March 7 returns with UN recognition of Bangabandhu’s historic speech.

[Homo Sapiens]

March 7 returns with UN recognition of Bangabandhu’s historic speech
Staff Correspondent bdnews24.com

Published: 2018-03-07 03:32:53.0 BdST Updated: 2018-03-07 03:32:53.0 BdST

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Bangladesh is observing March 7 this year with renewed pride as UNESCO has recognised Bangabandhu’s historic 1971 speech as part of world history.




On this day in 1971, the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Muhibur Rahman delivered an earth-shattering speech at the then Race Course Maidan, now the Suhrawardy Udyan, in Dhaka, effectively declaring the Liberation War.

Eighteen days after the speech, as the Pakistani military began its operation in Bangladesh, the people took up arms. After nine months of struggle, Bangladesh achieved its independence.

The defeated Pakistani military signed the order of surrender at that same Suhrawardy Udyan on Dec 16, 1971.

UNESCO has added Bangabandhu’s speech to the Memory of the World Register, recognising its importance as part of the world’s ‘documentary heritage’.

President Md Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has issued separate messages on the occasion, urging all to work together to establish a Bangladesh as dreamt by Bangabandhu.

"We should continue our efforts to make the country ‘Sonar Bangla’ dreamt by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman," Hamid said.

He also said the UNESCO recognition of the speech is a ‘great achievement’ for Bangladesh.

Hasina said, "Let us build a non-communal, hunger-poverty-free, happy and prosperous country...Establish the 'Sonar Bangladesh' dreamt by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. This should be our commitment on the historic March 7."

She also thanked UNESCO for the recognition of the speech.

The Awami League will hoist national and party flags at its offices and the Bangabandhu memorial Museum at 6:30am to mark the day.

The party will place wreaths on Bangabandhu’s mural in front of the museum later in the morning.

It will also organise a rally at the Suhrawardy Udyan at 2pm. Hasina is scheduled to address the rally.

Government-run and private media will air special programmes while newspapers will publish supplements on the day.
https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/201...n-recognition-of-bangabandhus-historic-speech

 

[Homo Sapiens]

http://www.thedailystar.net/opinion...rch-7-1971-now-part-of-world-heritage-1544338
12:00 AM, March 07, 2018 / LAST MODIFIED: 12:50 PM, March 07, 2018
Bangabandhu's March 7 Speech
Now a part of world heritage

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman delivering his March 7 speech. PHOTO: COLLECTED
Mofidul Hoque

People of Bangladesh know very well the intrinsic value of the historic speech delivered by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib on March 7, 1971. A country of the South and its leadership in the struggle for national emancipation has too often been presented through the prism of the North, the power base of most things on earth. To create a proper perspective of history and recognise the common heritage of mankind is a long and persistent struggle. As part of this effort, UNESCO has introduced a few programmes such as World Heritage Site, Intangible Heritage of Mankind, etc. The Memory of the World (MOW) International Register is a comparatively new programme initiated in 1992 with the aim of increasing global awareness about the existence and significance of documentary heritage. MOW International Register is regarded as one of the most prestigious forms of recognition for documentary heritage with outstanding value and global significance, as stated by UNESCO in one of its publications.

I had the opportunity to be associated with the process of nomination when I was invited to join a training workshop in the Asia-Pacific region organised in 2013. The organisers had sent the MOW nomination form to be filled in and brought to the workshop to be discussed. On behalf of the Liberation War Museum, as a custodian of many historical relics, including documents and artefacts related to the March 7 speech, we prepared the submission for inclusion of the great speech as a MOW. Unfortunately, the workshop was not held as planned and the draft found no use.

In 2016 the Bangladesh Ambassador to France, Shahidul Islam, picked up the idea to submit the nomination for March 7 speech as MOW. Through the concerned ministry, he came to know about our previous preparation and contacted me to get that file. Subsequently, a proposal was submitted to UNESCO on April 2016 with co-sponsorship of the Government of Bangladesh represented by Ambassador Shahidul Islam and Liberation War Museum represented by me as a trustee. After going through a long process of scrutiny, the International Advisory Committee and UNESCO approved the List of 2017 MOW with Bangabandhu's March 7 speech getting the recognition it deserved.

