47 years to the day, we lost some of the brightest stars of our intellectual world to the marauding Pakistani occupation forces and their local collaborators. This was a pre-meditated and meticulously planned operation to decapitate the intelligentsia on the eve of our independence. As a result, we were deprived of the intellectual leadership that could have given the country the necessary direction that was so badly needed for nation building. Our intellectuals had been an integral part of our liberation struggle through their writings which the Pakistanis were not willing to forgive them for. They did so as writers, educators, journalists, lawyers or physicians at every critical juncture of our history. Our people and politicians looked up to them for intellectual guidance.

On this day, we grieve for those exceptional minds who were picked up never to return, ending up in the killing fields of Rayer Bazar, and in so many other mass graves all over the country.

In this supplement, we bring to you articles that explore the vital role intellectuals play in society and why they, as a class, have paid the highest price in martyrdom. As we remember, both with reverence and sadness, the intellectuals martyred in '71, it is also a time to reflect on how the nation has moved away from the ideas of liberty espoused by them.

Mahfuz Anam

Editor & Publisher