Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s Birthday Today

Today is 17 March — the 106th birth anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the architect of Bangladesh’s independence and the Father of the Nation. He was born on this day in 1920 in Tungipara, Gopalganj. His contributions to the Bengali nation’s freedom struggle and the emergence of Bangladesh remain eternally etched in history.

According to political analysts, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman played a central role in every major chapter of the Bengali people’s struggle for rights and autonomy, starting from the Language Movement. Through his long political struggle, he organized the Bengali nation’s aspiration for independence. This culminated in the Great Liberation War of 1971 and the birth of sovereign Bangladesh.

Due to his unwavering stand in the fight for the rights of the people, he was imprisoned multiple times during the then-Pakistan regime. In 1966, he presented the historic Six-Point Demand, widely regarded as the Magna Carta of Bengali liberation. Later, in 1968, the then-Pakistan military junta made him the main accused in the Agartala Conspiracy Case. However, faced with a mass uprising, the Pakistan government withdrew the case on 22 February 1969 and was forced to release Sheikh Mujib.

After the historic general election victory of the Awami League in 1970, when power was not transferred to the people of the then-East Pakistan, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman launched the Non-Cooperation Movement on 1 March 1971. Through this, he emerged as the undisputed leader of the Bengali nation.

Particularly, his historic 7 March 1971 speech at Dhaka’s Racecourse Maidan is considered one of the greatest sources of inspiration for the Bengali liberation struggle. In that speech, he declared: “This time the struggle is for our freedom, this time the struggle is for independence.”

After a long struggle, following the establishment of independent Bangladesh, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman took charge of running the country. However, on 15 August 1975, he was assassinated along with most of his family members at his Dhanmondi residence by a group of army officers.

In the past, during Awami League governments, Bangabandhu’s birth anniversary was observed nationwide with various state and organizational programmes. The President, Prime Minister, and various political leaders and organizations used to issue separate messages. However, following the student-people’s mass uprising of 2024 and the controversial actions of the previous Awami League government, such programmes are no longer held.