Md. Kamruzzaman
26 March 2019•Update: 27 March 2019
DHAKA, Bangladesh
Hazrat Ali, a 68-year-old cycle rickshaw driver, has been living in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka for the last 48 years.
When the Liberation War broke out in 1971 against Pakistan's rule, Ali was a young man filled with hopes and dreams about the potential of a new homeland where the rights of the Bengali nation will be protected.
He said he migrated to Dhaka from a remote village after they lost their property to river erosion "with the hope that justice would be established and our misfortune will end".
“My dream has not been fulfilled yet in the last five decades and I have no dream left. I am just pleased with Allah as in this old age I can push the paddles of my rickshaw and somehow manage food for my family,” Ali added.
Bangladesh celebrated its Independence Day on Tuesday. On March 26, 1971, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the country's founding father, declared independence from Pakistan.
What followed was a nine-month bloody war which claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people, at the end of which Pakistan army surrendered.
During the mass upsurge on the eve of the Liberation War, a popular slogan was “Gol Tebile Jamuna, Halua Ruti Kamu na (No more dialogue, no more halua-bread),” Ali said, adding that they were angry at the ruling West Pakistanis for supplying them flour instead of rice, the staple food of Bangladeshi people.
Free speech
On the country's Independence Day, university students expressed hope at the impressive economic growth of the country, yet at the same time voiced concern over growing authoritarianism of the present government.
Sumaiya Yasmin Kona, a history student at Dhaka University, told Anadolu Agency that discrimination by Pakistan was the key reason behind the 1971 Liberation War.
“There is no meaning of independence if we fail to establish social justice and remove discrimination and corruption from the country,” Kona added.
Masud Amzad, a finance student of the same university, said the seven percent growth rate of the Bangladeshi economy was positive, but the rule of law should prevail and corrupt officials and politicians should not be allowed to tarnish the spirit of liberation.
The city was rocked by student protests for road safety last year, leading to mass arrests, including of internationally renowned photographer Shahidul Alam.
Mohammad Abdullah Mahmud, an assistant professor at Dhaka University, said social justice and rule of law were the focal points of the Liberation War.
“In any independent country people must have freedom of speech and justice that need to be ensured largely by the government,” Mahmud added.
Opposition leader jailed
Bangladesh also marks its Independence Day at a time when its main opposition leader and three-time former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia is behind bars over controversial corruption charges.
Kamal Hossain, convenor of the opposition political alliance, said in a message: “We achieved a lot so far, but we have yet to achieve a fully equal society."
Glowing tributes were paid to the martyrs and veterans of the Liberation War at the National Memorial in Dhaka’s Savar area.
President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina placed wreaths Tuesday morning as a mark of profound respect to the memories of the martyrs.
Later while addressing a rally in Dhaka, the prime minister sought cooperation of the people to build a beautiful, secure and prosperous Bangladesh for the next generation.
