Victory Day
Bangladesh set to celebrate Victory Day Friday
The nation is set to celebrate the Victory Day, 2022 on Friday, the most joyous day when the country was born at the cost of the supreme sacrifice of three million martyrs and the honour of nearly half a million mothers and sisters, with elaborate programmes.
On this glorious day in 1971, Bangladesh was liberated as an independent country after the Pakistani occupation forces surrendered following a bloody nine-month-long war.
Various programmes will be held on Friday to pay deep homage to the martyrs who laid down their lives for the country during the Liberation War in 1971.
Along with the government, different socio-political, educational and cultural institutions and organisations have chalked out a series of programmes to celebrate the day. Bangladeshis will celebrate the day at home and abroad.
The day’s programme will begin with a 31-gun salute.
Read more: Indian war veterans to join Bangladesh’s Victory Day celebrations in Dhaka
President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will pay tributes to the martyrs of the Liberation War by placing wreaths at the National Mausoleum in Savar with the rising of sun.
They will be followed by the freedom fighters and their family members, foreign diplomats, leaders of Awami League and different political and social organisations and people from all walks of life.
As part of the day’s programmes, a colourful parade will be held at the National Parade Square in Tejgaon around 10:30 am.
Freedom fighters, members of the Armed Forces and law enforcement agencies will take part in the parade.
President Abdul Hamid will take salutes and inspect the parade as the chief guest while Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will also be present at the parade.
Discussion meetings will be held at the national level on the theme of 'Empowering the spirit of the liberation war and the best use of digital technology in building Sonar Bangla as dreamt by the Father of the Nation.’
Apart from this, reception of brave freedom fighters and martyr family members will be held in the metropolis, districts and upazilas.
The national flag will be hoisted atop government, semi-government, autonomous and private offices across the country.
All children's parks and museums will be open to the public without tickets and cinema halls will screen films based on the Liberation War for free.
On this day, an exhibition of documentary films and posters based on the history and tradition of the Liberation War will be organized at the ‘Swadhinota Stombha’ and the Museum of Suhrawardy Udyan.
Bangladesh embassies abroad will also undertake similar programs highlighting the significance of the day.
The day is a public holiday. National dailies will bring out special supplements on the occasion.
State-owned and private television channels and radios will broadcast month- long special programmes highlighting the significance of the Liberation War.
Receptions will be accorded to the freedom fighters and family members of martyrs at city, district and upazila levels.
Destitute children will be allowed to visit the children park in the capital on the day free of cost. Improved diets will be served in jails, hospitals, orphanages across the country.
Meanwhile, President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued separate messages on the occasion.
In his message, the President has greeted the country’s people living at home and abroad on the occasion of the Victory Day.
Read more: Roads to avoid on Victory Day
He recalled with profound respect the greatest Bangalee of all time Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
“I remember with gratitude the four national leaders and the people of all walks of life, including the heroic freedom fighters, the organisers and supporters of the Liberation War, foreign friends, war-wounded individuals and members of the martyrs' families, who directly and indirectly contributed to our victory.”
Stating that the aims of the independence were to attain political sovereignty as well as people’s economic emancipation, the President said, “We shall have to give institutional shape to democracy in order to deliver the benefits of independence at people's doorstep.”
He said the political parties will have to nurture the culture of mutual respect and tolerance of others’ opinions. “Let us contribute more from our respective position in implementing the spirit and values of War of Liberation and take the nation towards the path of development and prosperity.”
In her message, the Prime Minister said the establishment of the nation-state 'Bangladesh' through the victory of the War of Liberation on 16 December 1971 was the greatest achievement of the Bangalee nation.
Responding to the clarion call of the Greatest Bangalee of all time, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Bangalee nation achieved the ultimate victory on this day in 1971 after 23 years of intense political struggle and nine months of blood-shedding War of Liberation, said the PM.
