Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has called for upholding the independence achieved through highest sacrifices.
In a message on the occasion of the historic Mujibnagar Day on Friday (April 17), she said, "My call on the 50th anniversary of Mujibnagar Day is to uphold the freedom gained in exchange for the highest sacrifices, but also the respect of 30 lakh martyrs and two lakh tortured mothers and sisters."
The Prime Minister said that the father of the nation dreamt of building a non-communal, hunger-free and prosperous 'Golden Bangladesh'.
Referring to the historic 'Mujibnagar Day' as an unforgettable day in the life of the Bengali nation, the Prime Minister said the first provisional government of independent Bangladesh was sworn in on this day in 1971 at Amrakanan in the then Meherpur subdivision’s Vaidyanathtala.
She remembers with deep respect the architect of independent Bangladesh, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. She gratefully remembered the four national leaders - Shaheed Syed Nazrul Islam, Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed, Shaheed Mohammad Mansur Ali and Shaheed AHM Qamaruzzaman. She paid homage to the memory of 30 lakh martyrs and 2 lakh tortured mothers and sisters of the liberation war.
The Prime Minister said, "On August 15, 1975, three and a half years after independence, the anti-liberation forces killed the father of the nation and his family. On November 3, the National four leaders, who led the liberation war, was also brutally killed in jail. After that for 21 long years there was no democracy in Bangladesh. After the formation of the government in 1996, we have tried the murderer of the father of the nation and four other national leaders. '
Referring to the establishment of the International Crimes Tribunal after the re-formation of the government in 2009, Sheikh Hasina said, "We have stopped illegal seizure of power through the 15th amendment to the constitution." In the last 12 years since then, we have made unprecedented progress in all indicators of development. We have brought the poverty rate below 20.5 percent. We have adopted the 'Zero Tolerance Policy' to eradicate militancy and terrorism. We have already made Bangladesh a developing country. We have started adopting and implementing the second perspective plan to achieve the 'Sustainable Development Goals' by 2030 and to build a prosperous and prosperous Bangladesh free from hunger and poverty by 2041. We have formulated the Bangladesh Delta Plan-2100 and started its implementation. ”
The Prime Minister said, "In the final results of the 1970 elections, the Awami League won a single majority by winning 167 and 298 seats in the National and Provincial Assemblies, including the reserved seats for women." Elections were held in the second half of January '71 in some constituencies affected by the devastating cyclone in November. On January 3, all elected members of the Awami League, led by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, took the oath of office to formulate the constitution on the six-point basis at the racecourse ground.
Mentioning that the swearing-in ceremony was inaugurated with the song 'Amar Sonar Bangla I Love You', she said that Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib chanted the slogan 'My country is your country, Bangladesh, Bangladesh'. In his historic speech on March 7, he gave a clear outline of the goal of liberation from 23 long years of rule and exploitation.
The Prime Minister said Bangabandhu's instructions were followed literally all over East Bengal. Under his direction all the administrative, political and economic activities of Bangladesh started to be conducted. On the night of March 25, Pakistani troops started indiscriminate killing of sleeping unarmed Bengalis in the name of 'Operation Search Light'. In this situation, the Father of the Nation wrote the final declaration of independence - ‘This is perhaps my last message, Bangladesh is independent from today. - Continue fighting until a final victory is achieved. ”Immediately after that, in the early hours of March 26, the Pakistani military junta arrested Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Sheikh Hasina said the Mujibnagar government announced proclamation independence on April 10 by forming a Constituent Assembly comprising elected representatives with Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as President, Syed Nazrul Islam as Vice President and Tajuddin Ahmed as Prime Minister.
She said the first government of independent Bangladesh was sworn in on April 17 in a simple ceremony in the presence of more than a hundred local and foreign journalists at Amrakan in Baidyanathtala, Meherpur. Besides, the declaration of independence was approved on this day. Meherpur became the capital of the Provisional Government and from that day the place came to be known as 'Mujibnagar'.
The Prime Minister said the Pakistan Air Force bombed and attacked Meherpur within two hours of the Mujibnagar government's formalities. As a result, the Provisional Government was forced to take refuge in India and from there continued the activities of the exile government. Bangabandhu was imprisoned in West Pakistan and infernal violence and massacres were carried out in East Bengal. Independent sovereign Bangladesh was established on 16 December with a final victory.
She wished overall success to all the programs taken on the occasion of 'Mujibnagar Day'.