President Md Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina have issued separate messages greeting the countrymen on the occasion of Pohela Boishakh, the first day of the Bangla New Year 1430, to be celebrated Friday.
President Hamid, in his message, wished all Bangladeshis living in the country and abroad a happy Bangla New Year.
The advent of Boishakh comes to people's lives with ever new messages, the head of the state said, adding that forgetting sorrow, decay and failure, everyone wakes up with great joy.
He said Pohela Boishakh is the main part of the eternal tradition of Bangalis.
The counting of the year, which started during the Mughal period as the crop year (Fasali shan), has become a commemorative festival imbued with noncommunal spirit among all Bangalis over time.
At that time, Pohela Boishakh was the main force in the development, self-control and liberation of the Bangali culture, he continued.
With the emergence of Bangladesh, this power of culture strengthened and accelerated the political spirit, Abdul Hamid said.
He said the traditional Mongol Shobhajatra, a procession held on the first day of Bangla New Year, gained Unesco recognition in 2016 as a world heritage.
This international recognition of national culture is an absolute pride and dignity for Bangalis as a nation, he said, adding that one of the foundations of the philosophy and ideology of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was the development of native culture and the development of national spirit.
This consciousness was active in the Bangla New Year that Bangabandhu celebrated with his fellow prisoners while he was confined to prison, he said.
He urged all to build a happy and prosperous Smart Bangladesh free from hunger and poverty by embracing this liberal spirit, Bangabandhu's philosophy, the ideal behind establishing Bangladesh and the flame of state-language spirit.
In her message, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said Pohela Boishakh is a day of harmony and the great reunion of Bangalis.
The premier called upon all, irrespective of religion and caste, to wake up with new joy forgetting the sorrows and failures of the past year.
The search for the identity and roots of Bangalis can be found through its celebration, Sheikh Hasina said, adding that Pahela Baishakh is a reflection of the Bangalees.
During the Pakistan period, the colonial power wanted to destroy the Bangali tradition, the premier said, adding that Bangalis resisted it with the strength of self-identity and their own culture.
Bangalis joined the struggle for liberation by holding that power, she continued.
She said the combined flow of culture and politics has been turned into a struggle for independence and freedom.
"This is how independent sovereign Bangladesh emerged in the world," she added.
Following this, the traditional Mongol Shobhajatra was recognized as a world heritage by Unesco, she said.
"The international recognition of it is undoubtedly a great achievement. Following this path, the Bangali nation will become the best nation in the world community," Hasina said.
Bangalis cannot be suppressed as the achievements and progress of Bangali heroes will be remembered for ages, she said.
Ethnic heritage and pride are also the keys to the lifelong struggle of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in establishing the ideologies such as secularism, liberalism, nationalism and democracy, the premier added.
She hoped this year's Baishakh would be a great inspiration for the nation to fight against militancy, fundamentalism, extremism and anti-liberation forces and to build a society free from hunger and poverty and a golden Bangladesh-cum-smart Bangladesh as dreamt by Bangabandhu.