She said, “Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib elevated Bangladesh to a 'least developed' country, and we took the motherland to the row of a 'developing' state on the auspicious occasion of 'Mujib Year' and the Golden Jubilee of our victory. Everything we have achieved in the last 51 years since our Independence has been attained by the Father of the Nation and the Awami League.”
She also hoped that this trend of development will continue, Bangladesh will be established as a hunger-poverty-free and developed- prosperous country by 2041 as dreamt by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
She urged all to spread the spirit of the great Liberation War from generation to generation- “let this be our pledge on this victory.”
Indian war veterans to join Bangladesh’s Victory Day celebrations in Dhaka
Twenty-nine valiant freedom fighters and six serving officers of Bangladesh Armed Forces left here for India on Thursday to participate in Vijay Diwas celebrations in Kolkata on this 51st anniversary of the Liberation War.
Similarly, 30 Indian war veterans and six serving officers of Indian Armed Forces have reached Dhaka to participate in Bangladesh’s Victory Day celebration.
To commemorate the Liberation War of 1971, India and Bangladesh invite each other’s War Veterans and serving officers to participate annually in each other’s Victory Day celebrations.
Read more: Indian President to attend Victory Day celebrations Dec 16
During the visit, the valiant freedom fighters will interact with Indian war veterans and senior officers from the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force, who played a pivotal role in training the freedom fighters and fought shoulder to shoulder in the just struggle for freedom, said the Indian High Commission in Dhaka on Thursday.
PM to address nation this evening, marking Victory Day
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will address the nation this evening, on the occasion of Victory Day 2022.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will address the nation at 7:30pm this evening, says a press release from PM’s Press Wing.
Read more: PM to address nation this evening
State-owned Bangladesh Television and Bangladesh Betar will broadcast the prime minister’s speech.
BNP to take out ‘V-Day’ rally in city on Friday
BNP will take out a colourful ‘V Day Rally’ in Dhaka city on Friday, marking the 53rd Victory Day.
The rally will be brought out around 2:30pm from Nayapaltan in front of BNP’s Central office, said a press release on Wednesday.
To mark the V Day, the party will also hoist national and party flags atop the party offices in the morning on December 16.
BNP standing committee members will place wreaths at the National Mausoleum at Savar the day at 9am.
Later, they will place wreaths at the grave of BNP founder Ziaur Rahman at Sher-e Banglanagar in the capital on the same day.
Read: BNP pays homage to martyred intellectuals, vows to restore democracy
BNP and its different associate bodies will also mark the Victory Day with various programmes, including discussions.
The party urged the leaders and activists of the party and its associate bodies to make the programmes of the Victory Day a success with their spontaneous participation.
The nation will celebrate the 53rd Victory Day on Friday to pay deep homage to the martyrs of the Liberation War.
Read: BNP looks to change date of mass procession upon AL request
After a bloodstained nine-month-long war and at the cost of the supreme sacrifice of three million martyrs and the honour of nearly half a million mothers and sisters, Bangladesh finally gained its freedom as an independent country on this glorious day, December 16, 1971 with the surrender of Pakistani occupation forces.
55 Bangladeshi self-taught artists to join Victory Day art exhibition in Dubai
To celebrate the 51st Victory Day of Bangladesh, 55 Bangladeshi and 20 international artists will participate in a special group art exhibition at Dubai International Art Center (DIAC) in the UAE from December 12 to 21.
The 10-day art exhibition, "Bijoy" is organised by Funun Arts of the UAE and Mahfuz Canvas of Bangladesh.
The participating self-taught artists will showcase their work, depicting that art is beyond borders, according to the organisers.
Read: ‘Evolution’: Abdullah Al Bashir’s second solo exhibition begins at AFD
The Consul General of Bangladesh in Dubai and the Northern Emirates BM Jamal Hossain and Emirati entrepreneur and Chairman of Al Zarooni Foundation Suhail Mohd Al Zarooni, a renowned Emirati collector and Guinness Book World Record holder, will inaugurate the art event.
PowerPac, a concern of Sikder Group, is the title sponsor of the exhibition.
