Staff Reporter :
The High Court (HC) on Sunday issued a rule asking the government to explain in two weeks as to why it should not be directed to demarcate the exact place of Suhrawardy Uddyan where Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman delivered his historical speech on March 7 in 1971 inspiring the people of the then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) to fight for the independence of the country.
In the rule, the court also asked the respondents to show cause as to why they should not be ordered to preserve the place by establishing a statue that bears a resemblance to the original stage from where the speech was delivered to commemorate the significance of philosophy of the historical March 7 speech.
The Secretaries to the Ministries of Liberation War Affairs, Cultural Affairs and Information, Director General of Department of Archeology and the Mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation have been made respondents to the rule.
The High Court bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Zafar Ahmed passed the order and issued the rule after primary hearing on a writ petition filed by four architectures including Mohammad Abdullah Al-Masum seeking necessary directives to preserve the historical place at Suhrawardy Uddyan. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had delivered the historical speech on March 7, 1971 at Racecourse Maidan (present day Suhrawardy Uddyan) inspiring the people of Bangladesh to go for the independence of the country.
Advocated Mohsin Rashid appeared in the court for the petitioners and Deputy Attorney General Mukhlesur Rahman stood for the state.
Earlier on November 20 in 2017, another High Court bench issued a rule asking the government to explain in three weeks as to why they should not be directed to declare March 7 as the Historic National Day. In the rule, the court asked the government to show cause as to why they should not be ordered to reconstruct the stage and a sculpture of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman delivering speech with finger waving at the Suhrawardy Udyan where the historical speech was delivered.
On October 31 in 2017, UNESCO recognised the historic March 7 speech of Bangabandhu as a world documentary heritage. Director General of UNESCO Irina Bokova announced the decision at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.
