First Armed Resistance Day should get state recognition: Minister
Freedom-loving Bengalis launched an armed resistance against Pakistani occupying forces on 19 March
Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Huq said 19 March should receive state recognition for the sake of the country's history as First Armed Resistance Day – a day in 1971 when Bengalis launched their first armed attacks on Pakistani occupying forces.
The first armed resistance against the Pakistan Army occurred on 19 March, 1971 in Gazipur, before the start of the Liberation War. For the sake of history, the day should have state recognition, he said at a discussion at the Jatiya Press Club Friday, marking Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's Homecoming Day.
AKM Mozammel said the freedom-loving Bengalis launched the armed resistance under the direction of Bangabandhu – which inspired the nation.
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The minister highlighted the events on 19 March, 1971 at the discussion jointly hosted by the Armed Resistance Day Celebration Council and the Bangladesh Journalists' Rights Forum.
The minister said the new generation will have to be taught about the true history of independence to become good citizens.
They have to be familiarised with patriotism, the universal concept of humanity as well as the core concepts of Bengali culture.
He said the people of this country have liberated the country by fighting under the leadership of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
"After 48 years of independence, the question now is how far we have to go to get closer to the goal of the liberation. Widespread reluctance to human values around us is quite disappointing," he noted.
Speaking as the special guest at the event, State Minister for Youth and Sports Zahid Ahsan Russel said, "10 January is an important day in history as Bangabandhu returned to independent Bangladesh on that day after his release from prison in Pakistan."
At the discussion, Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, former information adviser to the prime minister, after returning home Bangabandhu jumped into the construction of a war-torn country.
"At that time, there was no administrative structure. Bangabandhu adopted all the policies, including the diplomacy and defence policy, and started working to build the nation. But the defeated forces of the liberation brutally killed him in 1975," he added.
Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury demanded a public commission be formed to unravel the mystery of Bangabandhu's assassination.
He said, "Zia-Ershad-Khaleda all distorted the actual history of independence later. The current government is now presenting the correct accounts of history."
He added that the spirit of the Liberation War is a wonder to the world.
Professor Hafiza Khatun, Dhaka University's Geography Department chairperson and also the convener of the Council to Celebrate the first Armed Resistance Day, chaired the programme while Gazipur Metropolitan Awami League President Azmat Ullah Khan also spoke, among others.
