The Victory Day of Bangladesh

VICTORY Day comes once again this year and fills us with a sense of pride and joy. December 16th is that unique day in our history more than three decades ago, when we realized an extraordinary and heartfelt dream. We became an independent nation. The dream for Bangladesh became a reality only after a long and bitter struggle and after an immeasurable price had been exacted in return. Our martyrs paid the price with their lives, anointing our mission with their blood and ever-strengthening our resolve. As we rejoice in the memory of Victory Day, we pay homage to all our freedom fighters.

This day reminds us of the supreme sacrifice of our freedom fighters who will ever shine in our hearts like the luminous stars in the sky.

Three million people were massacred by the Pakistni military and local collaborators. Hundreds of thousands of women were raped. Village after village, town after town, were burned to the ground. There were dead body’s lying in every plain, and floating in every river. There was hardly any family who did not lose something in this war.

The nine-month long War of Liberation waged by the people of Bangladesh in 1971 will for ever remain recorded as one of the most glorious chapters in human history. The sovereign and independent People's Republic of Bangladesh, as it stands today, is the outcome of an arduous struggle of the people under the leadership of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Bijoy Dibash commemorates the day in 1971 (16 December) when ninety thousand troops of the Pakistan occupation army surrendered to the allied forces of Bangladesh and India at Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka. The day is observed with due solemnity and nationalistic fervor. The first ray of the morning is heralded with a 31 gun-salute. In capital Dhaka, there is usually a ceremonial military parade in which all uniformed services are represented. Hundreds of thousands of people gather at the National Parade Square to watch this parade. Floral wreaths are laid at the Jatiya Smriti Saudha (National Memorial Monument) at Savar near Dhaka in memory of those who sacrificed their lives for the liberation of the country.