A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area which is selected by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as having cultural, historical, scientific or other form of significance and is legally protected by international treaties. The sites are judged important to the collective interests of humanity.
Shekh Mujibur Rôhman (17 March 1920 – 15 August 1975), shortened as Sheikh Mujib or just Mujib, was a Bengali politician and statesman. He served as the First President of Bangladesh and later Prime Minister of Bangladesh from March 1971 until his assassination in August 1975.
He is considered to be the driving force behind the independence of Bangladesh. He is popularly known as Bangabandhu ( “Friend of Bengal”) and Father of the Nation. He became a leading figure in and eventually the leader of the Awami League, founded in 1949 as an East Pakistan-based political party in Pakistan. Mujib is credited as an important figure in efforts to gain politician autonomy for East Pakistan and later as the central figure behind the Bangladesh Liberation Movement and the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.
Following political deadlock, delayed the convening of the assembly – a move seen by Bengalis as a plan to deny Mujib’s party, which formed a majority, from taking charge. It was on 7 March 1971 that Mujib called for independence and asked the people to launch a major campaign of civil disobedience and organized armed resistance at a mass gathering of people held at the Race Course Ground (Suhrawardy Udyan) in Dhaka ‘Ebarer Sangram Amader Muktir Sangram, Ebarer Sangram Swadhinatar Sangram’ (This time the struggle is for our freedom This time the struggle is for our independence.”)
UNESCO has included the historic speech made by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on Mar 7, 1971, which effectively declared Bangladesh’s independence on the Memory of the World International Register.
The speech is part of 78 nominations put forward by a panel of experts led by Chairman and Director-General of the National Archives of the United Arab Emirates Dr Abdulla Alraisi at a meeting at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris from Oct 24 to Oct 27, 2017.
The 7th March Speech was a speech given by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh on 7th March 1971 at the Ramna Race Course in Dhaka to a gathering of over two million people. The speech was extempore and there was no written script. However, the speech survived in the audio as well as audio video versions. The speech lasted about 19 minutes. Nevertheless, the speech was effective in giving Bengalis a clear goal of independence. It was a de facto declaration of Bangladesh’s independence. Historic 7th March speech recognizes as one of the “World all time best”.
State employees of Bangladesh organized a joyous rally in Dhaka on November 25, 2017 and celebrated Unesco’s recognition of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s historic March 7 speech as a world documentary heritage. Bangabandhu’s fans roared the same slogan – ‘Joy Bangla’. Prime minister and the daughter of Bangabandu Sheikh Hasina said, ‘Today, Bangladesh has achieved that recognition.” “We are a proud nation in the world now. We must hold our heads high in building the Bengali nation,”
On 30 October 2017, UNESCO added the speech in its the Memory of the World Register as a “documentary heritage”.
> Zishan Sarkar
