The last nail in the coffin of the Pakistani state was struck on March 23, 1971. Nowhere in what was then East Pakistan was the Pakistani flag hoisted. Instead at the call of the Swadhin Bangla Chattra Sangram Parishad , comprising Students' League and Dhaka University Central Students'Union(DUCSU), it was observed as "National Flag Day" across the country.
Mujib declared 23rd March as a holiday. At his residence in Dhanmondi, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman raised the Bangladesh flag, to the cheers of the crowd gathered on the road outside his gate. It was the Bangladesh flag that was displayed on his car as it wound its way through the streets and into the President’s House for a fresh round of negotiations with President Yahya Khan.
The Awami League submitted a draft of what was considered its final proposals regarding a transfer of power to the Yahya Khan team on the day. General Peerzada promised to get back to the AL the next day.
The day was important for its symbolism. On this day in 1940, the Lahore Resolution was passed that Pakistan observed as its "national day" but the Swadhin Bangla Chattra Sangram Parishad rejected it and called for a "Protest Day".
The "Joy Bangla Bahini" created under the supervision of the Parishad organized an armed march past of a hundred thousand (100,000) volunteers at the Paltan Maidan.
The new national anthem "Amar Shonar Bangla" was played in the background as the flag rose.
The procession armed with rifles and other weaponry marched in total military style from Paltan to Bangabandhu's' House on Road 32, Dhanmandi.
Bangabandhu's residence also had a Bangladesh flag hoisted as did all houses and offices across the country and that included the university, secretariat, high court and all other government institutions including the EPR (East Pakistan Rifles, now Bangladesh Border Guards-BGB) headquarters, at Peelkhana. Almost all consulates also raised the Bangladesh flag barring the United States.
Meanwhile, Bangabandhu withdrew himself from the on-going talks with President Yahya and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. Later, Bhutto and Khan Abdul Qayuum Khan of the Pakistan Muslim League (Qayuum group) met Yahya Khan, separately.
After the meeting Bhutto told newsmen that the Six-point Program of Awami League went beyond autonomy, it verged on sovereignty, therefore he had rejected it.
The National Awami Party (NAP-Bhashani) announced the day as "Swadhin Purba Bangla Dibash" (Independent East Bengal Day), while both groups of East Pakistan Students' Union (EPSU) and many other professional, women's and other organizations brought out processions throughout the country to observe the day.
It was a turning point in the liberation of Bangladesh.
QH
