National Mourning Day (Bangladesh)

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National Mourning Day
Bangladeshi Ambassador lowers flag at half mast, Yangon, Myanmar, 2017-08-15 (PID-0048104).jpg
Flag of Bangladesh at half-mast on the day
Also calledজাতীয় শোক দিবস
Observed by Bangladesh
Liturgical colorBlack
SignificanceTo honour the people died during Assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Date15 August
First time1976(49 years ago) (1976)
1996 (Officially)

National Mourning Day of Bangladesh is a former public holiday in Bangladesh, commemorations began in 1976. [1] [2] Before 2024, on 15 August of every year, the day was observed officially and nationally. [3] [4] [5] [6]

Contents

History

Military ceremony at Mausoleum of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on the day Major General Naqib Ahmad Chowdhury Pays Homage to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Mausoleum 2021-08-15 (PID-0028116).jpg
Military ceremony at Mausoleum of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on the day

On 15 August 1975, the first president of independent Bangladesh and the "father of the nation" who was also called "Bangabandhu" (meaning friend of Bangla) Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated by a group of army personnel, along with his family at his house in Dhanmondi in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka. Besides him, his wife Bangamata Begum Fazilatunnesa Mujib was killed that day. 16 more people were killed along with their family members and relatives. [7]

To commemorate the day, the 'National Mourning Day' was declared for the first time at a student rally held at the south gate of Baitul Mukarram National Mosque on 5 November 1975, following the funeral prayers of four national leaders and Bangabandhu. [2] Ignoring the special military decree issued on 5 August 1976, student leaders took the initiative to pay homage to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on 15 August 1976, the first death anniversary of Sheikh Mujib, at 32 Dhanmondi and organize a Milad ceremony at Dhaka University Mosque. [2] [8] In the presence of a large number of students, prayers were offered at the Milad ceremony at Dhaka University Mosque, seeking the peace of the souls of Bangabandhu and his family members. [2] However, when they tried to enter Dhanmondi Road No. 32, the police blocked them. In this, students threw and floated flowers in the water of Dhanmondi Lake adjacent to the road towards the Bangabandhu House. [2] On the same day, initiatives were taken to hold a Milad Mahfil, Quran Khatam, Doa-Monajat at Shaheed Ashuranjan Hostel of Haji Asmat College in Bhairab, Kishoreganj, and a Dua Mahfil at the Town Hall in Jessore. [9] [10] The police prevented the Milad Mahfil in Kishoreganj. 22 people were arrested for 'disobeying' the military order. They were all released in phases within 1 year. [9] In 1996, [11] Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's daughter, bypassed her parliament and promulgated the national day of remembrance by decree. The ordinance was later ratified by her parliament in a bill. [12] Government officials commemorated the day by laying wreaths, making speeches, and attending special prayers. [13]

Controversies

Sheikh Hasina along others praying at the assassination site (now ruined) on the day Sheikh Hasina, Sheikh Rehana, Milad Mahfil, Bangabandhu Bhaban, Dhaka, 2023-08-15 (PID-0014203).jpg
Sheikh Hasina along others praying at the assassination site (now ruined) on the day

When the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) came to power in 2001, they reversed the bill. Awami League (AL) stalwarts continued to observe the anniversary, but without government recognition. In 2008, the caretaker government reintroduced the holiday. [11] Sociologist Hasanuzzaman Chowdhury wrote that Khaleda Zia, leader of the BNP and former prime minister, shifted the observance of her birthday to 15 August to defy the AL and mock the commemoration. [14]

On 13 August 2024, the interim government of Muhammad Yunus lastly cancelled the holiday [15] and its observation [16] following consultations with various political parties. [17] Prior to that, student organisations that had spearheaded the 2024 Bangladesh quota reform movement and the 2024 Non-cooperation movement that toppled Sheikh Hasina from power had criticised the event as having become "a political and cultural symbol of the party". [18]

Prior to that the government had made it obligatory for schools and other public institutions to observe the holiday, and granted universities funds to organize events on the day. [11]

Anthropologist Mascha Schultz claimed a striking absence of the general public, those not involved in politics or compelled to attend, from commemoration events. [13]

References

  1. ↑ "August 15 public holiday canceled". Dhaka Tribune . 13 August 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 বঙ্গবন্ধু হত্যার পর প্রতিবাদী ছাত্র আন্দোলন. চ্যানেল আই অনলাইন. 5 August 2019. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  3. ↑ "Govt cancels eight national days, including Mar 7, Aug 15". bdnews24.com . 16 October 2024.
  4. ↑ ৭ মার্চসহ আটটি জাতীয় দিবস বাতিল করে আদেশ জারি. Prothom Alo (in Bengali). 16 October 2024.
  5. ↑ "Public holiday on 15 Aug cancelled". daily-sun. August 2024.
  6. ↑ "Today is national mourning day". Bangla Tribune (in Bengali). Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  7. ↑ "Bangladesh Coup: A Day of Killings". The New York Times. 23 August 1975.
  8. ↑ Com, Jagonews24. শোকাবহ আগস্ট ও বঙ্গবন্ধু হত্যার প্রতিবাদ. Jago News 24 (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 19 August 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2019.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. 1 2 বঙ্গবন্ধুর প্রথম শাহাদাত বার্ষিকী পালন করায় কারাভোগ, আজ অবহেলিত. NTV (in Bengali). 15 August 2018.
  10. ↑ গায়েবানা জানাজার কারণে নির্যাতন চলে যশোরে. Kaler Kantho (in Bengali). August 2017. Archived from the original on 10 May 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  11. 1 2 3 Schulz, Mascha (2019). "Performing the Party. National Holiday Events and Politics at a Public University Campus in Bangladesh". South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal. 22 (22): 6–7. doi:10.4000/samaj.6508. hdl: 21.11116/0000-0007-ADDE-D . S2CID   226813253.
  12. ↑ Moniruzzaman, M. (February 2009). "Parliamentary Democracy in Bangladesh: An Evaluation of the Parliament during 1991–2006". Commonwealth & Comparative Politics. 47 (1): 104–105. doi:10.1080/14662040802659017. S2CID   67779420.
  13. 1 2 Schulz, Mascha (2019). "Performing the Party. National Holiday Events and Politics at a Public University Campus in Bangladesh". South Asia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal. 22 (22): 11–13. doi:10.4000/samaj.6508. hdl: 21.11116/0000-0007-ADDE-D . S2CID   226813253.
  14. ↑ Chowdhury, Hasanuzzaman (September 2011). "Revisiting Globalisation: Perspective Bangladesh". India Quarterly. 67 (3): 253. doi:10.1177/097492841106700304. S2CID   156640928.
  15. ↑ "Public holiday on August 15 cancelled". banglanews24.com (in Bengali). 13 August 2024.
  16. ↑ "Public holiday on 15 August scrapped". The Business Standard . 13 August 2024. Archived from the original on 13 August 2024.
  17. ↑ "Govt cancels general holiday on 15 August". Prothom Alo . 13 August 2024.
  18. ↑ "Student leaders decide against observing August 15 as National Mourning Day". Dhaka Tribune . 13 August 2024.
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