People across the country will observe the National Mourning Day, the darkest chapter in the history of independent Bangladesh on Tuesday.
On this day in 1975, the nation’s founding father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family members were assassinated by a cabal of military men.
Eighteen members of Bangabandhu’s family, including Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib, three sons – Captain Sheikh Kamal, Lieutenant Sheikh Jamal and 10-year-old Sheikh Russel, two daughters-in-law Sultana Kamal and Rosy Jamal, brother Sheikh Naser, peasant leader Abdur Rab Serniabat, youth leader Sheikh Fazlul Haq Moni and his wife Arzu Moni, Baby Serniabat, Sukanta Babu, Arif and Abdul Nayeem Khan Rintu were, among others, killed on that fateful night.
Bangabandhu`s Military Secretary Brigadier General Jamil was also killed. Several members of a family in the capital`s Mohammadpur area were killed by artillery shells fired by the killers on the same day.
His two daughters – Sheikh Hasina, now the Prime Minister, and Sheikh Rehana – luckily survived the massacre as they were abroad at that time.
The government, various socio-cultural, political and professional organisations, including ruling Awami League and its associate bodies, chalked out programmes to observe the day.
The national flag will be hoisted half-mast in all government, semi-government, autonomous institutions, educational institutions and private buildings including Bangladesh missions abroad.
Special doa and munajat will be held in mosques across the country after Zohr prayers marking the occasion. Special prayers will also be organized in temples, churches, pagodas and other religious institutions.
Special supplements will be published in national dailies on the occasion.
Marking this day, President Mohammed Shahabuddin and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued separate messages.
In his message, President Shahabuddin , said, “Bangabandhu has struggled throughout his life with the aim of achieving political freedom as well as economic emancipation of the people. His dream was to establish a ‘Golden Bangla’ free from hunger and poverty. With this aim, a people-oriented constitution was formulated within one year of Independence. Bangabandhu did not just give us a country, he also formulated a contemporary outline of what the economic, social, political and cultural structure of a newly independent state would look like.”
“Now our responsibility is to enrich us with proper education and knowledge to make Bangladesh a happy and prosperous country by completing Bangabandhu`s incomplete task sincerely. Only then proper respect will be shown to this great leader,” said the President.
On the National Mourning Day, let us transform grieve into strength and devote ourselves in building the ‘Sonar Bangla’ as dreamt by the Father of the Nation,” he said.
In a message Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said, “Under the visionary and strong leadership and 23 years of political struggles of the Father of the Nation, the Bangalee Nation broke the shackles of subjugation and snatched away our great Independence. The anti-liberation clique killed Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib and most of his family members at a time when he was engaged in the struggle of building a Golden Bangladesh by reconstructing the war-ravaged country. Through the killing of the Father of the Nation, the defeated forces of the Liberation War made abortive attempts to ruin the tradition, culture and advancement of the Bangalee Nation.”
“The aim of the killers was to break the state structure of secular democratic Bangladesh and foil our hard-earned Independence. The anti-liberation forces involved in the carnage initiated the politics of killing, coup and conspiracy in the country right after the 15 August of 1975. They also impeded the trial of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib murder by promulgating Indemnity Ordinance,” she said.
“The nation got rid of the stigma through the execution of the verdict of the Bangabandhu murder case. Hopefully, names of those who were behind the conspiracy to assassinate the Father of the Nation will also come out one day,” she added.
“The killers were able to murder Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib but they could not kill his dreams and ideals. But the anti-liberation radical groups and the anti-democracy and development cliques have still been hatching various conspiracies at home and abroad. I urge the countrymen to be always ready to protect the continuity of development and democracy of the country by unitedly resisting any evil attempt and conspiracy,” she said.
“Let’s turn the grief of losing the Father of the Nation into our strength and unitedly resist all kinds of plots and conspiracies, and build a non-communal, hunger-poverty free developed-prosperous Golden Bangladesh as dreamt by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman - let this be our solemn pledge on this National Mourning Day,” said the Prime Minister.
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