Historic Mass Upsurge Day today

Staff Correspondent: The mass upsurge of 1969 is a significant milestone in the history of the country’s independence. The Mass Upsurge Day is set to be observed today to commemorate the historic uprising against the Pakistani military dictatorship in 1969.

 

On this day in 1969, student-led protesters laid siege to the then Dhaka Secretariat and at one point broke into it and burnt it down, partially.

 

Police shot school student Motiur Rahman Mallik and teenager Rustam to death at the fag end of the mass movement.

 

Earlier in the day, the demonstrators burnt down the National Press Trust (NPT) office that housed the Pakistan government mouthpieces the English daily, Morning News and the Bengali daily, Dainik Pakistan. The indiscriminate police firing also left many other critically injured during a general strike in the city on the day.

 

The day signified the actual fall of the 10-year military regime of General Ayub Khan and later paved the way for the country’s independence through nine months of war in 1971.

 

President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued separate messages on the mass upsurge day.

 

They will pay tributes to Shaheed Motiur and other martyrs of the historic Mass Upsurge.

 

Different political and socio-cultural organisations and student bodies have chalked out elaborate programmes marking the day.

 

In two separate messages, President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina called upon all to be inspired with the spirits of the mass upsurge of 1969 and the Liberation War to build a prosperous Bangladesh.

 

Following the path of this mass upsurge, the independence and democratic rights of the people were earned in exchange for huge sacrifices, the president said.

 

“We all would have to work with unity to uphold this independence and democracy.”

 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urged all, irrespective of party affiliations, to work together for building a happy, modern, democratic and peaceful country free from hunger and poverty.

 

She said, “We are working untiringly to bring smiles on the faces of all, ending exploitation, deception and discrimination.”

 

The Prime Minister said her government is pledge-bound to build a poverty and hunger-free, happy, prosperous, modern, peaceful and democratic Bangladesh.

 

The nation achieved independence following the language movement of 1952, six-point demand, 11-point demand, mass upsurge of 1969 and the bloody war of liberation, she added.

 

She said the greatest Bangalee of all time Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had announced the six-point demand in 1966 to liberate the nation from the exploitation of the Pakistani rulers.

 

To thwart the mass movement, the Pakistani ruling group had resorted to Agartala conspiracy case and arrested Bangabandhu. The people, including students, workers and farmers, waged a tough but spontaneous movement against this.

 

The struggling people brought out a procession on this day (January 24) in 1969 defying repression and curfew imposed by the rulers, she said and added that Matiur Rahman, a class IX student, had died as police opened fire on the procession.

 

Then the mass upsurge compelled the autocratic Ayub regime to release Bangabandhu and others from jail, said the prime minister, adding that Autocrat Ayub was compelled to step down. She said the 1969 mass upsurge still inspires all to fight against misrule and exploitation.

 

risingbd/DHAKA/Jan 24, 2017/Tipu/Amirul