It has been over 50 years that Bangladesh has been a free nation, having finally overcome the oppressive Pakistani forces in December 1971 and no longer had to answer to any foreign regimes and their tyranny.
We must never forget, as we now enjoy enviable development as a free nation, what it took for us to achieve our liberation from Pakistan.
From the countless lives lost on the battlefield to the lives lost to the Pakistan military's violence and heinous lust, not to mention having to deal with those of our own soil who chose to betray their brethren and side with Pakistan, we have paid a dear price, not just over nine months of the Liberation War but throughout Pakistan's near 25 years of oppressive rule.
No price was arguably greater than on this day 51 years ago when the Pakistani oppressive forces and their conspirators who called themselves Bangladeshis, in a final, desperate act that til day remains one of absolute cowardice, attempted to cripple our yet-to-be liberated nation once and for all.
In the dead of night, with victory days away from Bangladesh and Pakistan all but defeated, they came for our intellectuals -- our physicians, engineers, lawyers, teachers, journalists, artists, and leaders in each and every conceivable field and sector -- who would have been pivotal in building this war-torn nation which had been oppressed and looted for so long.
Instead, we were deprived of their expertise, their skills, their guidance, and their leadership in shaping Bangladesh.
Over 50 years have passed and we may now be in an enviable position, overcoming setback after setback; from countless natural calamities, to a mass exodus of over a million refugees that are now being sheltered within our borders, to even a global pandemic which threatened to halt all progress, we have emerged, stronger every time.
And yet, there is no denying the fact that with our martyred intellectuals by our side, guiding Bangladesh from our very inception, we would have achieved far more as a nation.
Who knows where we would have been as a nation had they not been so cruelly taken away from us, murdered in cold blood as they were. No matter how far we reach as a country, our loss suffered that fateful night will forever be immeasurable.
Bangladesh is a model for other nations now, in particular other developing nations. Its Covid efforts have been lauded globally, as has been its efforts to fight climate change and be a voice of reason. Its humanitarian efforts have also rightfully been lauded, continuing to host the Rohingya refugees.
However, there remains much work to be done for Bangladesh to become a developed, prosperous, and most importantly, an equitable nation in the next two decades. It will take a concerted, whole of society approach, where the government works together with all relevant stakeholders, for us to reach there.
Until then, on this day and moving forward, may we never forget the day Pakistan's oppressive regime and forces, together with their conspirators, tried to ensure that Bangladesh would never rise as a sovereign, independent nation.
As we march forward as a nation, may we always embody the spirit and values of the brave men and women during our Liberation War in 1971. May we honour them by fulfilling the promise our martyred intellectuals never got the chance of fulfilling -- that of building a prosperous “Shonar Bangla.”