Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina says those who attempted to remove Bangabandhu’s name from history after the tragedy of 1975 have failed to do so.
It is now enshrined in history, she said at a rally at Dhaka’s Suhrawardy Udyan on Saturday to celebrate the recognition of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s historic 7th March speech.
UNESCO recently added the speech, alongside 77 other historic documents, to its Memory of the World International Register.
The Citizens’ Committee, under the supervision of Prof Anisuzzaman, organised the rally.
Hasina, the daughter of Bangabandhu, was the chief guest at the event.
Activists from the Awami League and its allies marched to Suhrawardy Udyan from different areas in Dhaka and beyond on Saturday to take part in the rally. Students and people from many occupations and backgrounds are taking part in the event.
Police blocked the Rupashi Bangla Hotel intersection, the Kakrail intersection, the GP intersection, Golap Shah Mazar, the Dhaka Medical College intersection and the Nilkhet intersection to allow the marches. Those wishing to attend the rally had to walk from those locations to the Udyan.
The speech delivered by Bangabandhu at the then Race Course Maidan, now the Suhrawardy Udyan, encouraged the Bangalees to start a struggle for independence from Pakistan.
Saturday’s rally began with the national anthem, recitation from religious scriptures and a poem by Nirmalendu Goon on the speech.
Journalist Golam Sarwar, martyred intellectual's widow Shyamoli Nasrin Chowdhury, Prof Rafiqul Islam, Prof Muhammad Zafar Iqbal and UNESCO Country Representative Beatrice Kaldun also delivered speeches at the event.
Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader also delivered a speech and Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor recited poems.
