DHAKA, Jan 19, 2024 (BSS) - All stage is set to commemorate the supreme sacrifice of the student leader Shaheed Asaduzzaman Asad as his 55th martyrdom anniversary will be observed tomorrow.

On January 20 in 1969, Asad, the hero of the 1969 mass upsurge movement, was gunned down by the Pakistani police at a protest against the atrocities on the people of East Pakistan at a rally held near Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH).

The death of Asad, the then a master's student of Dhaka University (DU), took the mass upsurge to the highest peak which expedited the fall of the then military dictator Field Marshal Ayub Khan from his long iron rule.

President Mohammed Shahabuddin and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued separate messages paying tributes to the memory of Shaheed Asad on the occasion.

Recalling his contribution which had spearheaded the mass movement in 1969 with due respect, they prayed for eternal peace of the departed soul of Shaheed Asad.

In his message, President Mohammed Shahabuddin said the sacrifice of Asad in the 1969 mass upsurge had added a new dimension to the aspiration of Bengalis emancipation.

With the demand for independence and own state, the country's people irrespective of class and profession took to the streets braving the fear of imprisonment and the movement that turned into a mass upsurge gradually, the President said.

He said after Asad's killing, Bangladesh emerged as an independent country through the War of Liberation at the call of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

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

The historic six-point demand of Bangabandhu surfaced as the way of freedom when the people of Bangla had become perplexed due to discriminatory behavior and atrocities by the Pakistani rulers, she said.

Sheikh Hasina said the then military ruler Ayub Khan implicated Bangabandhu in a 'sedition' case known as the "Agartala Conspiracy Case" being afraid of his popularity.

Shaheed Asad was the president of Shahidullah Hall of Dhaka University and General Secretary of Dhaka Unit of East Pakistan Students Union.

To mark the day, different socio-cultural, student and political organizations, including Shaheed Asad Parishad, have chalked out various programmes to observe the day.

The programmers include placing wreaths at the memorial plaque of Asad in front of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) and his grave at Shibpur in Narsingdi.