 Dhirendranath Dutta: Portrait of a patriot https://www.thedailystar.net/views/in-focus/news/dhirendranath-dutta-portrait-patriot-2224291 3 March 2025 The Daily Star Faizul Mahi (educator) Fazlur Rahman Khan (geologist)Khan, Fazlur Rahman2 Govinda Chandra Dev (philosophy) Ghyasuddin Ahmed (educator) Jyotirmoy Guhathakurta (scholar of English literature) Anudvaipayan Bhattacharya (physicist) Jekrul Haque (physician)Haque, Jekrul Kalachand Roy (academic)http://www.thedailystar.net/supplements/martyred-intellectuals-day-2017/my-great-mentor-dr-kalachand-roy-1504426 My great mentor, Dr Kalachand Roy 14 December 2017 The Daily Star 14 December 2017 en 13 December 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20171213231224/http://www.thedailystar.net/supplements/martyred-intellectuals-day-2017/my-great-mentor-dr-kalachand-roy-1504426 live Harinath Dey (biochemist) Khondakar Abu Taleb (journalist)Taleb, Khondakar Abu Khondakar Abul Kashem (historian)Kashem, Khondakar Abul Meherun Nesa (poet) Munier Chowdhury (Bengali literature) Mufazzal Haider Chaudhury (Bengali literature) Muhammad Habibar Rahman (mathematician)Rahman, Muhammad Habibar Mohammad Sadat Ali (businessperson)Ali, Mohammad Sadat Mohammad Shamshad Ali (physician)Ali, Mohammad Shamshad Muhammad Shafi (dentist)Shafi, Muhammad Meher Ali (soil scientist, politician) M Abul Khair (historian) M Anwarul Azim (industrial administrator)Azim, M Anwarul Mir Abdul Qayyum (psychologist)Qayyum, Mir Abdul Mohammed Fazle Rabbee (cardiologist) Mohammad Mortaza (doctor)Mortaza, Mohammad Mohammad Moazzem Hossain (educator)Hossain, Mohammad Moazzem Mohammad Aminuddin (lawyer)Aminuddin, Muhammad Abdul Muktadir (geologist)Muktadir, Md Abdul Chowdhury, Sifatul Quader Nizamuddin Ahmed (journalist)http://adnan.quaium.com/blog/56 Story of a Martyred Intellectual of 71's war 13 December 2007 5 June 2014 9 December 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20141209232606/http://adnan.quaium.com/blog/56 live Nazmul Hoque Sarkar (lawyer)Sarkar, Nazmul Hoque Rashidul Hasan (English literature) Ranada Prasad Saha (philanthropist)http://www.daily-sun.com/details_yes_03-05-2013_ICT-issues-arrest-order-against-Mueen,-Ashrafuzzaman_485_1_2_1_0.html ICT issues arrest order against Mueen, Ashrafuzzaman 3 May 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20141208160743/http://www.daily-sun.com/details_yes_03-05-2013_ICT-issues-arrest-order-against-Mueen%2C-Ashrafuzzaman_485_1_2_1_0.html 8 December 2014 Dhaka Daily Sun 3 November 2013 deadhttp://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/it-was-matricide/ It was matricide Khan Tamanna 4 November 2013 The Daily Star 7 November 2013 6 November 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20131106200142/http://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/it-was-matricide/ live Rakhal Chandra Das (physician)Das, Rakhal Chandra Sukharanjan Samaddar (Sanskrit) Jogesh Chandra Ghosh (scholar, Ayurveda practitioner, entrepreneur and philanthropist) Shahid Saber (journalist) Sheikh Abdus Salam (education)Salam, Sheikh Abdus Sirajul Haque Khan Santosh Chandra BhattacharyaGallows for Mueen, Ashraf http://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/gallows-for-mueen-ashraf/ The Daily Star 3 November 2013 5 June 2014 28 December 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20201228012709/https://www.thedailystar.net/news/gallows-for-mueen-ashraf live Shamsuddin AhmedAhmed, Shamsuddin3 Laxman Das (wrestler, weight lifter, circus performer) Suleman KhanKhan, Suleman Sultanuddin Ahmed (engineer)Ahmed, Sultanuddin2 Kosiruddin TalukderTalukder, Kosiruddin Shahidullah Kaiser (journalist) Selina Parvin (journalist) Bishnu Chattopadhyay (freedom fighter and leader of peasant movement) Saroj Kumar Nath Adhikari (economics) Sheikh Abdul Mannan (journalist)Mannan, Sheikh Abdul Shamsuddin Ahmed (physician) Oliur Rahman (Islamic scholar) Verdict on the killing On 3 November 2013, a special court in Dhaka sentenced two former leaders of the al-Badr killing squad to death for war crimes committed in December 1971. Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin, based in London, and Ashrafuz Zaman Khan, based in the US, were sentenced in absentia after the court found that they were involved in the abduction and murders of 18 intellectuals – nine Dhaka University professors, six journalists, and three physicians – in December 1971. Prosecutors said the killings were carried out between 10 and 15 December, when Pakistan was losing the war in Bangladesh (then East Pakistan), and were part of a campaign intended to strip the new-born nation of its intellectuals.UK Muslim leader Chowdhury Mueen Uddin sentenced to death in Bangladesh https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/uk-muslim-leader-chowdhury-mueen-uddin-sentenced-to-death-in-bangladesh-8919895.html https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/uk-muslim-leader-chowdhury-mueen-uddin-sentenced-to-death-in-bangladesh-8919895.html 1 May 2022 subscription live The Independent 3 November 2013 On 2 November 2014, the International Crimes Tribunal, Bangladesh, sentenced Mir Quasem Ali to death for war crimes, which include the killings of intellectuals. It was proved in the tribunal that he was a key organiser of the Al-Badr, which planned and executed the killing of the intellectuals on 14 December 1971.Bangladesh Islamist party leader files appeal against death penalty http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/article_xinhua.aspx?id=255697 14 December 2014 Shanghai Daily 14 December 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20141214160822/http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/article_xinhua.aspx?id=255697 liveWar trial: Mir Quasem verdict Sunday http://www.thedailystar.net/war-trial-mir-quasem-verdict-sunday-48077 The Daily Star 30 October 2014 14 December 2014 26 December 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20181226083230/https://www.thedailystar.net/war-trial-mir-quasem-verdict-sunday-48077 live Statistics The number of intellectuals killed is estimated in Banglapedia as follows: Academics – 991 Physicians – 49 Lawyers – 42 Journalists – 13 Others (litterateurs, artists, and engineers) – 16 The district-wise break down of the number of martyred academics and lawyers published in 1972Bangladesh – The Victory Day Memento published by the government of People's Republic of Bangladesh, 16 December 1972; Editor – Syed Ali Ahsan was as follows – {| class="wikitable" ! rowspan=2| District and division ! colspan=3| Academics ! rowspan=2| Lawyers |- ! Primary ! Secondary ! Higher secondary |- | Dhaka | 37 | 8 | 10 | 6 |- | Faridpur | 27 | 12 | 4 | 3 |- | Tangail | 20 | 7 | 2 | |- | Mymensingh | 46 | 28 | 1 | 2 |- ! Dhaka Division ! 130 ! 55 ! 17 ! 11 |- | Chittagong | 39 | 16 | 7 | 1 |- | Chittagong Hill Tracts | 9 | 4 | 1 | 1 |- | Sylhet | 19 | 7 | | 2 |- | Comilla | 45 | 33 | 1 | 4 |- | Noakhali | 26 | 13 | 4 | 2 |- ! Chittagong Division ! 138 ! 73 ! 13 ! 10 |- | Khulna | 48 | 15 | 2 | 2 |- | Jessore | 55 | 31 | 5 | 4 |- | Barisal | 50 | 21 | 4 | |- | Patuakhali | 3 | 1 | | |- | Kushtia | 28 | 13 | 4 | |- ! Khulna Division ! 184 ! 81 ! 15 ! 6 |- | Rajshahi | 39 | 8 | 3 | 5 |- | Rangpur | 41 | 22 | 9 | 4 |- | Dinajpur | 50 | 10 | 1 | 2 |- | Bogra | 14 | 12 | | 2 |- | Pabna | 43 | 9 | 1 | 2 |- ! Rajshahi Division ! 187 ! 61 ! 14 ! 15 |- ! Bangladesh ! 639 ! 270 ! 59 ! 42 |- | colspan=5| Martyred academics (not affiliated to universities) = 968 |- | colspan=5| Martyred university teachers = 21 |- | colspan=5| Total martyred academics = 989 |} Administrative districts and divisions mentioned here are as they were in 1972. Commemoration Martyred Intellectuals Day Martyred Intellectuals Memorial thumb|Part of the east-south side of the Martyred Intellectuals Memorial Martyred Intellectuals Day is held annually to commemorate the victims. In Dhaka, hundreds of thousands of people walk to Mirpur to lay flowers at the Martyred Intellectuals Memorial. The president and the prime minister of Bangladesh and heads of all three wings of the Bangladesh armed forces pay homage at the memorial.Nation observes new-dimension Martyred Intellectuals' Day http://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/pm-pays-homage-to-martyred-intellectuals/ The Daily Star 14 December 2013 14 December 2012 14 December 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/20131214171437/http://www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/pm-pays-homage-to-martyred-intellectuals/ live See also Bangla College killing field Satanikhil massacre Sutrapur massacre 1971 Dhaka University massacre Katyn massacre Deportation of Armenian intellectuals on 24 April 1915 References Category:1971 mass murders Category:1971 murders in Bangladesh Category:University of Dhaka Category:War crimes in Bangladesh Category:Bangladesh genocide Category:Pakistani war crimes Category:Pakistan military scandals Category:Massacres of Bengalis Category:Persecution of intellectuals