<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday paid rich tributes to the martyred intellectuals on the occasion of the Martyred Intellectuals Day.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The President and then the Prime Minister placed wreaths at the Martyred Intellectuals Memorial at Mirpur.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They stood there in solemn silence for a while as a mark of profound respect to the memories of the illustrious sons of the soil.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">A smartly-turned-out contingent of the Bangladesh Armed Forces gave a state salute.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Flanked by the party's central leaders, Hasina, also the President of Bangladesh Awami League, laid another wreath at the Martyred Intellectuals Memorial as the party chief.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Later, the Prime Minister talked to the war-wounded freedom fighters and the family members of the martyred intellectuals.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hasina then went to Dhanmondi in the capital and placed a wreath at the portrait of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in front of Bangabandhu Memorial Museum marking the Martyred Intellectuals Day.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">After placing the wreath, she stood there for some time as a mark of profound respect to the memory of Bangabandhu, the architect of independence of Bangladesh.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On the night of December 14, 1971, over 200 intellectuals including educationists, journalists, litterateurs, writers, physicians, scientists, lawyers, artists, philosophers and political thinkers had been picked up in Dhaka by the Pakistani occupation forces, aided by their local collaborators.The intellectuals were taken blindfold to torture cells in Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Nakhalpara, Rajarbagh and other locations in different parts of the city and later executed en masse at different killing grounds, most notably Rayerbazar and Mirpur.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Since then, the day has been observed as the Martyred Intellectuals Day. UNB</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>