Key words missing in statements

Like in the past, BNP chief Khaleda Zia and Jamaat acting secretary general Shafiqur Rahman in their statements on the occasion of Martyred Intellectuals Day did not name the Pakistan army and their local collaborators or mention their roles in the killing of intellectuals.

The new addition to this list is Raushan Ershad, now Leader of Opposition in parliament and wife of former dictator HM Ershad.

In her statement, she also avoided naming them.

War documents, historical records and newspaper clippings of the time show the Pakistan forces and their Bangalee collaborators, sensing ultimate defeat, resorted to targeted killings of teachers, writers, doctors, lawyers, journalists and other professionals to cripple the nation intellectually. 

This year, the nation today marks the day less than a month after the hangings of two war criminals -- BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and Jamaat leader Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed -- and the subsequent denial by the Pakistan government that there were any war crimes or atrocities during the 1971 war.

Mojaheed was the top leader of Al-Badr Bahini that was behind the abduction and killing of many intellectuals. Salauddin mainly targeted Hindu people in his hometown in Chittagong. 

The mission of killing intellectuals entered its last phase on December 14, two days before the Pakistan army conceded defeat and surrendered.

In her statement, signed by BNP Office Secretary Rizvi Ahmed, Khaleda said the country's intellectuals were killed at the hands of the “Hanadar Bahini” (occupation forces) and their collaborators.

She did not name razakar, Al-Badr and Al-Shams that acted as the Pakistan army's collaborators.

Raushan Ershad did not even mention the word “collaborator”, just “Hanadar Bahini”. 

The statement by Jamaat acting secretary general said: “Tomorrow [today], December 14th, is Martyred Intellectuals Day … The entire nation remembers with due respects the intellectuals who embraced martyrdom on December 14 [1971].”

The statement calls on all Jamaat units to mark the day with due respect through “Doa Mahfil”, but does not say who killed the intellectuals and why.