The entire Bengali nation on Wednesday celebrated the great Victory Day, the 16th December, on Wednesday across the country and all over the globe as well with a fresh vow of upholding the spirit of the hard-earned independence, democracy and eliminate the anti-liberation and communal forces from the country.
Yesterday was the 50th Victory Day. On the occasion, thousands of people from all spheres of life thronged the National Mausoleum located at Savar, on the outskirt of Dhaka, to pay rich tributes to the martyred sons and daughters of the soil with due solemnity.
Hoisting the national flags and singing the national anthem in the capital city Dhaka, other metropolitan cities, district towns, upazila headquarters and remote villages, people expressed their firm determination to eliminate fanaticism at all costs from the country.
The people from all walks of life during the celebration were also seen shouting slogans against terrorism and anti-state activities in the name of religion on the soil of independent Bangladesh.
“We are celebrating the 50th Victory Day marking the most precious day when the country was freed from the Pakistan occupation forces after a nine-month-long War of Liberation. But this year, we promise that no fanaticism would be allowed using religion as a political tool in order to create anarchy or rift among people,” a youth with raising voice said.
Like him, many others also said that they promised to uproot the followers of the defeated forces of 1971 who are still spreading the venom of extremism in Bangladesh.
They said, if the defeated forces and their present accomplices could not be eliminated, they will continue to pose a threat to the spirit of the Liberation War in Bangladesh.
This year, the nation celebrated the occasion in a different manner as the coronavirus crisis has paralyzed the whole world.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, special prayers were offered at mosques, temples, churches and other worship places, seeking divine blessings for peace and progress of the country.
Bangladesh Television, Bangladesh Betar and private television channels aired special programmes while newspapers brought out special supplements. Bangladesh postal department released memorial postal stump to mark the day.
In addition, the victory day celebration reached a new height following the UNESCO’s recognition of Bangabandhu’s historic March 7 Speech as a part of the world’s documentary heritage in 2017.
Commemorating the glorious victory in 1971, the government chalked out various programmes to celebrate the Victory Day at the national level.
The programmes included a 31-gun salute, placing of wreaths at the monuments to pay homage to martyrs. The national flags remained hoisted atop all government, semi-government and private offices as well as offices of autonomous bodies across the country.
People from different social groups and political, cultural, professional and academic organisations and institutions thronged the National Mausoleum at Savar to pay homage to the war heroes who embraced martyrdom to liberate the motherland. Wreaths were placed at the portrait of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in front of Bangabandhu Bhaban on Dhanmondi road 32 in the city.
Besides, different political, socio-cultural, professional and academic organisations organised elaborate programs to mark the Victory Day.
Inspector General of Bangladesh Police (IGP) Dr Benazir Ahmed paid homage to the heroic policemen who sacrificed their lives in the 1971 Liberation War.
He placed a wreath at the Rajarbagh Police Memorial in the city marking the 50th Victory Day.
A smartly turned out police team provided guard of honour, said a press release.
Senior police officers were also accompanied him.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Md Shafiqul Islam, Dhaka Range DIG Habibur Rahman and Bangladesh Police Women Network also paid tributes separately to the martyred policemen by placing wreaths at the memorial.
It should be mentioned that on December 16, 1971, the country achieved independence after the nine-month-long Liberation War under the leadership of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Finally, we got a free nation at the cost of the supreme sacrifice of three million people and the honour of nearly half a million women.
On this day, Lieutenant General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi, CO of Pakistani occupation forces with his troops of 93,000 signed the Instrument of Surrender. The surrender took place at the Ramna Race Course now Suhrawardy Udyan, in Dhaka following a miserable defeat to the joint forces of Mukti Bahini and Mitra Bahini.
In one of the heinous acts of genocide in history, the Pakistan Army and their local collaborators had launched a barbarous crackdown killing innocent and unarmed people in the erstwhile East Pakistan at midnight March 25, 1971.
