Leading intellectuals of the country will today join a meeting to pay their tribute, in speeches and songs, to an outstanding personality whose contribution to the rise of Bengalee nationalism is yet to earn the fullest recognition of our country. He is Shaheed Dhirendranath Dutta.

Today is the 22nd anniversary of the "disappearance" of Dutta who, then 87, was picked up by the Pakistan army or Razakars from his modest home in Comilla, along with his youngest son, then tortured in the most gruesome manner and killed. He was probably the oldest Bengalee politician to give his life for the liberation of our country.

While speakers at the memorial meeting today would rightly emphasise this fact, they must not overlook the positive development of political career of a man who, in 1971, became one of the most hated person in the eyes of the Pakistan army, just as, to this day, Dhiren Babu remains one of the best loved individuals of the country.

Shaheed Dutta earned our admiration the hard way, through action rather than through rhetorics. In February, 1948, a member of the then Pakistan National Assembly, he moved the resolution demanding the right of Bengal to be accorded the status of a state language of country. Thus, he played a pioneering role in a movement that, in a matter of decades, culminated in the liberation struggle that claimed this patriotic Bangalee as one of our martyrs.

As a young reporter, I came to know Dhiren Babu, a member of the first provincial assembly of the then East Pakistan, belonging to the Congress which sat in the opposition. There were others, like the late Basanta Kumar Das and Monoranjan Dhar. On the face of it, they had a difficult position in adjusting to the new realities. But the group took the situation in its stride, playing a responsible constructive role that taught us much in the unfamiliar task of parliamentary reporting. Our reporters today miss this experience at the Jatiya Sangsad.

Shaheed Dutta served the United Front (UF) cabinet in "East Pakistan" as the Health Minister and performed his duties with distinction, thoroughness and dedication. Having known him personally his son the late Sanjib Dutta, a writer-journalist was a close friend of mine I regarded him as a caring person whose concern for the impoverished millions manifested itself through his work as a Health Minister. The UF administration fought against many odds and suffered from many set-backs, many of which were its own creations. We gained a lot, like our triumph against the autocratic Muslim League government and the victory in the Language Movement, but also lost a great deal, through the imposition of the Martial Law in 1958. But through these changes, many of our leaders did not bow down to the oppressors.

Shaheed Dhirendranath Dutta was one of them.