"We are proud to sponsor this special tribute exhibition to the Victory of Bangladesh, with a specific focus on encouraging artists to improve their creations by giving them a global platform and encouraging them to honour the cultures of Bangladesh and history through their artworks," according to PowerPac.
Read: Photo exhibition by Mongol Deep Foundation begins in city
Mahfuzur Rahman, the founder of Mahfuz Canvas, said this endeavour is their greatest international achievement yet, and this is the largest overseas self-taught Bangladeshi artists' art exhibition to date.
Shiba Khan and Farah Khan, founders of Funun Arts, one of the most vibrant art platforms in the UAE, said they aim to represent art and bring talents to light. "Artists are also given complete freedom to present themselves in their ways."
7-day Covid vaccination campaign from Dec 1 marking Victory Day
The government will launch another special vaccination campaign against Covid-19, marking the country’s Victory Day, said the Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Tuesday.
The campaign will start from December 1 and end on December 7, he said in an event marking World Antibacterial Week at a city hotel.
Read more: COVID-19: US vaccine donations to Bangladesh exceed 100 million
Around 90 lakh people will be vaccinated under this campaign, he added.
“We have been successful in our previous campaigns. Hopefully this one will be successful too,” said the minister.
Read more: Campaign for 1st, 2nd doses of Covid vaccine to continue till Oct 8: DGHS
So far, 14.69 crore people have been vaccinated with the first dose while more than 12 crore people with the second dose against Covid-19, he added.
No end in sight for Ukraine war as Putin hails Victory Day
Russian President Vladimir Putin used a major patriotic holiday Monday to again justify his war in Ukraine but did not declare even a limited victory or signal where the conflict was headed, as his forces continued to pummel targets across the country with few signs of significant progress.
The Russian leader oversaw a Victory Day parade on Red Square, with troops marching in formation, military hardware on display, and a brass band blaring to mark the Soviet Union's defeat of Nazi Germany. But his much-anticipated speech offered no new insights to how he intended to salvage the grinding war — and instead stuck to allegations that Ukraine posed a threat to Russia, even though Moscow’s nuclear-armed forces are far superior in numbers and firepower.
“The danger was rising by the day,” he said as he surveyed the troops. “Russia has given a pre-emptive response to aggression. It was a forced, timely and the only correct decision.”
Ukrainian leaders and their Western backers have often rejected claims that Kyiv posed any threat to its giant neighbor.
Many analysts had suggested Putin might use his speech to declare some sort of limited victory — potentially in the besieged strategic port city of Mariupol — as he looks for an exit from the conflict that has unleashed punishing sanctions from the West and strained Russia’s resources. Others suggested he might order a nationwide mobilization to beef up the depleted ranks for an extended conflict.
There was “nothing significant in Putin’s speech today, but he will need to make a decision regarding mobilization in the coming weeks,” wrote Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Philadelphia-based Foreign Policy Research Institute, on Twitter.
Also read: Putin to mark Victory Day as Russia presses Ukraine assault
As Putin laid a wreath in Moscow, air raid sirens echoed again in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared in his own Victory Day address that his country would eventually defeat the Russians.
“Very soon there will be two Victory Days in Ukraine,” he said in a video released to mark the holiday. “We have never fought against anyone. We always fight for ourselves. ... We are fighting for freedom for our children, and therefore we will win.”
An adviser to Zelenskyy also pushed back against the idea that Ukraine and its Western allies posed any threat to Russia.
Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter that “NATO countries were not going to attack Russia. Ukraine did not plan to attack Crimea,” which Russia seized in 2014.
The Ukrainian military’s General Staff warned Monday of a high probability of missile strikes on the holiday, and Britain’s Defense Ministry said in its daily assessment Russian forces could increasingly subject Ukrainian towns and cities to “intense and indiscriminate bombardments with little or no regard for civilian casualties" as they run short of precision-guided munitions.
