Bangladesh observes 53rd Independence Day

By SM Najmus Sakib

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – Bangladesh on Sunday observed the 53rd Independence and National Day with calls to build a smart Bangladesh free of poverty and hunger, while the opposition highlighted its demand for people's rights to vote.

The day began with the president and prime minister paying tributes to the Liberation War martyrs by placing wreaths at the National Martyrs’ Monument in Savar, the outskirts of the capital Dhaka.

The south Asian delta nation of 170 million people began a liberation movement on March 26, 1971.

Top state officials, armed forces, diplomats of different countries, and ordinary people also paid homage to Liberation War martyrs. The living freedom fighters will be honored in events across the country.

On the occasion, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and President Abdul Hamid greeted the countrymen in special messages with a new commitment to build a poverty and hungry-free smart Bangladesh.

“Under the leadership of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, we achieved victory through a 23-year political struggle and nine months of the liberation war,” the premier said in a video message ahead of Independence Day.

President Abdul Hamid in his message said if the current development progress continues, Bangladesh will become a developed and wealthy smart country by the year 2041.

Hasina also released a commemorative postage stamp on the occasion.

The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), however, joined the celebration with a pledge to “bring back” people's voting rights.

“We will continue the struggle we have started to make the country a truly democratic state. This is our Independence Day commitment,” BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said after paying tribute on behalf of the party at the National Martyrs’ Monument.