Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)-The people of Bangladesh celebrated the 46th Independence and National Day on Saturday with due solemnity and festivity.
On Mar 26, 1971, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared Bangladesh’s independence following the crackdown on unarmed Bangalees on the midnight of March 25 by the Pakistan occupation army.
The call for independence was first raised on March 7, 1971, when Bangabandhu-- during his historic 7th March speech at the Suhrawardy Uddyan in Dhaka (previously known as Race Course Maidan)-- urged citizens to join the struggle for independence.
"The struggle this time is for our emancipation, the struggle this time is for our independence," Sheikh Mujib said in his 19-minute speech.
After the nine-month War of Liberation with the supreme sacrifices of the millions of people, the people of the country achieved its cherished independence on December 16, 1971.
Hundreds of thousands of people from all walks of life, who converged at the National Memorial at Savar since early morning to recall with gratitude the sacrifices of the martyrs, also took a fresh vow to uphold the spirit of the Liberation War and build a happy, prosperous and secular Bangladesh.
The day is a public holiday.
President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid rich tribute to the martyrs of the War of Liberation by placing wreaths at the National Memorial at Savar in the morning marking the 46th Independence and National Day.
President Hamid first placed a wreath at the altar of the memorial followed by the Prime Minister.
After placing the wreaths, the President and the Prime Minister stood in solemn silence for some time as a mark of profound respect to the memories of the martyrs of the Great War of Liberation in 1971.
A smartly turned-out contingent drawn from Bangladesh Army, Navy and Air Force presented a state salute on the occasion while the bugles played the last post.
Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, ministers, advisers, parliament members, chiefs of the three services, freedom fighters, diplomats and high civil and military officials were present on the occasion.
Flanked by senior leaders of the party, Sheikh Hasina, also the president of Bangladesh Awami League, laid another wreath at the National Memorial on behalf of her party.
Later, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also paid her rich tribute to Father of the National Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by placing wreath at his portrait in front of at Dhanmondi Bangabandhu Bhaban in the capital Dhaka. She as a president of Bangladesh Awami League (AL) also placed another wreath there in the morning.
Subsequently, senior AL leaders- Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, Dr Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury, Advocate Sahara Khatun, Disaster Management and Relief affairs Minister Mofazzel Hossain Chowdhury Maya, Bir Biram, Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan, Satis Chandra Ray, Mahbub-Ul-Alam Hanif, Advocate Jahangir Kabir Nanak, Dr Abdur Razzak, Dr Abdus Sobhan Golap, Doctor Badiuzzaman Bhuiyan Dablu, Advocate Afzal Hossain and Food Minister Advocate Quamrul Islam, among others, were present there.
Besides, Chairperson of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Begum Khaleda Zia and Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad also placed wreaths at the altar of the memorial at Savar as a mark of respect to the martyrs along with their senior party leaders respectively.
President Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia have issued separate messages greeting citizens on the occasion of Independence Day.
The national flag was hoisted since sunrise atop all government, semi-government, autonomous and non-government buildings and different important buildings and establishments on the occasion.
Bangladesh Television, other private television channels, Bangladesh Betar and other Radio stations are broadcasting special programmes highlighting the significant of the day.
Besides, newspapers and other online news portals also published special supplementary on the occasion.
Different political parties including the BNP, main opposition Jatiya Party, AL's associate bodies and various socio-cultural organisations also observed the day amid holding different programmes.
BBN/SSR/AD