Independence of Bangladesh

Independence of Bangladesh was declared on 26 March 1971, celebrated as Independence Day, from Pakistan. The Independence Day of Bangladesh is celebrated on 26 March when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared the Independence of Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Liberation War started on 26 March and lasted till 16 December 1971 which is celebrated as Victory Day in Bangladesh. There is a dispute along partisan line on who declared the Independence of Bangladesh. The Awami League claim Sheikh Mujibur Rahman while the Bangladesh Nationalist Party claim it was Ziaur Rahman.

Quotes

• This may be my last message. From today Bangladesh is independent. I call upon the people of Bangladesh wherever you are and with whatever you have, to resist the occupation army. Our fight will go on till the last soldier of the Pakistan Occupation Army is expelled from the soil of independent Bangladesh. Final victory is ours. Joy Bangla!
  • Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The Declaration of Independence on the night of 26th March, 1971. The declaration was made minutes before his arrest by the Pakistan Army.[1][2][3]

• I, Major Zia, on behalf of our Great Leader, the Supreme Commander of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, do hereby proclaim the independence of Bangla Desh and (sic) that the government headed by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman has already been formed. It is further proclaimed that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is the sole leader of the elected representatives of 75 million people of Bangla Desh and the government headed by him is the only legitimate government of the people of the independent sovereign state of Bangla Desh, which is legally and constitutionally formed and is worthy of being recognised by all the governments of the world. I, therefore, appeal on behalf of our Great Leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to the governments of all the democratic countries of the world, especially the Big Powers and the neighbouring countries, to recognise the legal government of Bangla Desh and take effective steps to stop immediately the awful genocide that has been carried on by the army of occupation from Pakistan. To dub us, the elected representatives of the majority of the people, as secessionists, is a cruel joke and should befool none. The guiding principle of the new state will be, first, neutrality; second, peace; third, friendship to all and enmity to none. May Allah help us. Joy Bangla!
  • Ziaur Rahman, on behalf of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, proclaimed the independence of Bangladesh from the Kalurghat radio station in Chittagong on March 27, 1971. [4]

• One common but divisive question: Who declared Bangladesh's independence? Sheikh Mujibur Rahman or Ziaur Rahman? Actually but sadly, Bangladesh is polarized over the independence declaration, which is not an academic disagreement pondering over a past event—it's a politically explosive question that determines the winners and losers of Bangladesh politics even today... The Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist party (BNP), the two largest parties are locked in a jockeying for power over who declared the independence in March 1971—Awami League chief Sheikh Mujibur Rahman or Ziaur Rahman, a military officer at that time.
  • M. Rashiduzzaman in Bangladesh: In Search of a New Historical Envisioning, quoted in Y Rosser, Indoctrinating Minds: Politics of Education in Bangladesh. 2004