March 7 speech was the call for Independence Day

Bangabandhu and Bangladesh cannot be separated as those of us who are enjoying the fruits of independence have to bow down to him for giving birth to this country

The Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared in his 7 March 1971 speech to the freedom-seeking Bengalis, “The struggle this time is the struggle for emancipation, the struggle this time is the struggle for independence”.

That declaration became a virtual Independence Day for Bangladesh, short of a formal call for Independence.

The message was clear not only to the Pakistanis but also to the world that Bangabandhu has run out of patience after series of discussions with the regime despite winning a landslide in the 1970 elections.

The speech has been honored by UNESCO and the world community, despite attempts to wipe Bangabandhu's name from the history of this South Asian country after his brutal assassination in 1975. But truth triumphed and lives on eternally.

Bangabandhu and Bangladesh cannot be separated as those of us who are enjoying the fruits of independence have to bow down to him for giving birth to this country.

 He roared on this day in 1971, “Turn every house into a fortress, resist the enemy with everything you have. Having mastered the lesson of sacrifice, we shall give more blood. Inshallah, we shall free the people of this land.”

General Ziaur Rahman, the assassinated president and founder of opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) wrote in the Bengali-language magazine called Bichittra on 26 March 1974 that the speech had inspired him to take part in the 1971 war when he was an army major.

The speech was included in the book “We Shall Fight on the Beaches: The Speeches That Inspired History,” by Jacob F. Field.

It was “Joy Bangla” all over and the world media carried reports of the mammoth meeting at the former Race Course Maidan (now Shrawardy Uddyan) and the Bengalis celebrating his call for taking up “whatever” they had to fight for Independence.

The Bengalis were overwhelmed by the fact that they were finally on their way to having an independent country without Pakistani hegemony of all kinds. The name of the new country “Bangladesh” spread like fire across the globe.

If we look deeply into the fiery speech of Bangabandhu, we notice it carried powerful words that penetrated into the hearts of the Bengalis and also gave directives for preparation, which was the need of the hour. Be ready with whatever you have was a clear message that there was no turning back. Enough is enough. The Pakistanis have to quit East Pakistan, which was now the property of the Bengalis.

The directives in the speech made it clear that Bangabandhu was in charge and none else from either West or East Pakistan.

Then a very important line: “Do you, my brothers, have complete faith in me….?” Bangabandhu knew that the response would be an overwhelmingly “yes,” but yet as a true democrat, he practically wanted the world to see that he was indeed the undisputed leader of the Bengalis or of emerging Bangladesh.

On this historic day, we pay our deepest homage to the memory of the man named Bangabandhu, who has no death.