Vowing afresh to establish a non-communal and prosperous Bangladesh, the nation on Wednesday celebrated the 45th Victory Day paying rich homage to the three million martyrs for their supreme sacrifice for the country’s independence. The National Memorial at Savar was bedecked with wreaths placed by thousands of people of all walks of life, as they with a deep sense of respect remembered the best sons and daughters of the soil on the glorious and joyous day. Streets were flooded with enthusiastic people carrying the banners of different political, social, cultural and professional organisations, and singing patriotic songs. The day was heralded with a 31-gun salute. President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina led the nation in paying homage to the martyrs who laid down their lives to attain the independence of their beloved motherland, by placing wraths on the altar of the National Mausoleum as army bugles played the last post. The President placed a wreath at 6:34 am and stood there in solemn silence for some time as a mark of respect to the memories of the martyrs of the Great War of Liberation in 1971. He also signed the visitors’ book kept on the premises of the National Mausoleum. Just after the President, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid rich tributes to the martyrs of the Liberation War by placing another wreath at the National Mausoleum. The Prime Minister then stood there in solemn silence for some time as a mark of profound respect to the memories of the martyrs. A smartly turned out contingent drawn from Bangladesh Army, Bangladesh Navy and Bangladesh Air Force presented a state salute on the occasion when bugles played the last post. Flanked by senior leaders of the party, Sheikh Hasina, also the President of the ruling Awami League, laid another wreath at the National Mausoleum as the party chief. The Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad, the Chief Justice, ministers, the leader of the opposition, the chiefs of the three services, members of parliament, freedom fighters, diplomats and high civil and military officials were present. A colourful parade was held at the National Parade Square at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the morning. President Abdul Hamid inspected the parade and took salute on the occasion. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also attended the parade organised and conducted by Nine Infantry Division of the Bangladesh Army. On this day in 1971, the chief of the Pakistani occupation forces, Gen AAK Niazi, along with his 93,000 Pakistani troops, surrendered at Ramna Racecourse Maidan, now Suhrawardy Udyan, in Dhaka following a miserable defeat to the joint forces of Mukti Bahini and Mitra Bahini. In one of the heinous acts of genocide in human history, the Pakistan army and their local collaborators had launched a barbarous crackdown on March 25, 1971 in the erstwhile East Pakistan at midnight past, killing innocent and unarmed people. The nation, under the leadership of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, finally clinched independence on December 16 after a nine-month Liberation War. –UNB, Dhaka
