Martyred Intellectuals Day is observed on 14 December in Bangladesh to commemorate the large number of Bangladeshi intellectuals killed by Al-Badr, the collaborators of Pakistani forces during the Bangladesh Liberation War, particularly on 25 March and 14 December 1971. The killings were undertaken with the goal of annihilating the intellectual class of what was then East Pakistan. On 16 December, Bangladesh became independent through the surrender of Pakistani forces.