The nation celebrates 52nd Victory Day on Friday commemorating the freedom fighters whose supreme sacrifice freed the country from Pakistani occupation force in 1971.
Thousands of people from all walks of life started gathering at the National Memorial in Savar to pay tribute to the 1971 martyrs from the morning after the president and prime minister paid their respect.
The freedom fighters and their family members, led by liberation war affairs minister AKM Mozammel Haque, paid their tributes after the president and the prime minister.
After that, foreign diplomats, leaders of different political and social organisations and institutions paid their tributes to the martyrs.
Ruling Awami League, main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Ganosamhati Andolan, Gono Forum, Biplobi Workers Party, Workers Party of Bangladesh and other major political party leaders placed floral wreaths at the National Memorial.
Children in colourful attire and excitement on their face, young people and senior citizens gathered at the National Memorial and placed wreaths.
Due to heavy traffic from Savar Cantonment area, thousands of people got off their transport and took a long walk to the memorial in a cheerful manner.
Vendors were selling national flags, badges and bracelets while artists with colour palettes were creating national flags on willing youngsters’ hands and faces at the entrance of the memorial.
Reazuddin usually sells seasonal fruits but for the Victory Day, he was selling badges and flags few hundred meters from the memorial entrance.
‘The Victory Day gave me good business and I hope more people will observe the day,’ he said.
Students from different schools and colleges from the capital and outskirts gathered in large groups to pay their respect in a cheerful mood.
Hridoy Mia, a Class VIII student of a school in Savar, got breakfast from the school after placing floral wreaths.
‘I am missing my sister as she could not come with me. So I ate half of my bread and the banana and taking the other half and the egg for her,’ he said in a happy tone.
Young people were taking selfies and making videos with their friends to be kept as memories.
Girls were seen marking the Victory Day in colourful sarees mostly red and green and adorning their heads with flower garlands.
Mehedi Hasan, a seventh grader of a school in Dhaka came to pay respect to the martyrs of 1971 with his family.
‘I came here before in last Victory Day and placed flowers but I am excited for my four-year old sister who is visiting the National Memorial for the first time here,’ he said.
After placing wreaths on behalf of the party, BNP standing committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said that the spirit and dream of 1971 had not been realised.
‘Our economy is in crisis due to severe irregularities, human rights are violated and people are struggling due to high commodity price. The dreams of 1971 remain an illusion even after 51 years,’ he said.
Echoing the same, freedom fighter Ranjit Kar, a resident of Manikganj said that the country created by supreme sacrifice of many people never reached its promised potentials.
‘We fought against Pakistan force because we wanted a corruption free country where every citizen would enjoy equal rights. But now it is hard even to survive in Bangladesh due to high commodity price and corruption in every sector,’ he said.
Special prayers were offered at mosques, temples, churches, and pagodas across the country, seeking eternal peace for the departed souls of the martyred and the peace and prosperity of the nation.
