| A day that carved the path to freedom | | | | Fri, Mar 7th, 2008 1:02 am BdST | | |
Dhaka, March 7 (bdnews24.com)—A day to remember a historic speech that made a turning point in the history of Bangladesh: March 7.
The day set the stage for a final battle—fought and won in 1971.
The man who made a clarion call for the struggle was independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He made the address at a mammoth gathering at the Race Course (present-day Suhrawardy Udyan) in Dhaka, setting his countrymen on the path to freedom.
In his address, Sheikh Mujib made specific charges against the martial law authorities, which failed to transfer power to elected representatives.
Towards the end of his speech, he urged his countrymen: "Build forts in each homestead. You must resist enemies with whatever you have…
"Remember, when we have learnt to shed blood, we shall give a lot more… We shall liberate this country, Insha Allah.
"The struggle this time is the struggle for our emancipation; the struggle this time is the struggle for independence."
President Yahya Khan and other leaders from Pakistan came to Dhaka on March 15 to start dialogue with Sheikh Mujib and his party.
The dialogue began the following day and continued through to the morning of March 25.
On the midnight of March 25, the Pakistan army launched its brutal crackdown in Dhaka.
Sheikh Mujib was arrested and kept confined at Dhaka Cantonment until he was lifted to Pakistan for facing trial for "sedition and inciting insurrection".
This year, the Awami League observes the day in a muted fashion as Bangabandhu's daughter Sheikh Hasina, also former prime minister, has been behind bars for about eight months now.
The party's general secretary Abdul Jalil is in Singapore, after being freed on parole for treatment. Many other high-profile party members ended up in jail.
The Awami League has scheduled a programme to mark the day by hoisting national and party flags at the AL offices from 6am Friday and laying wreaths at the portrait of Bangabandhu, led by the party's acting president Zillur Rahman.
The party set a discussion meeting for a 3pm start Friday at the auditorium of Institute of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh.
bdnews24.com/sum/fwc/ad/0023 hours | |
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