Staff Correspondent

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today issued a message greeting the countrymen on the occasion of Pahela Baishakh, the first day of Bengali New Year 1431, to be celebrated tomorrow.

In her message, the premier said Pahela Baishakh is the first day of the Bengali New Year and it is a universal festival. It is the day of harmony and the great reunion of Bengalis, she said.

Sheikh Hasina called upon all, irrespective of religion and caste, to wake up with new joy forgetting the sorrows and failures of the past year.

The search for the identity and roots of Bengalis can be found through its celebration, Sheikh Hasina said, adding that Pahela Baishakh is a reflection of the Bangalees.

During the Pakistan period, the colonial power wanted to destroy the Bengali tradition, the premier said, adding that the Bengalis resisted it with the strength of self-identity and their own culture.

Bengalis joined the struggle for liberation by holding that power under the leadership of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, she continued.

She said the combined flow of culture and politics has been turned into a struggle for independence and freedom.

"This is how independent sovereign Bangladesh emerged in the world," Sheikh Hasina added.

Following this, the traditional Mangal Shovajatra has been recognised as a world heritage by UNESCO, she said.

"The international recognition of it is undoubtedly a great achievement. Following this path, the Bangalees will become the best nation in the world community," Hasina said.

The Bengali nation cannot be suppressed as the achievements and progress of the Bangalee heroes will be remembered ages after ages, she said.

Ethnic heritage and pride are also the key to the lifelong struggle of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in establishing ideologies such as secularism, liberalism, nationalism and democracy, the premier added.

She hoped that this year's Baishakh will be a great inspiration for the nation to fight against militancy, fundamentalism, extremism and anti-liberation forces and to build a society free from hunger and poverty and a golden Bangladesh cum Smart Bangladesh as dreamt by Bangabandhu.