In fact, more than 60 people were feared dead after a Russian bomb flattened a Ukrainian school being used as a shelter in Bilohorivka, an eastern village, Ukrainian officials said.
With the war now in its 11th week, battles were being waged on multiple fronts, but Russia was perhaps closest to victory in Mariupol, where Ukrainian fighters are making a last stand at a sprawling steel mill in a battle that has highlighted some of the worst suffering of the war.
The complete capture of Mariupol would deprive Ukraine of a vital port, allow Russia to complete a land corridor to the Crimean Peninsula, and free troops up for fighting elsewhere in the Donbas, which is now Putin's stated focus following his failure to seize the capital in the early days of the conflict. The fall of the city would provide a much-needed symbolic victory for Russia.
Russian forces pounded away over the weekend at the plant, where as many as 2,000 Ukrainian fighters are are estimated to be holding out.
Also read: Russian mercenaries are Putin's 'coercive tool' in Africa
“We are under constant shelling,” said Capt. Sviatoslav Palamar, deputy commander of the Ukrainian Azov Regiment, which held the mill.
Lt. Illya Samoilenko, another regiment member, said a couple hundred wounded soldiers were inside. He declined to say how many able-bodied fighters remained. He said fighters had to dig by hand to free people from bunkers that collapsed under shelling.
For weeks, hundreds of civilians also took shelter with the fighters at the plant, but the last were evacuated Saturday. In a convoy led by the United Nations and international Red Cross, they arrived Sunday night in Zaporizhzhia, the first major Ukrainian city beyond the frontlines. They spoke of constant shelling, dwindling food, ubiquitous mold — and using hand sanitizer for cooking fuel.
The Ukrainian military warned Russian troops were seizing "personal documents from the local population without good reason” in parts of the Zaporizhzhia region that they controlled — allegedly as a way to force residents to join in Victory Day commemorations.
As a stiffer than expected Ukrainian resistance, bolstered by Western arms, has bogged down Russian forces, Moscow scaled back its war aims. It is now pressing offensives in some areas of southern Ukraine and the Donbas, where Moscow-backed separatists have fought Ukrainian troops for years. But they still have struggled to make significant strides, and Ukrainian and Russian forces have fought village by village in recent weeks.
A Ukrainian counteroffensive in the northeast near Kharkiv, outside of the Donbas but key to offensive there, was making “significant progress,” according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank.
However, Rodion Miroshnik, a pro-Kremlin official in the Luhansk region of the Donbas, said Moscow-backed separatist forces and Russian troops had captured most of Popasna, an embattled city that saw two months of fierce fighting.
The southern Black Sea port of Odesa has also seen increased fighting recently, and Ukrainian officials said Russia fired four cruise missiles targeting the city Monday from Crimea. It said no civilians were wounded in the attack, but did not elaborate on what was struck.
“The enemy continues to destroy the infrastructure of the region and exert psychological pressure on the civilian population,” the command said. “There is a very high probability of continued missile attacks in the region.”
As they struggle to make gain, Russian forces have repeatedly shelled cities and towns indiscriminately. About 90 people were sheltering in the school basement in Bilohorivka when it was attacked Saturday. Emergency crews found two bodies and rescued 30 people, but “most likely all 60 people who remain under the rubble are now dead,” Serhiy Haidai, governor of Luhansk province, wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
Ukraine’s military also warned some 19 Russian battalion tactical groups were stationed just across the border in Russia’s Belgorod region. Those groups likely consist of some 15,200 troops with tanks, missile batteries and other weaponry.
As Victory Day turned attention toward Putin, Western leaders showed new signs of support for Ukraine.
The Group of Seven leading industrial democracies pledged Sunday to ban or phase out imports of Russian oil.
The United States, meanwhile, announced new sanctions, cutting off Western advertising from Russia’s three biggest TV stations, banning U.S. accounting and consulting firms from providing services, and cutting off Russia’s industrial sector from wood products, industrial engines, boilers and bulldozers.
