Shawdesh Desk:

The historic 7 March speech of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman still inspires people especially the young generation to stand against oppression and injustice, according to historians and researchers.

The 19-minute speech at the Racecourse Maidan (now Suhrawardy Udyan) on 7 March 1971, had inspired millions of freedom-seeking Bengalis to wage a decisive struggle and freed the country from the oppression of the Pakistani rulers, analysts said.

Dhaka University Prof Muntassir Mamoon said the Bangabandhu’s historic 7 March speech was a strategic approach of independence against Pakistan.

“Someone could describe the 1971 war as an internal struggle of Pakistan. But, Bangabandhu had shown his diplomatic excellence through his 7 March speech. Those who attended the grand rally that day got a call from Bangabandhu that there is no option but to liberate the nation,” this historian told the Daily Sun.

“Bangabandhu had sketched the independence of Bangladesh in phases,” Prof Mamoon said explaining the diplomatic aspects of the historic 7 March speech.

This Dhaka University professor thinks that the Pakistani army had failed to understand the meaning of the diplomatic words that Bangabandhu uttered in his 7 March speech to inspire people to get ready for creating a new nation.

“The speech has all elements and direction for the Liberation War of Bangladesh. As a great leader, Bangabandhu had directed the people to stand against the oppression of Pakistan,” he added.

Indian scholar and Trinamool Congress lawmaker Jawhar Sircar termed the Bangabandhu’s 7 March speech as the ‘most inspirational speech’ for generation and beyond.

“It was the most inspirational speech of my generation and I keep seeing the video of that speech every now and then.  I was 19 years old then and in college; it is impossible to explain what pride it had instilled in us in Kolkata and the West Bengal,” Jawhar Sircar told the Daily Sun.

Dhaka University’s former vice chancellor Prof AAMS Arefin Siddique thinks that the Bangabandhu’s historic 7 March speech was the strongest wave at the eve of our Liberation War.”

“The 7 March speech is an epic for the independence of Bangladesh. It’s an integral part of the country’s liberation war,” he said, adding that the speech is not only an inspiration for the Bengalis, but the international community has recognised Bangabandhu as a great leader for this landmark speech.

The day got more importance as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) recognised Bangabandhu’s speech in 2017 as part of the world’s documentary heritage, Prof Arefin, also the president of Bangabandhu Parishad, a research platform, told the Daily Sun.

It is here mentionable that Newsweek magazine had termed Bangabandhu as a “Poet of Politics” in its cover story on 5 April 1971 for his powerful 7 March speech that year.