Here it is important to dwell on the substance of the proposal where the pertinent issue was to highlight the global significance of the speech. The nomination form contains many technical questions regarding the description, nature, ownership of the heritage, but special focus has been given on the “world significance” of the heritage with questions like—whether the heritage is unique and irreplaceable, whether it had a great impact over time and within a particular cultural area of the world, whether it had a great influence on the course of history, etc. The other areas of explanation were time, place and people, to analyse the heritage from such a perspective was not a problem because the speech had a great impact in terms of time, place and people, but the core issue was placement of the speech from a broader world outlook. Bangabandhu's speech was delivered at a time of high national tension and complex international scenario. The world was divided by the Cold War, but the general consensus prevailed that the post-World War II state boundaries could not be altered. At the same time, the international community agreed on the right of nations to self-determination. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib had to steer the struggle of Bangalis not as a secessionist movement, but for the sake of upholding the inherent right of people to self-determination. Highlighting this significance, the proposal stated:

“The speech has great world significance for its contexts and contents, as well as its far-reaching impact on the key assumptions on which the post-World War II international system was built. One of the assumptions was that the international borders redrawn after the WW II were sacrosanct. Even the most arbitrarily and hastily drawn national boundaries of post-colonial states were considered not to be put into question. The March 7 speech constituted a compelling case of how the failure of post-colonial nation states to develop inclusive, democratic society could alienate their populations belonging to different ethnic, cultural, linguistic or religious groups and lead to the dismemberment of nation-states. In fact, the speech triggered the first successful war of liberation by means of cessation since the international boundaries had been redrawn after World War II.”

The history of the colonial past and the struggle to wipe-out its legacies to create a free and fair world need to be rewritten from an unbiased perspective. Here the significance of the emergence of Bangladesh as a state that unshackled the bonds of a colonial past and established a nation-state based on linguistic-ethnic identity has great importance. Contextually the speech highlighted a national cultural identity which is not chauvinistic, but syncretic in nature, embracing religious diversity. Such intrinsic values have contemporary relevance, which made the speech transcend time and space. In the proposal it was stated, “The struggle to uphold the national right based on cultural-linguistic identity, essentially secular and liberal, will contribute in building a society of tolerance and harmony in today's strife-ridden world.”

The time has come to place Bangladesh's struggle in the context of national liberation struggle of the nations of the third world. If we take this perspective, then we can get a deeper understanding of the role Bangladesh played in the march for freedom in a post-colonial world and the leadership given by Bangabandhu. The inclusion of the March 7 speech as MOW has drawn the attention of all to the broader significance of this struggle. Sheikh Mujib, delivering such a speech, deserves a rightful place among the leading figures of national liberation struggles all over the world, and it is our duty to do the historical analysis and research to put post-colonial history into proper perspective and be the proud possessor of a Memory of the World in its truest sense. That calls for a struggle of emancipation of history and recognition of the leadership of the wretched of the earth. Bangabandhu, through his call for freedom, will be with us in the struggle that lies ahead.

 

[Sine Nomine]

On this day in 1971, the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Muhibur Rahman delivered an earth-shattering speech at the then Race Course Maidan, now the Suhrawardy Udyan, in Dhaka, effectively declaring the Liberation War.

Bangaldeshi Government is living example of shamelessness and Fabrication of lies at Industrial scale,a politican who did was bragging for only getting votes,that whole bragging is now Independence Decleration,atleast spare your Independence of AL propganda.

 

[Anubis]

Bangaldeshi Government is living example of shamelessness and Fabrication of lies at Industrial scale,a politican who did was bragging for only getting votes,that whole bragging is now Independence Decleration,atleast spare your Independence of AL propganda.

Is this the state of education in your madrasas?? The election was WON in 1970...he didn't need any vote in 7th March 1971. Your country is a living example of idiocy and illiteracy.

 

[Sine Nomine]

Is this the state of education in your madrasas?? The election was WON in 1970...he didn't need any vote in 7th March 1971. Your country is a living example of idiocy and illiteracy.