U.S. first lady Jill Biden met Sunday with her Ukrainian counterpart. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raised his country’s flag at its embassy in Kyiv. And U2′s Bono, alongside bandmate The Edge, performed in a Kyiv subway station that had been used as a bomb shelter, singing the 1960s song “Stand by Me.”
Victory Day Handball advance to final stage
The Walton Victory Day Men’s and Women’s Handball Tournaments advanced to the finals at the Shaheed Capt (Retd) M Mansur Ali National Handball Stadium here on Thursday.
Both the finals will be held on Saturday (Dec 25) morning at the same venue.
Bangladesh Ansar & VDP will play Jamalpur Sports Academy in the Women’s final at 10 am while Bangladesh Ansar & VDP will face Boarder Guard Bangladesh in the men’s final at 11:30 am on Saturday at the same venue.
Also read: Victory Day Handball Tournanent underway
In the day’s men’s first semifinal, Bangladesh Ansar & VDP defeated Tetulia Upazila Sports Association of Panchagarh by 36-17 goal after leading the first half by 13-11 goal.
In the day’s 2nd semifinal, Jamalpur Sports Academy eliminated Bangladesh Police Handball Club by 27-21 goal after dominating the first half by 13-9 goal.
Also read: Youth Handball: Panchagarh emerge champions beating Naogoan
PM greets FFs, sends them gifts on Victory Day
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday greeted all freedom fighters (FFs) of the country on the occasion of the 51st Victory Day.
Like the previous years, the PM sent flowers, fruits and sweetmeats to the FFs at the Muktijuddha Complex at College Gate here as a mark of her good wishes for them.
On behalf of the Prime Minister, her Assistant Private Secretary-2 Gazi Hafizur Rahman Liku handed over the gift items to the FFs and their family members at 12:30pm. Prime Minister’s Deputy Press Secretary Hasan Jahid Tusher was present at the ceremony.
The freedom fighters thanked and expressed gratitude to the Prime Minister for remembering them on every national day and festival like the Independence Day, the Victory Day, Eid and Pahela Baishakh.
They also wished Sheikh Hasina good health and long life, said sources at the Prime Minister’s Press Wing.
The nation celebrated the 51st Victory Day as Bangladesh was liberated on December 16, 1971 at the cost of the supreme sacrifice of three million martyrs and the honour of 200,000 women in a blood-stained nine-month war.
Bijoy Mela by Channel i: Victory Day celebrated with cultural performance, reminiscence
Like last year, Channel i organised a day-long Bijoy Mela (Victory Fair) at its Tejgaon office premises Thursday to celebrate the 51st Victory Day of Bangladesh.
Music, dance, recitation and reminiscence on the Liberation War of Bangladesh marked the fair "Bijoyer Ponchash" (50 Years of Victory).
Freedom fighters of the different sectors inaugurated the event at 11:05am fair by cutting ribbons and releasing 50 pigeons and as many as red-green balloons.
Artistes of Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra, members of Swadhin Bangla Football Team, freedom fighters, and noted cultural personalities among others were present at the inaugural ceremony.
A group of artists led by Monirul Islam painted the Liberation War of Bangladesh on canvas.
Jayanto Chattopadhyay, Hasan Imam, Laila Hasan recited poems at the programme.
Small stalls were set up at the fair where documents on the Liberation War were available alongside different products.
Freedom Fighter Mukit Majumder Babu said at the programme: "I never thought that I would be fortunate enough to witness the joyous celebrations of 50 years of Bangladesh's independence and achievement."
"Today is quite an unbelievable day for us. I never thought that I would be able to pay tribute to the freedom fighters. I salute all the freedom fighters who put their lives on the line to liberate Bangladesh."
Channel i honoured the attendee freedom fighters at the programme with stoles and crests.
Channel i Director and Head of News Shykh Seraj said: " I have had the privilege to witness the development of Bangladesh up close. And we have already started thinking about the country's journey over the next 50 years. The country will make more progress in the future if its current momentum continues."