The nation is set to observe the Jail Killing Day on Sunday with due solemnity.
On November 3, 1975, four national leaders, and heroes of the country’s Liberation War -- Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmad, Captain Mansur Ali, and AHM Quamruzzaman -- were assassinated inside the Dhaka Central Jail, reports UNB.
The four leaders played a key role in forming the Mujibnagar government in exile, that led the Liberation War in 1971, with Syed Nazrul Islam as the acting president, Tajuddin Ahmad as the prime minister, Mansur Ali as the finance minister, and AHM Qamruzzaman as the home, relief and rehabilitation minister.
Ruling Awami League, its associate bodies, and other political parties have chalked out elaborate programmes to mark the day.
The programmes include hoisting of national flag at half-mast, hoisting party flags, wearing black badges, offering fateha at the graves of the four leaders at Banani Graveyard.
A discussion meeting will be held at Krishibid Institution auditorium in Dhaka at 3pm.
Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will chair the meeting as the chief guest.
Meanwhile, President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina have issued separate messages on the occasion.
The president, in his message, said: “The aim of the killers was to erase the ideals of the Liberation War from the spirit of the young generation apart from giving rise to an undemocratic autocratic rule which failed.”
He urged all to work from their respective positions to complete the unfinished work of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to build a happy, prosperous Sonar Bangla. “This should be our promise on the Jail Killing Day.”
In her message, the prime minister said: “The killing of the four national leaders was the continuation of the assassination of the Father of the Nation along with his family. Through it, the defeated forces and anti-state quarters, made an evil attempt to destroy the Liberation War spirit, and render the Bangali nation leaderless by erasing the name of Awami League.”
She urged the people of the country to build a poverty-free and happy, peaceful golden Bangladesh as dreamt by Bangabandhu.