Dhaka, Dec. 14 -- Senior BNP leader Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir says the people of the country know who killed intellectuals on the eve of independence.

The intellectuals were killed by the plan of the force that opposed Bangladesh's independence, he said on Sunday evening.

"[Martyred] Intellectuals Day makes us very sad. It was the result of a calculated blueprint to deprive the nation of its intellectuals just two days before they won independence," said Fakhrul while attending a discussion marking the day.

The saddest aspect of this episode in history, he said, is that those who collaborated with the Pakistani occupation forces in picking up and killing the intellectuals were Bengalis.

"We know today very well who they were," he sa...