Today is March 26, our great Independence Day. This is the day of breaking shackles of 24 years subjugation; a day of reaching the enlightened world from the abyss of darkness. On this very day in 1971, the Bangalee nation started the War of Liberation against the misrule, exploitation and torture of the Pakistani autocratic brutal regime with the clarion call by our Father of the Nation Bangabandu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. On this very day, I recall with deep reverence the great Hero and the greatest Bangalee of all time the Father of the Nation Bangabandu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman whose vigorous leadership inspired the Bangalee nation in the War of Liberation. I pay my homage to our 3 million martyrs and 200,000 mothers and sisters whose supreme sacrifice and dishonor ushered us an independent and sovereign Bangladesh colored in red and green. I remember all the martyrs of all the movements and struggles including from anti-colonial movement to the historic language movement and mass upsurge of 1969 — whose blood colored our homeland and their memory is shinning in our national flag. Achievement of our independence has made these sacrifices glorious and meaningful. The occupation forces unleashed a sudden attack and started killing innocent and unarmed Bangalees on the black night of the March 25, 1971. They killed thousands of people in cities and towns, including Dhaka. The present Parliament on March 11, 2017 unanimously adopted a resolution to observe March 25 as "Day of Genocide" marking the brutality carried out by the Pakistani Army on the black night of March 25, 1971. March 26 is a day to remember the great leader Bangabandu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, war heroes and their contributions as well as to take oath to realize the spirit of our Liberation War, which motivated the Bangalee Nation to make supreme sacrifices. This is also an occasion to introduce our new generation to the true history of our Liberation War. The government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been working tirelessly to materialize the dream of the Father of the Nation for a secular as well as hunger- and poverty-free prosperous Bangladesh. As a result, Bangladesh is marching forward with $1,466 per capita income, more than 7.1% growth rate and $32 billion of foreign currency reserve. Today, Bangladesh is a role model to the outer world. These changes in Bangladesh are towards prosperity and welfare. And, you, my expatriate brothers and sisters are a part of this onward movement. Today`s more than $14.91 billion of remittance is the outcome of your love for the motherland as well as your families. This remittance is contributing significantly to the development process of Bangladesh. To keep up with this pace of development we all will be working unitedly under "Vision 2021" declared by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to transform Bangladesh into a middle income country by 2021 and follow the path of development to take Bangladesh at the level of a developed country by 2041. We pledge this on this day of independence. Joy Bangla,
