Editorial
Martyred Intellectuals' Day
We recall our debts to them
As we approach Victory Day we remember with great sadness that on the eve of its finest hour the nation was dealt a heinous blow by death squads of the Pakistani military known as Razakar and al-Badr. It was a vile bid to break the young country's intellectual backbone. The cream of society -- writers, doctors and academics, journalists -- carefully handpicked by the local collaborators two days before the birth of Bangladesh disappeared in the murderous pogrom that ensued on December 14, 1971.
Hence, as we remember that dark chapter in our history, the thought that some of our best minds and most capable people were lost to premeditated murder and the shock of discovering men and women done to death in the killing fields of Rayerbazar the sense of loss is shared by the nation as a whole. What had been missing for the greater part of the last 40 odd years of independence is the political will to bring these murderers to justice.
Mourning as a nation for the loss of loved ones is not enough. For the first time since the birth of Bangladesh, the present government has initiated a war crimes' tribunal with the aim of bringing those guilty of perpetuating such monstrous crimes against humanity to justice. Needless to say, the going has not been easy. That said, the supreme sacrifice made by millions in the quest for freedom must take precedence over all obstacles put in the way of justice that must be delivered. And only when that task is accomplished will we be keeping faith with our martyred intellectuals and all the millions who died in 1971 so that the rest of us could live in freedom and dignity.
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