Staff Correspondent

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina greeted all citizens of the country on the occasion of the Bangladesh Constitution Day to be observed today ( Friday).

Tomorrow is the Bangladesh Constitution Day as the Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh was adopted by the Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh on November 4, 1972 and it came into effect on December 16 in the same year.

On the eve of the day, the premier, in a message, said the Bangladesh Constitution Day is a historical day for the Bangalee nation.

Responding to the call of the greatest Bangalee of all time and Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the long-awaited Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh was adopted within 11 months of the final victory on December 16, 1971 through a long 23-year political struggle and nine months of bloody liberation war, she said.

The Awami League (AL) gained an absolute majority in the 1970 general elections under the leadership of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, she added.

She further said that in this election, the people of Bangladesh elected Awami League candidates in 167 out of 169 seats in East Pakistan.

There was a total of of 313 seats in the National Assembly of Pakistan, she added.

Later, in the provincial elections, AL candidates dominated the elections wining 298 seats out of 310 seats, she said.

But the then Pakistan's military junta indulged in conspiracies without handing over the responsibility of running the country to Awami League, the premier continued.
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman called for non-cooperation movement with all the people of Bangladesh, she said, adding: "On March 7 in 1971, the Father of the Nation stood in the crowd of the Race Course Maidan in Dhaka."

Standing there, Banganadhu loudly announced - "The struggle this time is the struggle for our freedom! The struggle this time is the struggle for independence!" she mentioned.

The Pakistani occupation forces started the brutal massacre of innocent and unarmed Bangalees on the night of March 25, she said.

Bangabandhu formally announced the independence of Bangladesh in the early hours of March 26, 1971 before being arrested, she said.

This announcement was spread all over Bangladesh through telegram, tele-printer and wireless of the then EPR, she said, adding that it was also broadcast in the international media.

During the struggle for independence, the 'Proclamation of Independence, 1971' was announced on April 10 in 1971 which is considered as the first constitution of the interim government of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina continued.