AMN
Bangladesh is celebrating ‘Bijoy Dibosh’, Victory Day to mark the day it attained liberation from Pakistan and became an independent nation in 1971 under the leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
As a mark of respect to the martyrs of the Liberation War of Bangladesh, wreaths were placed at the National Memorial in Savar on the outskirts of Dhaka on behalf of the President M. Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the morning on Wednesday.
The Victory Day is being observed on a limited scale due to the prevailing Corona pandemic in the country.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) of Bangladesh in a Facebook post paid tributes to the Indian soldiers who fought alongside Muktibahini and the joint forces of Bangladesh and India.
In her message on the occasion, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina warned that the government will not allow anyone to create anarchy in the country in the name of religion. She said that her government is determined to prevent any attempt to use religion as a political weapon to create social unrest.
Calling Bangladesh the land of Lalon Shah, Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam and Jibonanda, Prime Minister Hasina reminded that Bangladesh gained its independence based on the sacrifice of people of all faiths and religions including Muslims, Hindus, Budhhists and Christians. She added that Bangladesh has the heritage of liberal spirituality and pluralism.
Sheikh Hasina cautioned people that some forces in the country are trying to mislead ordinary muslims to create unrest and pull back the country to the situation that prevailed 50 years back.
She called upon the youth to uphold the spirit of the liberation war of Bangladesh and not forget the sacrifice of the forefathers.
On this day in 1971, the commander of the Pakistani forces in Bangladesh Gen AAK Niazi along with more than 90,000 soldiers surrendered before the Indian Army and Muktibahini in Dhaka heralding the birth of a new nation-Bangladesh.
The victory over Pakistan army was achieved after a nine month long liberation war carried by the people of Bangladesh and supported by Indian armed forces. Close to 3 million people of Bangladesh and several thousands of Indian soldiers lost their lives during the liberation war.