The 20th anniversary of the death of Dr Shamsul Alam Khan Milon, whose killing fuelled the anti-autocracy movement in 1990 and led to the fall of the Ershad regime, will be observed today.
Milon, the then joint secretary general of the Bangladesh Medical Association, was shot dead on the Dhaka University campus on this day in 1990 by miscreants unleashed by the autocratic regime in a bid to suppress the movement for democracy.
Different socio-political and cultural organisations, including Shaheed Dr Milon Sangsad, have chalked up elaborate programmes to mark the day.
The programmes include placing of wreaths and prayer sessions at the graveside of Dr Milon in front of Dhaka Medical College. Wreaths will also be laid at Shaheed Dr Milon Memorial at the Teacher-Student Centre on the Dhaka University campus.
The Bangladesh Awami League will place wreaths and say prayers at the graveside and hold a special prayer session at 8:00am today. The minister for health AFM Ruhal Huq will attend a discussion at the graveside at 10:00am.
Dr Milon Sangsad will also hold a discussion at Dhaka University Teachers-Students Centre at 4:00pm.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson, Khaleda Zia, in a statement said Milon’s supreme sacrifice would be inscribed with golden letters in the history of the country’s democratic movement.
‘Our democracy is still in crisis. An evil axis is plotting to foil democracy. We need to work with unity to strengthen democracy,’ she said.
Leaders of the Workers Party of Bangladesh, Jatiya Samajtanrik Dal, Ganatantrik Left Morcha and Jatiya Mukti Council have also called upon all to observe the day with due solemnity.
