victory day - Dhaka Mirror

Bangladesh celebrates Victory Day

Admin — Fri, 16 Dec 2022 17:15:39 +0000

Nahid Riyasad

The nation celebrates 52nd Victory Day on Friday commemorating the freedom fighters whose supreme sacrifice freed the country from Pakistani occupation force in 1971.

Thousands of people from all walks of life started gathering at the National Memorial in Savar to pay tribute to the 1971 martyrs from the morning after the president and prime minister paid their respect.

The freedom fighters and their family members, led by liberation war affairs minister AKM Mozammel Haque, paid their tributes after the president and the prime minister.

After that, foreign diplomats, leaders of different political and social organisations and institutions paid their tributes to the martyrs.

Ruling Awami League, main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Ganosamhati Andolan, Gono Forum, Biplobi Workers Party, Workers Party of Bangladesh and other major political party leaders placed floral wreaths at the National Memorial.

Children in colourful attire and excitement on their face, young people and senior citizens gathered at the National Memorial and placed wreaths.

Due to heavy traffic from Savar Cantonment area, thousands of people got off their transport and took a long walk to the memorial in a cheerful manner.

Vendors were selling national flags, badges and bracelets while artists with colour palettes were creating national flags on willing youngsters’ hands and faces at the entrance of the memorial.

Reazuddin usually sells seasonal fruits but for the Victory Day, he was selling badges and flags few hundred meters from the memorial entrance.

‘The Victory Day gave me good business and I hope more people will observe the day,’ he said.

Students from different schools and colleges from the capital and outskirts gathered in large groups to pay their respect in a cheerful mood.

Hridoy Mia, a Class VIII student of a school in Savar, got breakfast from the school after placing floral wreaths.

‘I am missing my sister as she could not come with me. So I ate half of my bread and the banana and taking the other half and the egg for her,’ he said in a happy tone.

Young people were taking selfies and making videos with their friends to be kept as memories.

Girls were seen marking the Victory Day in colourful sarees mostly red and green and adorning their heads with flower garlands.

Mehedi Hasan, a seventh grader of a school in Dhaka came to pay respect to the martyrs of 1971 with his family.

‘I came here before in last Victory Day and placed flowers but I am excited for my four-year old sister who is visiting the National Memorial for the first time here,’ he said.

After placing wreaths on behalf of the party, BNP standing committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said that the spirit and dream of 1971 had not been realised.

‘Our economy is in crisis due to severe irregularities, human rights are violated and people are struggling due to high commodity price. The dreams of 1971 remain an illusion even after 51 years,’ he said.

Echoing the same, freedom fighter Ranjit Kar, a resident of Manikganj said that the country created by supreme sacrifice of many people never reached its promised potentials.

‘We fought against Pakistan force because we wanted a corruption free country where every citizen would enjoy equal rights. But now it is hard even to survive in Bangladesh due to high commodity price and corruption in every sector,’ he said.

Special prayers were offered at mosques, temples, churches, and pagodas across the country, seeking eternal peace for the departed souls of the martyred and the peace and prosperity of the nation.

– Article originally published on New Age

The post Bangladesh celebrates Victory Day appeared first on Dhaka Mirror.

