The nation is set to observe the National Mourning Day on Wednesday with due reverence and solemnity, marking the 43rd anniversary of assassination of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Bangabandhu, the architect of the country’s independence, was assassinated on the fateful night of August 15 in 1975 by a cabal of army personnel as part of a deep-rooted conspiracy against the country and its independence.
The self-confessed killers of August 15 did not assassinate Bangabandhu alone, but also killed most of his family members, friends and relatives.
According to UNB, eighteen members of the family along with Bangabandhu’s wife Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib, three sons -- Captain Sheikh Kamal, Lt Sheikh Jamal and Sheikh Russell--, two daughters-in-law -- Sultana Kamal and Rosy Jamal --, brother Sheikh Naser, peasant leader Abdur Rob Serniabat, youth leader Sheikh Fazlul Haq Moni and his wife Arzu Moni, Baby Serniabat, Sukanta Babu, Arif and Abdul Nayeem Khan Rintu were killed on the fateful night.
Bangabandhu's two daughters, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana, luckily survived the massacre as they were abroad at that time.
Bangabandhu’s Military Secretary Col Jamil Uddin Ahmad (Bir Uttam), who was later promoted posthumously to the rank of Brigadier General, was also killed during the massacre.
Some members of a family at Mohammadpur in the capital were killed by artillery shells fired by the killers on the same day.
BSS report says, the killing of Bangabandhu, the greatest son of the soil in thousand years, descended a pall of gloom and spread a sense of deep sadness among the people in the country and across the globe.
The world protested and condemned the killing saying it is an irreparable loss to millions of people of Bangladesh.
Like previous years, the government, Awami League and different political and socio-cultural organisations, educational institutions and professional groups chalked out elaborate programmes to pay the utmost respect to the greatest son of the soil on the day of his martyrdom.
The day is a public holiday.
President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will pay tributes to Bangbandhu at the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi Road-32 at 6:30 am.
Sheikh Hasina will also place wreaths at the graves of the members of Bangabandhu's family and other martyrs at Banani graveyard.
She will place wreaths at the Bangabandhu Mausoleum in Tungipara of Gopalganj at 10:00am and take part in a milad and doa mahfil there.
The national flag will be kept half-mast at government, autonomous, semi-autonomous, educational institutions, private buildings and Bangladesh missions in abroad.
A doa will be offered after Zohr prayers in all mosques across the country while special prayers will be arranged in temples, pagodas, churches and other worship places at convenient time across the country.
Bangladesh Betar, Bangladesh Television and private TV channels and radio stations will air special programmes highlighting the life, struggle and achievements of the great leader while newspapers will bring out supplements on the occasion.
Islamic Foundation of Bangladesh and Bangabandhu Gabeshana Parishad will also arrange programmes on the occasion.
Awami League will distribute special foods among the poor, destitute and orphanages.
The party will hold milad mahfil at Bangabandhu Bhaban after Asr prayers on August 15.
It will hold a discussion meeting at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) at 4 pm on August 16.
Meanwhile, President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued separate messages commemorating the National Mourning Day.
In his message, the President said this barbarous occurrence was rare not only in the history of Bangladesh but also in the history of the world.
“The country is now free of disgrace through the trial of the tragic killing of August 15. The verdict of fugitive killers will soon come into force - this is the expectation of the countrymen on the National Mourning Day,” he said urging all to follow the path shown by the Father of the Nation and devote themselves to turn the country into a ‘Golden Bangla’.
In her message, the Prime Minister said, “Under the dynamic, courageous and charismatic leadership of the Father of the Nation, the people of this territory brought the reddish sun of the independence breaking the shackles of subjugation of thousands of years. The Bangalees got their own nation-state, flag and national anthem.”
But Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was killed at a time when he had undertaken an arduous task of building a ‘Golden Bangladesh’ reconstructing the war-ravaged country and unifying the whole nation, she said.
The killers were able to assassinate Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman but they could not erase his dreams and ideals, the Prime Minister said urging all to turn the grief of the loss of Bangabandhu into strength, build a non-communal, hunger-illiteracy-free, and happy, prosperous Bangladesh and establish ‘Golden Bangladesh’ as dreamt by the Father of the Nation.
