Almanac of Story Tellers: Martyred Intellectuals Day

   Every day brings a new story.  And each day contributes to the art of story telling -- in prose and poetry, in music, on the stage, on the screen, and, of course, in books. 

Today is the story of December 14th.

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    It is the 348th day of the year, leaving 17 days in 2021.

    Today, in Bangladesh, it is Martyred Intellectuals Day.

   

The Martyred Intellectuals Memorial in Dhaka

The commemoration day came about as the result  of the Pakistani Armed Forces' kidnapping, torturing, and slaughtering more than 1,000 intellectuals -- writers, artists, professors, doctors, scientists, and story tellers -- near the end of the Bangladesh War for Liberation in 1971.

    In 1971, Pakistan was divided into east and west, with more than 1,000 miles of Indian territory separating them. Little united the two territories except both were Muslim areas, as opposed to the Hindu-dominated India. Britain divided the sub-continent after abandoning its colonial empire in  southwest Asia in 1947.

    In March 1971, as East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) was seeking independence, its Awami League Party won an election. The Pakistan People's Party, based in West Pakistan, refused to accept the results. Violence and war followed, and the Bengali people demanded independence and self-determination.

    Bangladesh was successful on the battlefield, but rather than acknowledge defeat, Pakistani forces systematically abducted Bengali people from their homes, torturing and killing more than 1,000. Two days later, Pakistan admitted defeat and surrendered, creating an independent Bangladesh.

    Martyred Intellectuals Day is commemorated partly as an effort to ensure that the killings are  remembered throughout the world.