The 16th December is a red- letter day for the entire Bengali nation. Fighting a sanguinary battle in the War of Liberation in 1971, our freedom fighters ( National Heroes) defeated the Pakistani occupation army and had compelled them to make an ignoble surrender to them and with that surrender the Bengalis had achieved a glorious victory on this day and a sovereign and independent Bangladesh emerged on the map of the world.
Since then, the sixteenth of December is celebrated with due patriotic fervour as the Victory Day every year. This auspicious day will continue to be celebrated as the National Victory Day as long as Bangladesh exists.
The vast majority of people, who had sacrificed their lives and property for the liberation of Bangladesh, feel proud of the victory, but there are people, who had been against the cause and concept of the independent Bangladesh, had never accepted the 16th December as a Victory day. Still they have a prejudice against the independent Bangladesh and are active with foreign assistance to demean the Nation’s Victory.
The victory day is celebrated in a befitting manner every year, but this year the defeated forces are seen active at home and abroad. Though repeatedly rejected by the people, the inimical forces have posed a potential threat to life of the peace and freedom -loving people of Bangladesh.
The anti-liberation forces, which helped the Pakistani military in unleashing genocide and looting chastity of our helpless mothers and sisters and had shown the worst example of violation of human rights, are in the name of human rights seriously involved in destabilizing the country’s peace and ongoing fast pace of development.
Through enormous ups and downs the nation has been in unprecedented challenges under which the country was put into the risk of its existence particularly after the brutal killing of father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
After a long struggle against the military rule imposed after the assassination of country’s founding father, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of the father of the nation, brings the nation to a global level of prosperity.
Despite so many odds and obstacles, the whole nation was celebrating the golden jubilee of the Independence of Bangladesh last year. It is the day of pride, honor and dignity for the nation.
The Victory Day brings new and eternal hope for the nation as the country has been moving forward under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been working relentlessly to fulfil the dream of the Father of the Nation.
The government of Sheikh Hasina firmly believes in the spirit of Liberation War, peace and progress. Bangladesh has achieved many milestones including the Padma Bridge, electricity for all, elevated expressway, metro rail, flyovers and so on.
In retrospection, on the 16th December, 1971 when the Pakistan Army was forced to lay down arms at the historic Racecourse ground from where Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Father of the Nation, made a clarion call to the nation to fight until victory is achieved. The people of Bangladesh, who had been suppressed and oppressed by the Pakistani military rulers, took that call as an obligatory directive and fought a fierce war to make independent Bangladesh a reality. In fact, this victory did not come just in a day. It took years of shedding blood and tears. There had been a long history of struggle waged by the mass of people led by their leader Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Bangabandhu could feel the pulse of the oppressed people and could understand the real nature of the demand. After decades of struggle for the cause of the common man, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the champion of Bengali nationalism, got the nation ready step by step to deal a final blow on the Pakistani military rulers.
According to the plan, Sheikh Mujib started scaling up the struggle phase by phase and at an opportune moment he put forward the historic charter of demand known as the Six-Point on behalf of the nation. With that demand, the country was united under the leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and finding no other alternative Ayub Khan was compelled to step down. General Yahya Khan took over power of Pakistan and a general election was held in 1970.
In the election, the Awami League led by Sheikh Mujib got the absolute majority to form the government in Pakistan. But the military rulers in connivance with Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, leader of the Pakistan People’s Party, hatched a deep-rooted conspiracy against the people of Bangladesh (then East Pakistan). They cracked down on the unarmed and innocent and sleeping people of Bangladesh in a military offensive codenamed Operation Search Light.
The Pakistani military indiscriminately killed millions of people during the nine months and it came to be termed the worst genocide ever committed against humanity in the world. Responding to that brutal mass killing, our valiant freedom fighters took up arms and after nine-month-long guerrilla warfare finally fought a decisive war. After the 13-day final phase of war, the Pakistan army was defeated and we got our long-cherished victory.
As the valiant commander of the 24-year-long struggle the greatest Bengali of thousand years, the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, will always shine like a bright star in the annals of world history.
Bangabandhu means Bangladesh. Bangabandhu means freedom. Bangabandhu means our new entity. His existence belongs to every inch of the 55 thousand square miles of the land.
Pakistan army killed millions of people of this land including the old, women and children with the object of making us bow down and making us subjects to their wanton rule. But their evil dream never came true. They were defeated and we achieved victory. We are proud of our victory. But this victory was won with heavy price.
More than three million innocent people had to sacrifice their lives for this victory. Unprecedented grief and pain marked the victory in the Liberation War of Bangladesh. It was a war which established the sovereign nation called Bangladesh. The war was the fiercest one in the 20th century; it witnessed large-scale atrocities, the exodus of 10 million people to the neighbouring country and the killing of three million people.
On the 16th December, 1971, the Pakistan occupation army headed by Lieutenant General Niazi was compelled to surrender to Lieutenant General Sri Jagjit Singh Aurora, Joint Commander of Indian and Bangladesh Forces, and sign the instrument of surrender before thousands of cheering crowds at the Racecourse.
