Bangabandhu's 7th March Speech: A Part of World Heritage

Bangabandhu's 7th March Speech: A Part of World Heritage

Bezon Kumar

Photo: Daily Asian Age and Internet

No doubt everybody knows that the historical 7th March speech is now a recognized world heritage. A special organization of United Nations, UNESCO- United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, recognizes this fiery speech as part of the world's documentary heritage and includes in the Memory of the World International Register, a list of world's important documentary heritage.

The speech was declared by the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman when former East Pakistan (present Bangladesh) was in the climax of exploitation by the West Pakistan government. West Pakistan exploited East Pakistan not only politically but also in all aspects like economically, socially, culturally, and religiously. After trying to solve these problems in many ways, Bangabandhu finally delivered a speech in a thunderous voice at a mammoth rally at the Racecourse Maidan (now Suhrawardy Udyan) on March 7 in 1971.

He started delivering the speech with Vaiyera Amar (Dear Brothers). Hearing the tone of Bangabandhu, a sea of people responded to him by tremendous shout saying Jay Bangla. Bangabandhu said in his speech, "Turn every house into a fortress, and resist the enemy with everything you have... Having mastered the lesson of sacrifice, we shall give more blood. God willing, we shall free the people of this land".

He ended his speech by saying "Ebarer Sangram Amader Muktir Sangram, Ebarer Sangram Swadhinatar Sangram (The struggle this time is a struggle for emancipation, the struggle this time is a struggle for independence)." His total 18 minutes speech touched every Bengali's heart across the country and inspired the whole nation to prepare for the Liberation War. It also served as the ultimate source of inspiration for the countless freedom fighters and called on the freedom-loving Bengalis to wage a decisive struggle against the Pakistani rulers.

The speech is played till now in many national occasions and it enthralls our hearts and inspires patriotism. For the contribution of UNESCO, the fiery speech is not bounded in Bangladesh. It is now for all present and future generations of the world.   

On Monday, October 30 the Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, announced the 7th March speech as a part of world heritage at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. With this historic announcement, the March 7 speech is included in the list of global significant documents of The Memory of the World International Register. The list has included a total of 427 documents and collections from all continents of the world till now.

UNESCO organizes a committee for announcing a document as a part of world heritage and the committee selects the most significant heritage and documents in Memory of the World by following very strong justification from the nomination list in order to preserve and to inform the important heritage and documents of the various parts of the world.

In the headquarter of UNESCO, the International Advisory Committee (IAC) arranged a conference from 24 to 28 October 2017 and nominated 78 documents in Memory of the World International Register on behalf of the program of Memory of the World for the year 2016-17 where the March 7 speech placed 48th position.

IAC was organized by 15 experts who justified the documents through over two years. At the time of endorsing the latest recommendations, the UNESCO director-general stated, "It is my deep and firm conviction that the Memory of the World Program should be guided in its work to preserve the documentary heritage and memory for the benefit of present and future generations in the spirit of dialogue, international cooperation and mutual understanding, building peace in the minds of women and men."

It is beyond doubt that this recognition is a matter of great pride to all Bengalis and it has brought a big dignity to the nation of Bangladesh. I think, besides pride and dignity, this recognition has also brought huge liability and responsibility. This is the responsibility of preserving the real independence of the country and fulfilling the dream of Bangabandhu- Sonar Bangla because with this speech Bangabandhu dreamt a freedom Bangladesh and wanted to transform East Pakistan into Sonar Bangla.

The present government of the country is trying heart and soul to fulfill his dream by making and implementing vital plans and visions like Five Years Plans, Vision 2021, Vision 2041 and so on. In the meantime, the country has already successfully achieved the MDGs and set the target of SDGs. Besides, the country has been improving in most socio-economic indicators successively.

Bangabandhu wanted Bangladesh free from hunger and poverty. Now, the country is almost self-sufficient in food. The rate of poverty has decreased to 22 percent and the country does not suffer from acute hunger. Now, Bangladesh has set several mega projects like Padma Bridge, Metro Rail, Payra Sea Port, Making Flyover, and so on. Already some of them have been completed and others are running to be completed. If these projects are completed successfully, it will be a great improvement for the country.

The country has about 30 billion foreign exchange reserves. The growth rate is above 6 percent through a few past years. Overall the country is performing very well and has broken the quotation the former National Security Adviser of USA Henry Kissinger that "Bangladesh is a bottomless Basket." Rather the country is now a role model in the world. 

Although the country has improved its socio-economic conditions and other sectors, this is too little to fulfill the dream of the Father of the Nation. To achieve the dream of Bangabandhu- Sonar Bangla, we all have to work hard and move ahead simultaneously. I hope and believe heart and soul, one day the dream will be fulfilled and Bangabandhu will chuckle from heaven. The day is no longer. 

The writer is a Teacher and Researcher in Economics at Rabindra University, Bangladesh. Email: bezon.kumar3@gmail.com

Published in The Daily Asian Age on 06 November 2017. (Edited Briefly)