The nation on Thursday  celebrated the 102nd birth anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in a befitting manner.

The day -- a public holiday -- was also observed as National Children’s Day.

Marking the day, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid tributes to Bangabandhu by placing a wreath at his portrait in front of Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi-32 in Dhaka this morning.

Also read:Bangabandhu’s 102nd birth anniversary celebrated in New Delhi

President M Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also paid tributes to Bangabandhu at Tungipara in Gopalganj later in the day.

The president and the prime minister paid their homage by placing wreaths at the mausoleum of Bangabandhu at Tungipara.

After placing the wreaths, they stood in solemn silence for some time as a mark of profound respect to the memory of the Father of the Nation.

A smartly turned out contingent drawn from Bangladesh Army, Navy and Air Force gave a guard of honour on the occasion.

Hasina, also the eldest daughter of Bangabandhu, joined a programme, ‘Tungipara: Hridoye Pitribhumi’ there at 2.30pm on this occasion.

“We want to build a beautiful future for the children. I’ve also formulated long-term plans for this,” she said at the programme.

President Abdul Hamid hosted a milad and doa-mahfil at Durbar Hall of Bangabhaban after Magrib prayers on this occasion.

The national flag and the party’s flag were hoisted atop all party offices across the country in the morning.

Meanwhile, the Awami League chalked out a seven-day programme at Tungipara in Gopalganj to pay homage to Bangabandhu.

Also read:Birth Anniversary: President, PM pay homage to Bangabandhu

Television channels and radio stations aired special programmes marking the day.

On this day in 1920, Bangabandhu was born in Tungipara village. While studying at Islamia College in Kolkata, he got involved in active politics.

Both while in and out of jail, Bangabandhu had led the Language Movement. On February 21, 1952, when Language Movement activists were killed, Bangabandhu was observing a hunger strike in jail.

In continuation of the Language Movement, all major movements of Bengalis, including the general elections in 1970 and the War of Liberation in 1971, were led by Bangabandhu.

Through his dynamic leadership, Bangabandhu had organised the Bengali nation to fight against exploitation and repression by then Pakistani rulers. The movement culminated in independent Bangladesh through the nine-month Liberation War in 1971.

When Bangabandhu was moving forward with an aim to build a 'Golden Bangladesh' overcoming all obstacles, the defeated and anti-liberation war clique assassinated him, along with most of his family members, on August 15, 1975.

The government declared the period from March 17, 2020, to March 26, 2021, as the ‘Mujib Borsho’, marking the birth centenary of Bangabandhu. However, it was extended till March 31 this year.

Earlier, the President and the PM issued separate messages on the occasion.

In his message, the President said that Bangabandhu remains the eternal source of inspiration for the Bengali nation. In politics, Bangabandhu appeared as a symbol of principle and ideals.

The PM, in her message, extended her best wishes to all the children of the country on the occasion of the 102nd birth anniversary of the greatest Bengali of all time and National Children's Day

The theme of this year's National Children's Day is 'Bangabandhu's birthday pledge, all children have equal rights’, she said.

She urged the people of the country "to dedicate the present to the beautiful future and welfare of the children" and "build a non-communal, hunger-free and happy-prosperous Golden Bangladesh, the dream of the Father of the Nation"