1971 killing of Bengali intellectuals refers to the systematic execution of Bengali pro-liberation intellectuals during the Bangladesh liberation war of 1971 by Pakistan Army and their local collaborators, most notably the extreme right wing Islamist militia groups Al-Badr. Intellectuals were killed during the entire duration (9 months) of the war. However, the largest number of executions took place on 25 March and 14 December 1971.
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At the beginning of Operation Searchlight, on the night of 25 March 1971, a number of teachers of Dhaka University were killed.[1][2] Among them were notable intellectuals like Dr. Govinda Chandra Dev of Philosophy, Professor Abdul Muktadir of Geology, Professor A R Khan Khadim (Physics), Anudaipayan Bhattacharjee (Applied Physics), Dr. F. R. Khan, Sharafat Ali of Mathematics, Dr. Muniruzzaman of Statistics and Professor Jyotirmoy Guhathakurta of English. These killings can be attributed to the Pakistan Army who also killed thousands of students and other people in Dhaka on that night and afterwards.
Since the establishment of the State of Pakistan, the rulers of West Pakistan discriminated the Bengalis (East Pakistanis at that time) from their rights. The discrimination was visible in all disciplines and the attack on the language and culture was direct. As a result,the discontent and anger in the minds of Bengalis turned to political and cultural protests and these movements were lead by intellectuals from all parts of the society. They encouraged and seeded the idea of nationalism in the heart of Bengalis through social and cultural activities. As a result of their cultural movement, the people of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) gradually became aware of their rights which turned the movement towards political protests . [3]Hence the intellectuals were the target of the Pakistani rulers since the beginning. As soon as the liberation war of Bangladesh started Pakistan Army started systematic killing of the selected intellectuals. As the war was nearing the end and the victory of Bangladesh was imminent, to cripple the Bengalis in the area of education and culture they made a list of highly recognized intellectuals of the society and annihilated them on December 14th 1971 two days prior to the surrender of Pakistan army and victory of Bangladesh.
On 14 December 1971, over 200 of East Pakistan's intellectuals including professors, journalists, doctors, artists, engineers, and writers were picked up from their homes in Dhaka by the Al-Badr militias and Pakistani Army. They were taken blindfolded to torture cells in Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Nakhalpara, Rajarbagh and other locations in different sections of the city. Later they were executed en masse, most notably at Rayerbazar and Mirpur. In memory of the martyred intellectuals, December 14 is mourned in Bangladesh as Shaheed Buddhijibi Dibosh ("Day of the Martyred Intellectuals").
Even after the official ending of the war on December 16 there were reports of hostile fire from the armed Pakistani soldiers and their collaborators. In one such incident, notable film-maker Zahir Raihan was killed on January 30, 1972 in Mirpur, allegedly by the armed Beharis of Mirpur.
It is widely speculated that the killings of 14 December was orchestrated by Maj Gen Rao Farman Ali. After the liberation of Bangladesh a list of Bengali intellectuals (most of whom were executed on 14 Dec) was discovered in a page of his 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 incidence in which Altaf requested Ali to delete a friend's name from the list and Ali did that in front of him.[4]
The number of intellectuals killed is estimated in Banglapedia[5] as follows -
The district wise break-up of the number of martyred academicians and lawyers published in 1972[6] was as follows -
| District and Division | Academicians | 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 | 10 |
| 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 | 41 |
| Martyred academicians (not affiliated to universities) = 968 | ||||
| Martyred university teachers = 21 | ||||
| Total martyred academicians = 989 | ||||
Administrative districts and divisions mentioned here are as they were in 1972.
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