Historic Mass Upsurge Day tomorrow

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DHAKA, Jan 23, 2020 (BSS) – The historic Mass Upsurge Day will be observed
tomorrow commemorating the 1969’s movement for autonomy from the then East
Pakistan that eventually led to Liberation War and emergence of Bangladesh in
1971.

On January 24, 1969 Matiur Rahman Mallik, a standard IX student of the
Nabakumar Institution, and Rustam Ali, a rickshaw-puller, were killed in
police firing on demonstrators in Dhaka as the Pakistani rulers desperately
tried to suppress the popular uprising.

The killings spread intense protests across the country that eventually saw
the fall of the Ayub regime. It is said that the day teaches Bangladeshis the
values of democracy and protest against oppression.

To mark the day, different political, social and cultural organisations
have chalked out elaborate programmes, including paying tributes to 1969
martyr Matiur Rahman by placing wreaths at his monument at Nabakumar
Institute at Bakshibazar in the capital.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today issued a message on the occasion,
expressing profound respect for those who had embraced martyrdom in the
historic movement in 1969.

In her message, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urged all, irrespective of
party affiliations, to work together for building a modern, developed and
prosperous nation as dreamt by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman.

“We are working tirelessly to bring smiles on the faces of all, ending
exploitation, deception and discrimination. Let work together to turn the
country into a middle-income one by 2021 and a developed one before 2041,”
she said.

Sheikh Hasina said the mass upsurge of 1969 is a significant milestone in
the history of the country’s independence.

The nation achieved independence following the language movement of 1952,
six-point demand, 11-point demand, mass upsurge of 1969 and the bloody War of
Liberation, she added.

She said the greatest Bangalee of all time Father of the Nation
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared the six-point demand in 1966 to
liberate the nation from the exploitation of the Pakistani rulers.

To foil the mass movement, the Pakistani ruling clique had filed the
Agartala conspiracy case and arrested Bangabandhu. The people, including
students, workers and farmers, waged a tough but spontaneous movement against
conspiracy, she added.

The struggling people brought out a procession on this day (January 24) in
1969 defying repression and curfew imposed by the rulers, she said, adding
that Matiur Rahman, a class IX student, had died as police opened fire on the
procession.

Then the mass upsurge compelled the autocratic Ayub regime to release
Bangabandhu and others from jail.

Autocrat Ayub had to step down, the Prime Minister recalled and said the
1969 mass upsurge still inspires all to fight against misrule and
exploitation.