Dhaka citizen rally Saturday to celebrate UNESCO recognition of Bangabandhu's Mar 7 speech

A citizen committee will organise a rally at the Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka on Saturday to celebrate the UNESCO recognition of the historic Mar 7 speech of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as part of world heritage.

Professor Anisuzzaman will preside over the rally. Bangabandhu's daughter Awami League chief Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will attend the rally as chief guest.

The rally will start with the singing of the national anthem, recitation from religious scriptures and a poem by Nirmalendu Goon on the speech, the organisers said on Friday.     

Poet Goon is expected to recite the poem, 'Swadhinata - Ei Shobdoti Kibhabe Amader Holo' (How We Own the Word Independence) at the rally, Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader said after visiting the preparation at the venue on Friday. 

Committee Joint Convenor Prof Harun-or-Rashid said journalist Golam Sarwar, martyred intellectual's widow Shyamali Nasrin Chaudhury, Prof Rafiqul Islam, Prof Muhammad Zafar Iqbal and UNESCO Country Representative Beatrice Kaldun will deliver speeches at the event.

Quader will deliver a thanks-giving speech and hand Beatrice a souvenir.

Besides Goon, Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor will recite poems, Awami League Cultural Affairs Secretary Asim Kumar Ukil said.

He said a cultural event will also be held.

Actor Ramendu Majumder and martyred intellectual's daughter Nuzhat Choudhury will moderate the programme.

UNESCO decided to include the historic speech in its compendium, known as the Memory of the World Register.

The speech delivered at the then Race Course Maidan, now the Suhrawardy Udyan, encouraged the Bengalis to start a bloody struggle for independence from Pakistan.