On National Mourning Day, Awami League President and five-time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina delivered a defiant message: the victory flag will once again rise over Dhanmondi 32 — for Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, for Bangladesh, and for the Bengali people.
Speaking with visible resolve, Hasina honored the Father of the Nation, his family, and the martyrs of August 15, 1975 — a day she described as “one of the most barbaric tragedies in history.” Her tribute came with a warning that, five decades after independence, Bangladesh once again finds itself in the crosshairs of imperial rivalry and internal betrayal.
“Internal conspiracies, foreign interference, and new forms of economic exploitation have emerged as our challenges,” she said. “At this time, the teachings of Bangabandhu are our greatest strength. As long as Bangladesh exists, as long as the Bengali nation endures, the memory and ideals of Bangabandhu will be reborn again and again.”
Hasina framed Bangabandhu not only as the architect of Bangladesh’s independence but as a global anti-colonial leader whose fight against imperialism and colonialism was inseparable from his political mission. His vision — she reminded — went beyond political sovereignty to demand economic emancipation, social justice, and the preservation of cultural identity.
“He never bowed to foreign pressure, threats, or temptations,” she said, recalling his advocacy for a self-reliant, village-based economy and equal dignity for all nations on the world stage.
The 1975 assassination, Hasina insisted, was more than the killing of a man. “It was an attempt to annihilate an entire nation’s ideals, dreams, and future,” she said. When the historic home at Dhanmondi 32 was later bulldozed, she argued, it symbolized a continuing campaign to erase Bangabandhu’s spirit from the nation’s collective memory.
“The scarred and battered walls of No. 32 still bear witness to the blows of the bulldozers,” she said. “Fifty years later, the same forces that failed to erase Bangladesh and Bangabandhu are still trying to reverse history. Since 1952, these conspirators have never stopped.”
Standing firm, Hasina pledged that the banner of victory would rise again from the ruins — a declaration that her party and supporters have taken as both a promise of political resurgence and a reaffirmation of Bangabandhu’s enduring place in Bangladesh’s identity.
