PM pays glowing tributes to Bangabandhu

After placing the wreath, she stood in solemn silence for some time to show profound respect to the great leader of Bangladesh.
Flanked by party leaders, Sheikh Hasina, also the President of the ruling Awami League, placed another wreath at Bangabandhu's portrait as the party chief as well.

Just two days ahead of the country's final victory for independence on this day 52 years back, the Pakistani occupation forces with the help of their local collaborators-- Razakar, Al-Badr and Al-Shams-- killed the most prominent intellectuals of the country.

Several hundreds illustrious sons of the soil, including professors, journalists, doctors, artistes, engineers and writers, were abducted from their respective residences blindfolded from December 10 to 14 in 1971.

They were first taken blindfolded to torture cells at Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Nakhalpara, Rajarbagh and other clandestine locations in different parts of the city.

Subsequently, they were shot to death en masse at different killing grounds, most notably Rayerbazar and Mirpur, in a bid to cripple the newly emerging Bangladesh intellectually.

Those who were exposed to the killers wrath on December 14, 1971 included Dr Alim Chowdhury and Dr Fazle Rabbi, Journalists Shahidullah Kaisar, Sirajuddin Hossain, Nizamuddin Ahmed, SA Mannan and Selina Parveen, and litterateur Munier Choudhury.