President Mohammed Shahabuddin has called on all, regardless of religion, caste, party or opinion, to work together with patriotism to fulfil the spirit and expectations of the martyrs of the Liberation War.
“The hope, aspiration and dream of the martyrs in the Liberation War was to build a humane, democratic and just state—where there would be no discrimination, deprivation, misrule, corruption or injustice,” he said.
In a message on the occasion of ‘Genocide Day’, to be observed tomorrow, the head of state paid tribute to all martyrs of the motherland, including those of 25 March, and prayed for the eternal peace of their departed souls.
The President said 25 March remains the most brutal and painful chapter in national history, as the entire nation was left speechless and stunned by this genocide.
On the night of 25 March 1971, he said, the Pakistani occupation forces carried out indiscriminate massacres of unarmed and sleeping freedom-loving citizens in what was called ‘Operation Searchlight’.
During the night, numerous members of the Rajarbagh Police Lines and the then EPR, students, teachers, intellectuals, workers, and countless innocent people in various parts of the country, including Dhaka University, were brutally murdered, he noted.
The President said that on the same night, the East Bengal Regiment in Chittagong formally revolted and resisted the genocide.
“The younger generation should clearly understand both this cruel barbarity of history and our nation’s glorious story of heroism,” he added.
The President noted that after many years, the long-awaited right to vote has been re-established through free, fair and credible elections.
Observing that a democratic government has been formed by popular vote, he said the present administration has begun implementing various programmes and measures to build a non-discriminatory, democratic, humane and self-reliant Bangladesh.
