Shaheed Asad Day today

The nation is all set to recall the great sacrifice of student leader Asaduzzaman Asad on the occasion of his 52nd martyrdom anniversary today.

On January 20, 1969, Asad, the hero of the 1969 mass upsurge, was shot dead by the police in a protest rally near Dhaka Medical College Hospital against the oppression of the people of East Pakistan.

The death of Asad, then a Master’s student of Dhaka University, took the mass upsurge to the highest peak which hastened the fall of the then military dictator Field Marshal Ayub Khan after over a decade of his iron rule.

On the occasion, president Abdul Hamid and prime minister Sheikh Hasina issued separate messages paying tributes to the memory of Shaheed Asad.

Recalling his contribution to the gearing up the mass movement in 1969 with due respect, both the head of the state and the head of the government prayed for his eternal peace.

In his message, president Abdul Hamid said the sacrifice of Asad in the 1969 mass upsurge had added a new dimension to the aspiration of Bengalis’ emancipation.

In her message, prime minister Sheikh Hasina said the January 20 was a significant day in the history of the War of Independence of Bangladesh as student leader Mohammad Asaduzzaman was killed in police firing in front of Dhaka Medical College Hospital on this day in 1969.

Shaheed Asad was the president of Shahidullah Hall Unit of Dhaka University and general secretary of Dhaka unit of then East Pakistan Students Union.

To mark the day, different socio-cultural, political and student organisations, including Shaheed Asad Parishad, have chalked out various programmes that include placing wreaths at the memorial plaque of Asad in front of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital and his grave at Shibpur in Narsingdi.