Bangladesh honours martyrs, looks to the future on Independence Day

Bangladesh has honoured the martyrs of 1971 and thanked them for their contribution to the development of Bangladesh as an independent and prosperous nation on the 47th anniversary of the country’s independence.

Many came to the National Memorial in Savar on Monday to pay their respects.

President Md Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina presented flowers at the monument at dawn on behalf of the nation.

The gates to the National Memorial opened to the public. Various representatives from political, social, cultural and economic organisations and families came to the site to pay their respects and commemorate Independence Day.

Bangladesh has travelled a long and difficult path since its bloody birth on Mar 26, 1971.

The country recently became eligible to graduate from the UN’s list of least developed countries to the list of developing countries and dreams of one day making the list of developed countries.

LDC graduation brings with it the potential for further development, but will also lead to the loss of several advantages in aid and trade previously available to Bangladesh.

“The fact that the UN has declared Bangladesh eligible to advance from its categorisation is proof of how far Bangladesh has come,” said Awami League General Secretary and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader.

But the enemies of Bangladesh’s independence are still casting a dark shadow, working against the values of the Liberation War.

“We must root out the poison of those who opposed our independence.”

Though crowds had filled the National Memorial premises as soon as it opened in previous years, the early push was less dense this year. But attendance grew as the day wore on.

Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu spoke to the media after paying his respects to the martyrs.

“But Bangladesh is not out of danger yet,” he said. “Pakistani powers are still involved by proxy.”

The BNP had not held any events while many other organisations had commemorated Mass Killing Day on Mar 25, he said.

“They do not accept the Father of the Nation, Mass Killing Day or the death toll of 3 million,” Inu said. “They follow the ideals of Pakistan.”

“We have two major challenges before us,” he said. “The first is to hold the election in time and the second is to prevent militants and the Razakar-rearing BNP from coming to power.”

A delegation of BNP leaders, including BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, came to the National Memorial at 9:45am.

“The democracy the Liberation War was fought to protect has been constrained,” he said.

“A three-time prime minister is in jail. The people do not have the freedom to speak. They do not have the right to engage in politics. Democracy does not exist.”  

The BNP is fighting to restore democracy and will continue to fight until they win, he said.

“We will continue to advance towards the goal of freedom from want, from poverty, from hunger that the people of this country desire,” said Bangladesh Workers Party President and Social Welfare Minister Rashed Khan Menon.

The sounds of slogans and patriotic songs filled the National Memorial premises.

People of all ages and all walks of life came to pay their respects to the martyrs wearing the red and green of the Bangladesh flag.