President Md Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday paid glowing tributes to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, marking the late leader's 103rd birth anniversary.
They issued separate messages recalling the memories of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The head of the state, M Abdul Hamid said: "On the occasion of the 103rd birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation, I pay my deep homage to this great leader.”
"March 17 is a memorable day in the history of the Bangali nation. On this day in 1920, the greatest Bangali of all time, the architect of sovereign and independent Bangladesh, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was born in Tungipara, a secluded village in Gopalganj," he added, in a message on the eve of the day.
Bangabandhu spent his childhood in a free environment and muddy paths through open fields of his village, he said.
"From his boyhood, he was very kind and generous to humanity but uncompromising in attaining the rights. He always used to engage himself with philanthropic works as well as with the alleviation of the sufferings of others," he added.
Every moment of his life, wherever he found injustice, exploitation, and torture, he went into action for protest, he said.
"He took part in anti-British rallies at the age of 14. He ran the Muslim Seba Samity to meet the educational expenses of poor students. In the early forties of the last century, after coming into contact with Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, Sher-e-Bangla AK Fazlul Haque and Moulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani, Bangabandhu, as a young student leader, got involved in active politics," Hamid mentioned.
Shortly after the partition of 1947, the young leader Sheikh Mujib realized that despite being liberated from British rule, the Bangalis were again being exploited by that of the West Pakistan, he said.
The rulers first attacked Bangla, the mother tongue of Bangalees, he said, adding that Bangabandhu was arrested from the Secretariat Gate on 11 March 1948 while observing strike demanding Bangla language.
"Thus he moved forward on the path of realizing the rights of Bangalees, through movement, struggle, and imprisonment," he continued.
"He led the nation in every democratic and freedom movement including All-party State Language Action Committee formed in 1948, the Language Movement in 1952, Jukta-Front Election in 1954, movement against Martial Law in 1958, Six-Point Movement in 1966, Mass Upsurge in 1969 and the General Elections in 1970 for attaining the freedom and rights of our people," he said.
"He was sent to jail several times and had to bear inhuman sufferings for his active participation in those movements," Hamid added.
But he never compromised with the Pakistani rulers on the question of establishing the rights of Bangalees, he said.
"On 7th March in 1971 at the Race Course Maidan, keeping with the emotions and aspirations of the Bangalees, Bangabandhu uttered in his thunderous voice: 'The struggle this time is the struggle for emancipation, the struggle this time is the struggle for independence'," he mentioned.
"This historic address was, in fact, a clarion call of our Independence. How an address can wake up the whole nation, inspire them to leap into the War of Liberation for Independence, the historic 7th March Speech by Bangabandhu is its unique example! In this speech Bangabandhu not only called for independence but also outlined the War of Liberation and gave directions on the future course of action," he continued.
On the night of March 25, when Pakistani invaders attacked the unarmed Bangalees in a blaze, the Father of the Nation declared the long-cherished Independence on 26th March in 1971, he said.
"We achieved ultimate victory through a nine-month-long armed struggle under the leadership of Bangabandhu. During our War of Liberation, Bangabandhu was confined in Pakistan jail and the then Pakistani ruler farcically awarded him a death sentence," said Hamid.
"But Bangabandhu said, 'When I go to the gallows, I will say I am a Bangali, Bangla is my country. Bangla is my language'. For his extraordinary contributions to the country and people, Bangla, Bangladesh and Bangabandhu have emerged as a single and identical entity to the people of Bangladesh," he added.
"Just after the Independence, Bangabandhu returned home on 10th January in 1972 being free from Pakistan Jail. He put all-out efforts to rebuild the war-torn economy. He took all preparations to build the country as 'Sonar Bangla'," he continued.
But the anti-liberation forces did not let Bangabandhu materialize that dream as the murderer group assassinated him and almost all of his family members on 15th August in 1975, the president said.
"Bangabandhu taught us how to reach the goal overcoming various obstacles. In the historic speech of March 7, he said, 'You can't keep seven crores of people subjugated.' Bangladesh, which became independent under the leadership of Bangabandhu, is now a developing country after going through many ups and downs," he said.
"Today, his worthy successor, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, continues to realize the unfulfilled dreams of the Father of the Nation by proving all fears and negative predictions wrong," he added.
"Today, under her strong and visionary leadership, we are moving fast towards building a developed and prosperous Bangladesh," he said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said: "On the occasion of the 103rd birth anniversary of the greatest Bangaliof all time, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, I pay my deepest respect to his (Bangabandhu's) memory.”
Besides, on the occasion of National Children's Day 2023, she extended her best wishes to all the children of the country and the countrymen.
"I think this year's National Children's Day theme - 'Bangabandhu's birthday in the dream of a smart Bangladesh, children's eyes colored in the dream of prosperity (Smart Bangladesh er Shopney Bangabandhur Jonmodin, Shishuder Chokh Sommriddhir Shopney Rongin) ' is timely," she added.
Recalling the memories of Bangabandhu, the premier said that the main goal of the long political life of this world-renowned leader with a keen memory and far-sightedness was to liberate the Bengali nation from the chains of subjugation.
Gradually, he became the last refuge of the oppressed people of Bengal, she said, adding that this Bengali, the best of a thousand years, led the fight to establish the status of the Bengali language.
On March 11 in 1948, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib was arrested during holding a “Sadharan Dharmakhat” demanding the recognition of Bangali as the state language, she said, adding that he was repeatedly imprisoned from 1948 to 1952.
Sometimes from jail and sometimes from outside the jail, he led the language movement, Sheikh Hasina said.
In the final movement of people-students on February 21, 1952, he gave guidance from prison, she mentioned.
In continuation of this, the Jukto Front elections of 1954, Ayub Khan's anti-military rule movement of 1958, the anti-Education Commission movement of 1962, the six-point of 1966, the Agartala conspiracy case of 1968, the '69's Mass uprising', the elections of '70 and the War of Liberation of '71 were conducted under the undisputed leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib, the premier continued.
Noting that Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib's compassion for children was immense, she said he believed that the children of today are the future of tomorrow.
She went on to say that the children will build the golden Bangladesh of his dream.
From the idea "Children's future must be ensured first", he formulated the Children Act,1974, 15 years before the United Nations Children's Charter (The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child), she said.
The premier further said that Bangabandhu nationalized primary education to ensure the development of child education.
"Bangabandhu always wanted children to grow up as creative and free-spirited ones. That is why Awami League (AL) formed the government in 1996 and declared March 17 as 'National Children's Day' by dedicating his birthday to children," she added.
The Awami League-led government is committed to making the country a safe abode for children, she said.
She further said that students are being provided free textbooks at the beginning of the year and almost 100% of children are going to school.
"We have published books on the life and works of the Father of the Nation for children and presented the real history of the Liberation War in textbooks," she said.
The premier wished all the programs taken on the occasion of the 103rd birth anniversary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and 'National Children's Day-2023' a success.
