INDIA/BANGLADESH: Bangladesh celebrates 35th anniversary of its independence following 1971 war between India and Pakistan, while India remembers the dead

Bangladesh celebrated the 35th anniversary of its independence on Saturday (December 16) amid continuing strife ahead of parliamentary elections due next month, with rival leaders laying wreaths at a war memorial near the capital. Bangladesh won independence from Pakistan on December 16, 1971 after a nine-month guerrilla war costing millions of lives. The armed forces heralded the big day, a public holiday in Bangladesh, with a dawn artillery barrage, and people poured into the streets, chanting "victory is for ever, let us keep it safe". Addressing a children's parade in Dhaka, President Iajuddin Ahmed urged Bangladeshis to join efforts to build the impoverished country into a happy and prosperous nation. The president was the first to lay a wreath at the national war memorial at Savar, 25 km (16 miles) from the capital, followed by rival former prime ministers Begum Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina, witnesses said. Security was tight. "We salute, we pay our homage to the persons who laid down their lives for the independence of this country. And we hope (for) a positive future for Bangladesh," Imtiaz Ahmed, a citizen of Bangladesh said. "We shall ever, ever remain grateful for the sacrifices made by the valiant freedom fighters which led us to the independence of the country. We will ever, ever remain grateful," another citizen said. Khaleda's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Hasina's Awami League are currently locked in a bitter struggle to win power in the elections set for January 23. The run-up to the polls so far has been violent and tense with rival activists clashing almost daily. At least 44 have been killed and hundreds injured since late October. At least 10 people were injured in fighting overnight when rival party officials gathered to lay wreaths at a war memorial in the southern port city of Chittagong, police said. Despite the anniversary, Bangladesh stayed focused on Saturday on its present-day challenge of holding a free and fair election, with a Hasina-led multiparty alliance still threatening to "resist" unless crucial reforms are implemented. Its demands include removal of key Election Commission officials, whom Hasina accuses of bias in favour of Khaleda and the BNP, and pushing back the poll date to allow more time for campaigning. Officials said this looked a remote possibility given that the constitution requires new elections to take place within three months of expiry of the previous government's tenure. India on Saturday (December 16) paid rich tributes to its soldiers, who took part in the 1971 war against Pakistan, resulting in the liberation of Bangladesh. In the national capital, Sonia Gandhi, chief of India's ruling United Progressive Alliance, opened a photo-exhibition of the war and its related events. "It is day we salute our war heroes, armed forces, their heroic deeds and we remember all their heroic actions. They are to protect our country," said Defence Minister A.K. Antony, who was also present on the occasion. Gandhi and Antony also met hundreds of war veterans and gallantry award winners, who had participated in the war. India's support to a nine-month guerrilla war and its direct involvement won Bangladesh its independence from Pakistan on December 16, 1971. The 13-day war ended on December 16, 1971 when General A.A.K. Niazi of Pakistan signed the instrument of surrender before India's Lt. Gen.Jasjit Singh Aurora at Dhaka, now the capital of Bangladesh. The participants of the 1971 war stressed economic growth of country is meaningless without securing its borders. In eastern Kolkata, the GOC-IN-C (eastern command) Lieutenant General Arvind Sharma indicated an increase in the level of insurgency in India's northeastern region. "Is mainly because the people who are there inimical to us, who are there from other countries and made their bases and are supporting these militants. It is because of this indirect terms it is ISI (Inter Service Intelligence) which is controlling a lot of things in Bangladesh as far as militant related activities are concerned. To that extent it is this factor which is causing an increase in the insurgency levels as such," he said. In, northern Ambala, similar celebrations took place to commemorate the historic day. Over 93,000 Pakistani prisoners of war were captured by the Indian armed forces and an estimated three million Bangladeshis were killed. The prisoners of war were returned to Pakistan after signing of the Simla Agreement in July 1972.

ITN Source | December 17, 2006

Tags:. .whom. .laid. .constitution. .unless. .bitter