The nation is observing historic Mujibnagar Day today, the day independent Bangladesh’s first interim government was formed.
The government-in-exile, which was later known as Mujibnagar Government, took oath at a quiet mango grove of Baidyanathtola in then Meherpur of Kushtia district in 1971.
On this occasion President Zillur Rahman and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina gave messages.
They said the contribution to the Mujibnagar Government will always be remembered. The liberation took an institutional shape after the Mujibnagar government had been formed on April 17.
The government ran the struggle for nine months and united freedom-loving people from all classes and professions, including political parties, and gained the final victory with the assistance of the allied forces on December 16.
War coordination
The mango grove near the Indian border was named Mujibnagar and chosen as the installation site as most districts fell to Pakistan’s army after independence was declared on Mar 26.
Mujibnagar also became the first capital of independent Bangladesh.
Independence hero Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was made president, Syed Nazrul Islam vice president, Tajuddin Ahmed prime minister, and Muhammad Mansur Ali finance minister in that makeshift government.
Later Syed Nazrul Islam became acting president in the absence of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who had been arrested by the Pakistani occupation forces on the night of Mar 25, 1971, and detained in a Pakistan jail.
The government-led the country’s nine-month war of independence from Pakistan that ended with the surrender of the occupation forces on Dec 16.
Installation of the government began with a guard of honor led by a contingent of police. Syed Nazrul Islam hoisted the national flag and read out the charter of independence as hundreds of local and foreign journalists watched on.
The government launched a political and diplomatic offensive, sensitized the international community about the genocide, and carried operations to rehabilitate some 10 million refugees who were accommodated by India. ♦
