Every nation has some days which are inscribed in the pages of history with letters of gold. These days carry memories of the glorious events that inspire people, that make people feel proud. The Bangladeshi people by tradition love freedom, but the Pakistani tyrants and oppressors kept us suppressed with the power of their guns for long 24 years. They deprived us of all that we deserved and aspired. We wanted to speak our mother tongue, we wanted economic emancipation, we wanted due share of the national wealth, we wanted proportionate participation of our people in defense forces and civil administration, but everywhere we were treated as inferior. In our own land, we were rated as second class citizens.

The capital was situated in the then West Pakistan. All the headquarters of army, navy and air-force were located there, and they were headed by men of that part of Pakistan. PIA at that time had its overhauling unit built there. Even ISSB which was responsible for recruiting commissioned officers had to ferry all candidates to West Pakistan for facing the final tests. All training centres for cadets of army navy and air-force were based there. EPR gates in the then East Pakistan were manned by the urdu-speaking soldiers who never spoke Bangla. They showed a clear attitude of hatred towards our mother tongue. The national cricket and football teams had one or two players from this part of Pakistan, and they were always seen sitting on the sidelines. A captain or a major from that part, while walking along a road in Dhaka or elsewhere, felt like a king and we were treated like his subjects. The Pakistani rulers always cared to consolidate army power along their border with India, but the border in the eastern part was always left unprotected.

All these unjust acts and behavior of the Pakistani tyrants caused tremendous hatred among the conscious people of our country. Frustration and dismay accumulated over the years. Still our people waited with patience hoping that good sense would prevail and things would be straightened. But their evil design got exposed in 1948 when Mohammad Ali Jinnah declared that urdu would be the state Language of Pakistan. The suppressed anger of our people exploded. They went to the streets with banners, chanting their refusal to accept what the Pakistani ruler intended. Some valuable lives were lost due to indiscriminate fire by the Pakistani soldiers. This incident added fuel to the fire. The resistance of the People gained momentum. In 1971, this resistance turned into an armed struggle to thwart the occupation forces of Pakistan. Our valiant freedom-fighters through nine months bloody war achieved victory on this day of December in 1971. This is a day, the nation is proud of, this is the day the whole nation celebrates with due respect shown to the 3 million people who made the supreme sacrifice to win victory for us and for our posterity.

The seed of discontentment was sown by the British Colonists who divided India and Pakistan before leaving the sub-continent in 1947. Forming a state with east and west Pakistan which had more then 1000 miles of Indian territory between them, was never a smart idea. On top of that they put the responsibility on the political leaders of west Pakistan to decide our fate. That was the worst decision of the British colonial rulers.

Bangla speaking people were always a majority in Pakistan. So if at all, there had to be a state language, it should have been Bangla. But the utter disrespect to our mother-tongue that was shown by the Pakistani rulers, gave rise to anger among our people. Finally, the language movement forced them to accept Bangla as a state language. This language movement served a more important purpose- it created awareness among the people about their rights which was instrumental in bringing them together under the umbrella of Awami League. In the general election of 1970, Sheikh Mujib won an unprecedented majority. But President Yahya Khan started concocting fables to avoid handing over power to our leader.

A series of meetings followed but nothing positive came out, it was only taking time to facilitate Pakistani army to come into play. On the 7th of March in 1971, Sheikh Mujib delivered the historic speech in the Ramna race course, urging the people to prepare for the struggle of freeing the country from the grip Pakistani tyrants. On the dead night of March25, 1971 the occupation forces of Pakistan let loose the dragon of the hell. It caused loss of innumerable lives. Children were killed, old men and women massacred. It was genocide in the real sense of the term. On March26, 1971, our dear leader was arrested and taken to an undisclosed prison in Pakistan. On 26th of March, 1971, independence was declared by general Zia on behalf of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from a radio centre in Kalurghat in Chittagong.

A full-fledged war started, and Pakistani occupation forces deployed all their resources to subdue the resistance of our freedom-fighters. Thousands of our brothers and sisters were killed, houses were gutted, factories, schools and colleges were burnt and damaged beyond use. Our domestic animals were taken away, even crops were spoiled. The struggle of our people got momentum as Government was formed on April17,1971 in a remote area near Kustia which was popularly known as Mujibnagar. Occupation forces gradually became weak and demoralized. The participation of the Indian forces further quickened the achievement of our victory. The Pakistani forces finally surrendered to the joint forces of India and Mukti Bahini on December 16,1971. A new nation gracefully showed up in the world map. Jubilant people sang and danced on the streets, they carried our new-born flag as a symbol of national identity. A solemn promise was made to safe-guard the victory of the new-found sovereign country-Bangladesh.

So here we are today. Let this day be another occasion for us to be united in our promise to build a prosperous Bangladesh-free from poverty, hunger and corruption. Let the three million people who laid down their dear lives for the freedom of our country, be remembered in our daily prayers.

(The writer is an educationist)