40 years of victory celebrated

Admin — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 16:25:00 +0000

Thousands of people thronged Savar National Mausoleum on Friday, to pay tributes to Liberation War heroes and raised demands for speedy trial into 1971 war crimes.
“Try them, hang them…,” the crowd raised slogans, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the country’s victory in the Liberation War, demanding authorities speed up on-going trial of crimes against humanity. On December 16, 1971, nearly 93,000 Pakistani forces surrendered to the joint forces, led by the Indian Army, in Dhaka, giving birth to a new nation. The Awami League-led coalition government has vowed to wrap up trial of war criminals, before the end of its tenure.
“It is our pledge, on the 40th anniversary of our victory, that the trial of war criminals would be held on this soil and the verdict will also be implemented accordingly,” said Syed Ashraful Islam, a senior minister in Sheikh Hasina’s cabinet.
Atrocities unleashed by Pakistan’s military, which was aided by local collaborators, during the nine-month-long armed struggle, left three million civilians dead, 200,000 women raped, and numerous homes torched and looted.
After Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated in 1975, in a military coup, an earlier trial of war criminals had been called off by the successing regime. In 2009, Sheikh Hasina, Mujib’s daughter, assumed the office and began, afresh, the process of bringing local collaborators of the Pakistani army, to justice.
Last year, the government detained seven suspected war criminals, five of whom are senior leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, while two others belonged to Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
President Muhammad Zillur Rahman, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and opposition leader Khaleda Zia, separately, greeted the people on the occasion, and called for building a prosperous Bangladesh.
The Prime Minister and the leader of opposition also paid tributes to the memories of martyrs at National Mausoleum in Savar, to mark the day that began with a 31-gun salute at National Parade Square at dawn.
People from all walks of life gathered at Savar Mausoleum. Also, various socio, political and cultural organisations turned up to pay homage to the heroes, who sacrificed their lives during the war.
The President could not turn up at the mausoleum, due to illness. However, he later hosted a reception at Bangabhaban.
A group of soldiers, drawn from the three services, Army, Navy and Air Force, presented state salute in honour of the martyrs. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina took the salute and inspected the guard at National Parade Ground.
The Liberation War Affairs ministry and the Ninth Infantry Division of the Army organised the parade.
Cabinet members, freedom fighters, senior civil and military officers, politicians, civil society members, and other invitees, also took part in the gala event. The Army, police, coast guard, Ansar, Rapid Action Battalion, Bangladesh National Cadet Corps, fire service, and Civil Defence members, participated in the parade. Air Force personnel displayed spectacular tricks in the sky. Different ministries also showcased their activities to the gathering.
On the occasion of this national holiday, newspapers brought out special supplements, and state-run and private television channels aired special programmes, to highlight the day’s significance.
Various social and cultural organisations brought out victory processions in the city, while fairs were organised at different places outside the capital. The National Flag was hoisted on top of all government and semi-government buildings. Special programmes were arranged at Bangladesh missions abroad.

Courtesy of The Independent

The post 40 years of victory celebrated appeared first on Dhaka Mirror.

