The Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) Bogra district committee and the Bangladesh Chhatra Union's Bogra district unit paid tribute to the martyrs of the Babur Pukur massacre at the Babur Pukur Memorial in Shajahanpur upazila on Wednesday morning.
The organisations laid wreaths at the memorial around 8am on Wednesday, expressing deep respect for those who sacrificed their lives.
Later, a discussion was held on the memorial premises, chaired by CPB Bogra district committee President Md Aminul Farid and moderated by committee member Mamunur Rahman Mamun.
The programme began with a minute of silence in memory of 14 martyrs, including Bir Muktijoddha Abdul Mannan Pashari, then president of the Bangladesh Chhatra Union's Bogra district committee, and nine freedom fighters of the joint special guerrilla force formed by the NAP, Communist Party and Chhatra Union, who were killed at Betiara in Chauddagram, Comilla.
Among those who addressed the discussion were former CPB Bogra district committee president and freedom fighter Comrade Zinnatul Islam, General Secretary Comrade Sajedur Rahman Jhilam, Bangladesh Chhatra Union Bogra district unit President Bayezid Rahman, Organising Secretary Afrik Pranta, Cultural Secretary Palash Chandra, district committee members Tamiraj Roy and Arabi Khatun, Bangladesh Khet Majur Samity central committee member Liakat Ali Kakku and district committee General Secretary Shubha Shankar Guha Roy.
The speakers said that although 55 years had passed since independence was achieved through the sacrifice of three million martyrs in the Liberation War, the country's ordinary people had yet to achieve economic freedom, social equality, human dignity and justice.
They said the dream of building a Bangladesh free from exploitation, communalism and discrimination, which had inspired the Liberation War, remained unfulfilled.
They stressed that honouring the martyrs' sacrifices required renewing the struggle to establish a Bangladesh free from exploitation, inequality and communalism in the true spirit of the Liberation War.
They also called on people to build a broader alliance under the leadership of left-wing democratic forces and strengthen the movement for establishing a government free from exploitation and discrimination.
