Observance of Mar 7, Aug 15, 6 other national days to be cancelled

8 national days to be cancelled

Dhaka, Oct 16 -The interim government has decided to cancel observance of eight national days including March 7 commemorating the historic speech of Bangabandhu and August 15 marking his assassination.

The decision was taken by the Council of Advisers in a meeting recently.

The Cabinet Division will issue gazette notification in this regard soon.

March 17 celebrates both the birthday of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and National Children's Day, August 5 marks the birth anniversary of Shaikh Hasina's brother Sheikh Kamal and August 8 the birth anniversary of Hasina's mother Bangmata Begum Fazilatunnecha Mujib, October 18 is observed marking Hasina's youngest brother Sheikh Russell Day, November 4 as National Constitution Day and December 12 recognises Smart Bangladesh Day.

The Historic 7th March Speech of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was delivered by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on 7th March, 1971 who led the people of Bangladesh to independence in 1971, according to UNESCO website.

At that time when the Pakistani military rulers refused to transfer power to the Bengali nationalist leader Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, whose party Awami League gained majority in the National Assembly of Pakistan in the general election held in 1970. The speech effectively declared the independence of Bangladesh.

The speech was extempore and there was no written script.

However, the speech survived in the audio as well as AV versions.-UNB