Tributes pour in on Bangabandhu’s 97th birth anniversary

People have been honouring Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on his 97th birth anniversary.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid tribute to the Father of the Nation at his house in Dhanmondi on Wednesday. 

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was born in Gopalganj’s Tungiparha on Mar 17, 1920.

He became known as Bangabandhu for leading the struggle for liberation of Bangladesh.

In 1975, a few years after victory against Pakistan, the president of the newly-liberated nation was killed by a group of disgruntled army officers along with most of his family members in his home.

At the Dhanmondi house, now called Bangabandhu Bhaban, his daughter Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who now leads the Awami League, placed flowers before his portrait.

A guard of honour was given by an army contingent. 

Bangabandhu Bhaban was opened to the public after the prime minister left.

Representatives of the ruling Awami League, its affiliates as well as various cultural and social groups, were seen paying tribute to Bangabandhu.   

At 10am, President Md Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina laid wreaths at his grave in Tungiparha, Gopalganj.  

A prayer meeting was arranged near the gravesite.

A gathering for children was scheduled to take place in the area besides a discussion, a book fair and a cultural ceremony.

Various other groups, besides the Awami League, have planned events for Bangabadhu’s birth anniversary which coincides with National Children’s Day.

Programmes for the day

The Dhaka University has arranged a discussion to mark the occasion. It is scheduled to start at 10:30am at TSC Auditorium.

A cultural programme of DU Faculty of Music will be held at the same venue at 6pm.

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University will hold a blood donation camp and cater free medical services of specialised doctors.

A programme 'Bangabandhur Golpo Shono' will be held at 10:30am at Bangla Academy's 'Bot Tola' for kids.

At 4pm, journalist and writer Syed Badrul Ahsan will deliver a speech on Bangabandhu at the Nazrul Moncho there. The session will be chaired by DU Vice-Chancellor AAMS Arefin Siddiqui.

A folk music fest 'Mohapurusher Ontordhan: Chhohi Shahid Mujibnama' will start at 5pm at the Liberation War Museum.The songs are composed by Dr Enamul Haque and Shambhu Acharya has drawn pictures for the display.

DU Faculty of Fine Arts will hold 'Bangabandhu Utsav' marking both the birth anniversary and the National Children's Day.

A children's art competition is due at 10am at 'Bokul Tola' of the faculty. Bangabandhu, Liberation War and Bangladesh are the themes for the contest. A discussion will take place there at 3pm.

Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy has a plethora of programmes to observe the day. The programme starts at 11am with Liaquat Ali Lucky's play 'Mujib Mane Mukti' followed by acrobat performances.

The evening session will screen The Shoes, Matir Pakhi, Mon Foring, Rokto Joba and Madho, for kids.

The 3D video of Bangabandhu's Mar 7 speech will be shown throughout the day at the Star Cineplex for free of cost.

Islamic Foundation has organised Quran recitations and prayer gatherings seeking eternal peace for the departed souls of Bangabandhu and his family. It will be held at 10am at the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque in Dhaka.

The freedom icon

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was born to an ordinary family at Tungiparha. An energetic youth, he became involved in politics during his school years.

Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy had been his political mentor.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was an eighth grader at Gopalganj Mission School when he first spent time behind bars for taking part in protests against the British.

He became close to then top Muslim League leaders Suhrawardy and AK Fazlul Huq during his time at Kolkata’s Islamia College. 

He quickly established himself as a young leader and joined the Awami Muslim League.

The party was later rechristened ‘Awami League’ for a wider and secular appeal.

He was arrested on Mar 11, 1948 for taking part in a general strike to have Bangla recognised as a state language. His political activities landed him in jail multiple times during the period between 1948 and 1952.

He took lead during the United Front election in 1954, protests against Ayub Khan’s martial law dictatorship in 1958, the 1962 movement against the Education Commission and other campaigns for public demands.

Sheikh Mujib rose to the top of Bengali leadership for his active role in these various movements. In 1966, he proposed the historic six-point charter of demands as the head of Awami League.

The move landed him in jail when the then Pakistan government accused him of sedition in the 1968 Agartala Conspiracy Case.

The movement for autonomy of then East Pakistan evolved to a struggle for self-determination under Bangabandhu’s leadership.

In March of 1971, he began the non-cooperation movement.

The fiery speech he delivered to a sea of mass supporters at Dhaka’s then Race Course Maidan, calling out for blood to be spilled for independence, is immortalised in Bangladesh’s liberation history.

He was arrested after the Pakistan Army began its genocide of Bengalis on the night of Mar 25.

But before his capture, Bangabandhu declared Bangladesh independent from Pakistan in the early hour of Mar 26. 

He was jailed in Pakistan throughout the nine months of war that followed. He was made president of the exiled, war-time government that swore oath at Mujibnagar.

He was jailed in Pakistan throughout the nine months of war that followed. He was made president of the exiled, war-time government that swore oath at Mujibnagar.

With the sacrifice of 3 million lives, Bangladesh was liberated on Dec 16, 1971. Bangabandhu, released from the Pakistani prison, returned home on Jan 10, 1972.

He then delved into the work to reconstruct a new nation and its people left devastated by war.

In 1975, he announced a national programme for securing economic freedom, and formed the Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League or BAKSAL which prohibited activities of all other political parties.

Under one-party rule, all newspapers, except four, were closed down.

Bangabandhu, then president, was shot dead when a group of army officers stormed into his Dhanmondi residence on Aug 15, 1975.