Bangladesh begins year of celebration for founder’s birth centenary

Celebration
Dhaka, March 17, 2020 (dpa/NAN) Bangladesh on Tuesday commenced the celebration of the birthday centenary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the slain leader who founded the country nearly five decades ago.
President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina kick-started the celebration by placing flowers at the portrait of the late leader in Dhaka, to be followed by events throughout the year.
Several events scheduled for the day including a big rally in Dhaka, was however, cut down because of the global coronavirus pandemic.
Dhaka received a facelift for the centenary, with buildings illuminated in colourful lights and streets decorated with pictures of Rahman, who was born on March 17, 1920 and declared Bangladesh’s independence on March 26, 1971.
The declaration of Bangladesh’s independence came hours before Rahman was arrested by the Pakistani military in Dhaka, the then-provincial capital of East Pakistan.
Rahman, known as Bangabandhu, which means “friend of Bengal”, led a war against Pakistan to liberate the country in 1971.
He was assassinated alongside most of his family by a group of disgruntled army officers on August 15, 1975.
Prime Minister Hasina, his eldest daughter who survived the massacre along with her sister Sheikh Rehana as they lived abroad at that time, declared the year 2020 as “Mujib Barsho” (Mujib Year) to celebrate the centenary.
In a letter sent to more than 20 million school children Hasina wrote that the killers’ tried to erase Mujibur from the history.
“But they failed. The killers could not realize that Bangabandhu’s blood flowed down the stairs of Dhanmondi-32 house (his home) and spread all over Bangladesh to give birth to millions of Mujibs,” Hasina said.(dpa/NAN)
YI/YEE
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Edited by Yahaya Isah/Emmanuel Yashim