Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared the independence of Bangladesh in the early hours of March 26, 1971.
The message of freedom went like this: “This may be my last message. From today Bangladesh is independent. I call upon the people of Bangladesh, wherever they might be and with whatever you have, to resist the army of occupation to the last. Your fight must go on until the last soldier of the Pakistan occupation army is expelled from Bangladesh. Final victory is ours.”
Shortly after midnight on March 26, 1971, Bangabandhu Sheikh MujiburRahman declared the independence of Bangladesh before getting arrested and landing in a jail of the then West Pakistan.
Responding to Bangabandhu's call, the Bengali nation jumped into armed struggleand the nine month long war of Independence began. After 9 months of bloody war, on 16 December at SuhrawardyUdyan in Dhaka (the then Racecourse Maidan) the invading Pakistani forces formally surrendered to the joint forces and a new state called Bangladesh took birth.
The armed resistance of the people of East Bengal and the war they waged throughout nine months is known to us all. The whole nation got united to make the land of Bengal dangerous and hostile for the occupying Pakistani forces. It is national unity that shaped thedream of establishing an independent-sovereign Bangladesh state free from the shackles of subjugation.The main spirit of the war of liberation was democracy and the urge to get justice. The vision was to liberate people from all kinds of injustices and inequalities in the economic, political, social and cultural spheres of independent Bangladesh.
In this green land of 55,000 square miles, the red sun of victory rose on December 16, 1971.After nine months of sacrifice, a new country, independent-sovereign Bangladesh, was born on December 16.
Freedom fighters broke the chain of Bengali subjugation and snatched the sun of freedom. The rays of the sun signifies the color of victory achieved with blood. The color of that blood mixed with green Bengal made a red and green flag.
By installing the last span of Padma bridge, Bangladesh has achieved another milestone this year in the month of victory. Back in 2014, the work of the much-anticipated Padma bridge started and in 2016 the first span was installed. On December 11, 2020, the whole Bengali nation got to see the visible form of dream ‘Padma Bridge'. We are shaping our dream Padma-bridge with our own fund. This victory is another achievement in the month of victory.
May such dream continues in the heart of Bengal, may the red-green Bangladesh live forever.
The writer is a Student at the Department of English, University of Dhaka.