Good i like it atleast your speaking your papa's language,on topic without doubt election happened in 1970,but wasn't that pure vote bank speach?
Your country is living example of lies and idiocy.A vessale state of India.And there ain't any Bengali's on Mars,at best they slip into Assam.

 

[Anubis]

Good i like it atleast your speaking your papa's language,on topic without doubt election happened in 1970,but wasn't that pure vote bank speach?
Your country is living example of lies and idiocy.A vessale state of India.And there ain't any Bengali's on Mars,at best they slip into Assam.

The election was won in 70...power was never handed over to the elected leader....Mujib's 'vote-bank" was the Majority of the Population of Pakistan...that's how democracy works.

 

[Sine Nomine]

The election was won in 70...power was never handed over to the elected leader....Mujib's 'vote-bank" was the Majority of the Population of Pakistan...that's how democracy works.

I simply said he never asked for war or Independence in that speach,your current Government is making BD's whole histroy a Joke.

 

[Anubis]

I simply said he never asked for war or Independence in that speach,your current Government is making BD's whole histroy a Joke.

The speech lasted about 19 minutes and concluded with, "Our struggle, this time, is a struggle for our freedom. Our struggle, this time, is a struggle for our independence. Joy Bangla!
Good speakers can make a thousand proclamations in one good sentence.

 

[Sine Nomine]

The speech lasted about 19 minutes and concluded with, "Our struggle, this time, is a struggle for our freedom. Our struggle, this time, is a struggle for our independence. Joy Bangla!
Good speakers can make a thousand proclamations in one good sentence.

Read Pakistan Decleration,it is clear and loud.You can sugarcoat these statments with whatever flavour do you desire,Mujib was only after Getting PM ship.Rest India is credited for Bangladesh.

 

[Doctor Strange]

The speech lasted about 19 minutes and concluded with, "Our struggle, this time, is a struggle for our freedom. Our struggle, this time, is a struggle for our independence. Joy Bangla!
Good speakers can make a thousand proclamations in one good sentence.

We can verify the above quote from the testimony of a sector commander freedom fighter Kazi Nuruzzaman

Zaman talks about the famous 7 March speech of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, an event where he was present, and heard the Father of the Nation ending his speech with “Pakistan Zindabad”, and, moments later, on the advice of the student leaders, “Joy Bangla”. Zaman takes no issue with the end salutations, reasoning that Pakistan was still politically undivided, but takes a dim view that the words “Pakistan Zindabad” have been expunged from the rendering of the speech with the observation that, “I believe this tampering with the speech diminishes Sheikh Mujib's political efforts.” And, over a particularly contentious issue that continues to deeply divide the nation against itself, Zaman is convinced, offering a number of arguments in support, that Ziaur Rahman first announced the independence of Bangladesh over the radio. He then reasons, “Let's say it was Ziaur Rahman who was the first announcer of independence. What does it matter? Does this announcement belittle the Awami League or Sheikh Mujibur Rahman? Not in the least.”
http://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-163764

 

[Joe Shearer]

We can verify the above quote from the testimony of a sector commander freedom fighter Kazi Nuruzzaman

And this gives the lie to those who say Bangabandhu was disloyal and treacherous. It was Bhutto who betrayed Pakistan, in order to get power.

 

[Sine Nomine]

And this gives the lie to those who say Bangabandhu was disloyal and treacherous. It was Bhutto who betrayed Pakistan, in order to get power.

A Pakistani I.B offical Raja Anaar khan,who spent a lot of time with Mujib when he was in custody his interview explains it greatly,who was responsible for that whole event.I have never cursed India for anything because we are enemy,two parties are enemies until they try to harm each other.We are bitter and mortal enemies,we shouldn't be expecting anything good coming from each other.It was Ayub,Bhutto,Tajudin and Yahya who are to be blamed not Mujib.
Full Interview in URDU.His words carry more weightage then words of any Bengali or Pakistani Historian.

 

[Centaur]

Better I enjoy it from distance. কিছু কমু না আমি!
আমি দুর হতে তোমারেই দেখেছি......