Independence Day: A long cherished day of ours
List of all paragraphs
The Independence Day
is a very climacteric event in our national life. On this day the independence of
Bangladesh was declared and the people of this country began to march on
forward with the aim of achieving independence. The then Pakistani Government
ruled over this so-called East Pakistan with an iron hand and they oppressed
the people of this country very fiercely. So, discrimination began to develop
between the two countries on economical, political, social and religious sides.
The people of East Pakistan came to comprehend this discrimination. They
protested it at different times. But the government of West Pakistan ignored
them and continued their misrule over this country. The main cause for which
our nation began war was the refusal of the Pakistani rulers to acknowledge the
electoral triumph of the Awami League in December 1970. However, very soon it
became obvious to us all that there was an intrigue between the generals who
then ruled Pakistan and politicians who were unwilling to see power pass into
the hands of the Bengali leadership. For the denial of the results of election,
we wanted our liberation. On March 25, 1971 the Pakistani military started
genocide which led us to declare our liberation war on 26 March 1971.
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared the independence of Bangladesh on
this date, just before his arrest by the Pakistani army. On March 27, 1971
Major Ziaur Rahman announced the independence of Bangladesh on behalf of Sheikh
Mujib from Kalurghat Radio Station in Chittagong. Afterwards wartime temporary
government led the war perfectly. So, the Independence Day is a red-letter day
in our history and we celebrate this day with adequate grandeur and spirit of
our Bengali identity.
The role of language
in human life is very important. Everybody in the world speaks and loves his
own mother tongue. As we are Bangladeshis, our mother tongue is Bangla. We
express our views and ideas to each other through this language. But we have
not got this language easily. In 1947, the Vice Chancellor of Alighar
University Dr. Ziauddin Ahmed said, "Urdu may be the state language of
Pakistan as Hindi is going to be the state language of India". Instantly
Dr. Mohammad Shahidullah protested it. On 21 March, 1948 Mohammad Ali Jinnah
declared, "Urdu and Urdu shall be the state language of Pakistan".
People of East Pakistan protested it vigorously. Again, on 20 February in 1952,
Nazim Uddin proclaimed that Urdu would be the state language. Consequently the
alert and intelligent mass of East Pakistan, students, teachers and all
organised people reacted and united unde`r an umbrella for establishing Bangla
as the state language. On the next day the language movement took the final
shape. Violating section 144, they brought out a procession on 21 February
1952. In this movement many Bangalees including some students like Asad, Salam,
Barkat, Rafiq, Jabbar, Shafiq and many others sacrificed their lives for mother
tongue, Bangla. And that is why the 21st February is regarded as a red-letter
day in our national life. Every year we remember this day with due respect. The
day is declared as the Govt. holiday and on this day the National Flag remains
half-mast and people go to Shaheed Minar barefooted for showing honour and
sympathy to the martyrs. Now this day has been very significant because this
day has been recognised by the UNESCO as the International Mother Language Day
in its 30th General Assembly Meeting held on 17 November 1999. We can remember
Abdul Gaffer's immortal sayings, "Blood stained of my brother of 21
February, can I forget it".
0 Comments