Bangladesh is planning to rewrite another Guinness world record by attempting to organise the largest number of people to simultaneously sing the national anthem to mark Independence Day on March 26, sources at different wings of the government have said.
Bangladesh Army will be coordinating the world record attempt, with assistance from the government.
According to the organisers, an attempt will be made to gather at least three lakh people at the National Parade Ground in Agargaon on Independence Day.
Earlier on December 16, Bangladesh entered the record books by forming the largest human flag made by 27,000 participants.
The existing record for the largest ensemble to sing a national or regional anthem is 121,653 participants, a record set by the Sahara India Pariwar in India’s Lucknow on May 6, 2013.
Sahara India Pariwar is considered the second largest employer in India with over 1,100,000 employees.
The number was verified by professional audit firms, with two Guinness World Record adjudicators present.
Before that, the record was held by Pakistan who set it on October 2012 with only 44,200 participants.
The Guinness World Records media committee held a meeting in this regard yesterday, confirmed a senior official of the information ministry who was also present at the meeting.
Seeking anonymity, the official added that the plan was to make a new record that would bring pride to the country.
Inter Services Public Relations Directorate (ISPR) Director Shahinul Islam acknowledged the plans but declined to comment further on the issue.
Although telecom operator Robi had sponsored the human flag record attempt in December, sources said no sponsor has been fixed so far for the latest attempt.
Another source said: “It needs a huge investment and mobile operators are also interested in funding it.”
If achieved, it will be the seventh Guinness World Record from Bangladesh.
Zobera Rahman Linu, a table tennis player, became the first Bangladeshi to enter the Guinness Book of World Records in 2002.
Mak Yuree, a Bangladeshi martial artist, holds the world record for breaking three wooden baseball bats with a single shin-kick.
Wasik Farhan Roopkotha, a 7-year old Bangladeshi child, was recently named the world’s youngest IT expert.
Singer Momtaz Begum, also a lawmaker, holds the record for the largest number of published music albums, with over 700 albums released so far.
