Bangladesh to celebrate 47 years of independence with developing nation eligibility

Bangladesh is all set to celebrate its Independence Day on Monday with renewed joy this year as it has earned the eligibility to become a developing nation.

The nation is waiting for the 31-gun salute heralding the celebrations at dawn on Monday.

President Md Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will lead the nation in commemorating the martyrs of the 1971 Liberation War against Pakistan.

After they place wreaths on the National Memorial in Savar on the outskirts of the capital early in the morning, the memorial will be open for all to show respect to the valiant children of the country.

Hasina will also join a gathering of children at Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka in the morning.

For the first time this year, the national anthem will be sung in Bangladesh and abroad simultaneously at 8am.

It was clear in Hamid’s Independence Day message that the economic achievement of the country is significant in the celebrations of independence this year.

Noting that Bangladesh has earned the eligibility to graduate from a least developed country to a developing nation, he said, “As a nation, it is a great achievement for us. Bangladesh is now being branded as a role model of development in the outside world."

Hasina, however, has said several times Bangladesh would have achieved economic progress a long time ago if the country did not move backwards after the assassination of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975.

Photos carrying testimonies of genocide during Bangladesh's Independence War in 1971 are on display on Sunday on the wall of government secretariat in Dhaka on the occasion of Independence Day on March 26.

Getting no respite from the Pakistani suppression since the 1947 Partition, the then East Pakistan, led by Bangabandhu, launched the movement against injustice.

Joined by their local collaborators, the Pakistanis carried out a genocide codenamed ‘Operation Searchlight ‘.

Before Pakistan arrested Bangabandhu early on Mar 26 that year, he proclaimed independence officially, starting the nine-month bloody War of Independence. 

Bangabandhu, however, made the proclamation of independence effectively earlier when he told the Mar 7, 1971 rally in Dhaka: “Ebarer sangram, amader muktir sangram; ebarer sangram, swadhinatar sangram (This time, the struggle is for our freedom. This time, the struggle is for independence.) 

On Dec 16 that year, Bangladesh emerged as a nation on the map of the world by snatching victory from Pakistan in exchange for the lives of three million people and honour of over 200,000 Bengali women.

Bangladesh observed Sunday, Mar 25, as Genocide Day to commemorate the victims of the Pakistani crackdown. A one-minute nationwide blackout was held to show respect to the martyrs.

Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee took out a torch procession from the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka on Sunday to remember the victims of the Mar 25, 1971 genocide by the Pakistanis.

 

Monday, Mar 26, is also Bangladesh’s National Day. The day is a public holiday.

The president and the prime minister in separate messages remembered Bangabandhu and the others who carried Bangladesh towards freedom.

They also urged the people to work together the spirit of Liberation War to make the hard-earned independence more meaningful and to expedite further progress and democratic advancement.

Hamid said he expected people from all walks of life to contribute towards building a happy and prosperous Bangladesh through implementing the 'Vision 2021' and 'Vision 2041' set by the Awami League government within the golden jubilee celebration of independence.

The prime minister in her message extended her greetings and congratulations to the people of Bangladesh as well as all expatriate Bangladeshis on the occasion of Independence and National Day of Bangladesh.

The prime minister in her message extended her greetings and congratulations to the people of Bangladesh as well as all expatriate Bangladeshis on the occasion of Independence and National Day of Bangladesh.

"On this auspicious day, I urge the countrymen to foil any plot of the anti-liberation, communal forces and anti-development and anti-democracy forces together," Hasina said.

The prime minister said the independence earned through supreme sacrifices of millions of people is the greatest achievement of the nation.

"To ensure that this achievement remains meaningful, all must know the history of our great Liberation War and retain the spirit of independence ...the history has to be passed on to generation after generation," she said.

Photos and posters on Bangladesh's 1971 Independence War are on display on Sunday on the wall of government secretariat in Dhaka on the occasion of Independence Day on Mar 26.

Schoolchildren visit the ‘Bloody March 25th: A History of Genocide’ photo exhibition at Dhaka’s Suhrawardy Udyan on Sunday.

On Monday morning, the national flag will be hoisted at the government, semi-government, autonomous and non-government buildings.

The important government buildings will be illuminated while the key streets will be decorated with the national and other colourful flags.

Cultural and social organisations will organise programme marking the day.

Newspapers will publish supplements to mark the day, while state-run Bangladesh Television and Bangladesh Betar, and private radio and TV stations will broadcast special programmes.

All places of worship will hold special prayers while prisoners, patients at hospitals, orphans, and students will be served special food.

The Bangladesh embassies abroad will also organise Independence Day programmes.