Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has called upon all, including global people, to build a society based on equality and free from all kinds of discrimination and sectarianism.
"We follow Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's peace philosophy while running the country. I appeal to the people of our country and the world to build a society based on equality and free from discrimination and sectarianism," she said in a message on the eve of the Genocide Day-2024.
The Prime Minister said: "We do not want war and conflict; killing men, women, and children has dipped us in solemn grief. We believe in peace. If sustainable peace prevails, the country's overall development will accelerate."
"Today, 25 March is Genocide Day.
On 25 March 1971, Pakistan Military carried out the most barbaric crackdown in Bangladesh," she said.
She remembered with a heavy heart all the martyrs who sacrificed their lives on that most terrible night.
Swearing on their fresh blood, the brave Bangalees spirited to take up arms and fight for independence, she added.
The greatest Bangalee of all time, Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, sacrificed his whole life to liberate the Bengali nation shackled for thousands of years, she said.
He was first arrested and imprisoned on 11 March 1948 while protesting to protect the dignity of the Bengali language, she said.
Since then, he led all the movements, including the language movement of '52, the twenty-one point of '54, the anti-Ayub movement of '62, the six points of '66, and the mass upsurge of '69 with great foresight, she added.
After the mass uprising, on 5 December 1969, on the death anniversary of Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, he declared, 'From now on, the name of this eastern part of Pakistan will be Bangladesh only, instead of East Pakistan', Sheikh Hasina said, quoting Bangabandhu.
He left the Minister's portfolio, organized and strengthened the party, and prepared the nation for independence, she said.
The Awami League, led by the Father of the Nation, won a single majority in the National Assembly in the '70 elections, she said.
"However, the Pak military junta started delaying the transfer of power. By procrastinating in the name of the meeting, they launched a secret conspiracy to kill the unarmed Bengalis. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib called for a non-cooperation movement from 2 March; in his historic speech on 7 March clearly outlined the goal of overcoming the long 23-year misruling and exploitation and called for compliance with the 35-point directive from 15 March," she mentioned.
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib's instructions were followed verbatim throughout East Bengal, she said, adding that not only that, Bangladesh's administrative, political, and economic activities were being carried out as he prescribed.
"Yahya's rule became utterly obsolete. Yahya-Bhutto repeatedly offered to compromise. But the undisputed leader of Bangladesh gave up the lure of power and remains steadfast for the freedom-loving people of this country," she said.
On 23 March, Pakistan Day, the flag emblazoned with the map of Bangladesh was hoisted all over the country, she said.
"On the evening of 25 March, Yahya left Dhaka secretly during the non-cooperation movement. At midnight, Pakistani troops launched 'Operation Search Light' with armored tanks and started killing unarmed Bangalees. Dhaka University, Pilkhana, and Rajarbag were attacked, and students, teachers, Bengali police, and military personnel were killed," she said.
"Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib was arrested in the early hours of March 26. Immediately before, the Father of the Nation wrote the final declaration of independence-'This may be my last message, from today Bangladesh is independent. ---your fight must go until final victory is achieved.'- which was first broadcast on EPR's wireless and then spread across the country through leaders and activists of the Awami League and Chhatra League," she said.
The Pakistanis tortured Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib by imprisoning him in Mianwali prison in Pakistan and tried to kill him, she said.
On 13 June, Anthony Mascarenhas, a Pakistani journalist, published a detailed article on the front page of The Sunday Times in the United Kingdom, entitled 'GENOCIDE,' based on a realistic picture of the Pakistanis' brutality against Bangalees that accelerated the creation of world voice in favor of Bangladesh, the premier said.
Three million people were martyred in nine months of armed war, two hundred thousand mothers and sisters lost their dignity, and the whole country went under the rubble, she said.
Finally, with the victory on 16 December, the independent sovereign Bangladesh was established, she said.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said President Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Father of the Bangalee nation, was released from solitary confinement in Pakistan and he returned to his beloved independent motherland on 10 January 1972, and devoted himself to rebuilding the war-torn country.
With the help of the allies, though there was an empty treasury, he rehabilitated the displaced people, restored and developed the infrastructure, and put the production sector and the economy on a solid foundation, she said.
In just three and a half years, the UN recognized the country as a Least Developed Country (LDC), she said, adding that but it is the country's misfortune that the defeated anti-independence clique of '71, continued to conspire against him.
"On another devastating night on 15 August 1975, the incumbent President, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was martyred by brutal bullets along with his family members. The murderous Mostaq-Zia and their successors illegally seized power and established a dictatorship in the country," she said.
"The BNP tarnished the proud history of the Bangalee nation by placing the perpetrators of the infernal massacre on 25 March, criminals against humanity and war criminals, and murderers of the Father of the Nation in the National Parliament and hoisting the flag of independent Bangladesh in their cars," she said.
Awami League (AL) formed the government after being elected by popular mandate in 1996 after a long 21-year struggle, she said.
"On 5 October 1998, we accessed the United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. In 1997, we proposed a resolution on the Culture of Peace at the UN General Assembly, adopted in 1999. Accordingly, the United Nations declared 2000 the 'International Year for the Culture of Peace' and 2001-2010 as the 'International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence'," she said.
"We have been working tirelessly for more than fifteen years since 2008 to transform the fate of the people with their unwavering support in all elections," she said.
"In the meantime, we tried the perpetrators of crimes against humanity and war criminals by establishing the International Crimes Tribunal," she said.
"We ensured the people's right to vote through the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which also barred the illegal seizure of power," she added.
A book titled 'The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide' was published in 2013, where the brutality of genocide carried out by Pakistanis in Bangladesh was described as reported by Mr. Archer K. Blood, the Consul General in Dhaka from the US State Department, said the premier.
"We have recognized 25 March as 'Genocide Day.' We sheltered more than 1.1 million displaced Rohingya people who escaped with their lives from genocide in neighboring Myanmar," she added.
"We raised our voices against genocide orchestrated in any corner of the world. We are working on the principle of 'Zero Tolerance' to eradicate militancy and terrorism," Sheikh Hasina said.
"We have already made Bangladesh a developing country. Bangladesh in 2041 will be 'Smart Bangladesh.' We framed the 'Bangladesh Delta Plan-2100' and implemented it. Future generations will be able to implement this plan with the amendment of their need," the premier continued.
She wished all the programmes on 'Genocide Day' a great success.