Bangladesh has celebrated the 50th Victory Day recalling moments that had marked the emergence of Dhaka as the free capital of independent Bangladesh with the unconditional surrender of Pakistani occupation forces.
People, who thronged the National Memorial at Savar on the Victory Day on Wednesday despite the coronavirus outbreak, expressed their unwavering resolve to put an end to radicalism while paying respect to the martyrs of the Liberation War, report bdnews24.com and BSS.
The ceremonial 31 gun salutes heralded the day as troops fired artillery shots from the National Parade Square while President M Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid rich tributes to Liberation War Martyrs.
Military secretaries to the President and the Premier placed wreaths on their behalf at the National Memorial at suburban Savar in the early morning ceremony while the COVID 19 prevented their physical presence at the scene.
Armed forces bugles played the last post as the military aides placed the wreaths when as part of military rituals the National Flag was gradually revealed, then lowered to half-mast position and then revealed again.
An integrated military, navy and air force contingent offered the honour guard to mark the ceremony.
Thousands of people representing different political and other organisations then thronged the Memorial’s main altar to offer their floral tributes.
They vowed to eliminate the followers of the defeated force of 1971 who are still spreading the venom of extremism 49 years after the victory in the Liberation War against Pakistan.
If the killers of 1971 and their current collaborators are not wiped out now, they will endanger the spirit of Liberation War in future, said the young Bangladeshis while paying respect to the martyrs.
Al Riyad, a Dhaka University student who was born decades after the war, said he hears the anti-liberation force “hiss” their displeasure through different types of activities, such as the recent opposition by the hardline Islamist groups to sculpture, including the statues of Bangabandhu.
“The defeated force of ’71 can never accept a secular Bangladesh. They reject the Bengali culture of a millennium. They still pose the question as to whether Bangladesh will be run on the basis of religion,” he said.
“We, the youth, will continue fighting them. We will give our best to build a Bangladesh with the Liberation War spirit,” he added.
“The objectives of the Liberation War have not been achieved. We haven’t got a secular country; rather the fundamentalists are vaunting after being harboured by the governments in the 49 years of independence,” lamented Abdullah Al Kafee Ratan, a presidium member of the Communist Party of Bangladesh.
Aklima Akter Esha, a Jahangirnagar University student, thinks the youth should strengthen their fight against the extremist groups.
“They will pose a threat to us in future if we can’t wage that fight,” she said.
“The evil force of 1971 is spreading communalism and hatred. It’s time for us to wage another war. We must renew our pledge to establish a secular Bangladesh,” said Rawnok Bishaka Shamoli, a young actress.
Prince Ghosh, a young photographer from Savar, said he believes only united efforts will lead to the elimination of extremism from Bangladesh. “We will surely establish the Bangladesh dreamt by Bangabandhu.”
“We know the defeated force of 1971. They are rearing their ugly head at every corner now. We must be alert and pull them up by their roots,” said Professor Muhammed Alamgir, a member of the University Grants Commission.
The bloody war that began on March 26, 1971, following Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s call for independence from Pakistan and its oppression ended through the surrender of the Pakistani forces on December 16 of that year.
The President and Prime Minister earlier issued statements greeting the countrymen on the occasion of the Victory Day.
“On this day in 1971, we achieved our long-cherished victory after a long struggle and bloodshed war,” President M Abdul Hamid said in his message, recalling particularly Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as the architect of the independence alongside the freedom fighters.
The premier in her message recalled the 24 years of struggle in years ahead of 1971 under the leadership of “our great leader, the greatest Bangali of all time, the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman”.
“We admire the sacrifice of millions of martyrs through turning Bangladesh into a developed, prosperous, hunger and poverty-free and non-communal Bangladesh,” she added.
The pandemic forced Bangladesh this year to scrap the traditional parade at the National Parade Ground due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
But the Victory Day this year came with an extra significance as it coincided with Father of the Nation’s birth centenary celebrations, just a year ahead of the golden jubilee of independence.
The government earlier urged the people to celebrate the day maintaining health guidelines against coronavirus while as part of the countrywide celebrations wreaths were placed as well at martyrs’ monuments.
National flags dominated the skyline across Bangladesh while government, semi-government and other major structures were illuminated with colourful lights.
Main streets were decorated with festoons while the pandemic prompted different government organisations, political parties and cultural groups to stage discussions and other programmes on virtual platforms.