Victory Day today

Admin — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 16:12:57 +0000

The nation today celebrates the 41st Victory Day when in 1971 the people triumphed in a war of independence against the Pakistani occupation forces.
People of all walks of life pay their tribute today to the martyrs of 1971 by holding and joining programmes across the country. This day in 1971, the country achieved its independence to emerge as Bangladesh after the nine-month struggle for national independence.
The day, which is a holiday, is heralded with a 31-gun salute at dawn in the National Parade Square.
All the preparations have been made for paying tributes to the valiant sons of the soil who laid down their lives for the country’s independence.
In one of the worst acts of genocide in human history, the Pakistan army and their local collaborators launched a barbarous crackdown, killing the innocent and the unarmed in the erstwhile East Pakistan at midnight on 25 March, 1971.
The Jamaat-e-Islami and some Islamist political parties of the time actively collaborated with the Pakistani forces, raising paramilitary forces such as Razakar, Al-Badr and Al-Shams which took part in the genocide.
This day in 1971, the chief of the Pakistani forces, General Amir Aabdullah Khan Niazi, along with 93,000 troops, surrendered to the allied forces, led by General Jagjit Singh Aurora, of India in the Ramna Race Course, now Suhrawardy Udyan, in Dhaka after their defeat in the war.
People will throng the National Martyrs’ Memorial at Savar to pay homage to the heroes who embraced martyrdom to liberate the country.
The president, Zillur Rahman, the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, leader of the opposition in the parliament, Khaleda Zia, also the BNP’s chairperson, and other political leaders issued messages on the occasion calling on the people to work together to build a democratic and prosperous Bangladesh imbued with the spirit of independence.
The president will place flowers on the National Martyrs’ Memorial at sunrise. He will take the salute of the national day ceremonial parade in the National Parade Square.
Various ministries, the Armed Forces, paramilitary forces, Fire Service and Civil Defence and freedom fighters will join the parade.
Vehicles but for the invited will not be allowed on the roads passing around the National Parade Ground between 7:00am and 12:30pm on Friday, said a handout of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police.
The president Zillur Rahman, in his message, paid tributes to the valiant freedom fighters.
He said that one of the main objectives of the independence war was to attain geographical sovereignty and economic self-sufficiency and to establish just and equivalent society.
The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, in her message said the history of struggle for independence was not a casual event rather the culmination of the struggle of the Bengali nation for 23 years.
She urged all, irrespective of party affiliation, opinion, class, caste and creed, to work together to build a happy and prosperous country.
‘Before the golden jubilee celebrations of our independence in 2010, the present government has set “Vision 2010” to transform Bangladesh into a middle-income country. It is my conviction that we would be able to achieve the goal by using our human resources and information technology by the stipulated time,’ she hoped.
In her message, Khaleda paid tributes to all war heroes and martyrs. ‘Although the country was freed from foes in 1971, hegemonic forces are still conspiring to destroy our independence and sovereignty. And some quarters in our country are assisting them in implementing the blueprint of the evil axis.’
She also called for the forging of national unity to protect the country’s freedom and sovereignty.
The national flag will be hoisted atop all government buildings across the country. Important buildings of the Armed Forces will be illuminated in the evening.
The ruling Awami League will place floral wreaths at the National Martyrs’ Memorial and at the mural of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Bangabandhu Bhaban in the morning, and will bring out a victory procession from Shikha Chirantan in Suhrawardy Uddyan at 3:00pm.
A discussion will also be held in the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre at 3:00pm which the party chief Hasina will attend as chief guest.
Khaleda will place floral wreaths at the National Martyrs’ Memorial at 7:30am. The BNP will bring out a victory procession in the afternoon from the party’s central office at Naya Paltan. The BNP also held a discussion on Thursday in Dhaka marking the day.
Dhaka University teachers and students will celebrate the day with various programmes on the campus.
The Sector Commanders’ Forum will celebrate the moment of the signing of the instrument of surrender by General Niazi at Shikha Chirantan at 3:40pm.
The Dhaka north and south city corporations will accord a reception to war heroes in Osmani Udyan at 10:30am.
The Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal and Gana Forum will place floral wreaths at the National Martyrs’ Memorial in the morning, along with the Samajtantrik Chhatra Front and the Samajtantrik Sramik Front. The Communist Party of Bangladesh will hold a discussion in front of the party’s office at 4:00pm.
The Sammilita Sangskritik Jote will bring out a procession from the Central Shaheed Minar at 10:00am.
The Liberation War Museum will hold a daylong cultural programme for children on its premises.
The Muktijoddha Oikya Parishad will place floral wreaths at the National Martyrs’ Memorial, Bangabandhu Bhaban and Shikha Chirantan.
The Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts will begin a three-day art camp, Bijay Dibas Chitramela, at the Bengal Centre.
The Bangladesh Medical Association will place floral wreaths at the National Martyrs’ Memorial at 8:00am.
The Bangabandhu Sangsritik Jote will hold a rally at Shikha Chirantan at 4:30pm and light candles in memory of the martyrs.
The Swadhinata Academy will hold the Bangabandhu Book Fair at the Central Public Library.
The Nazrul Academy will hold a discussion in its auditorium at 6:00pm.
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police began celebration of the day at Thursday night and held fireworks exhibition at zero hours of the day at the Rajarbagh police lines.

-With New Age input

The post Victory Day today appeared first on Dhaka Mirror.