Speech of 7th march, 1971

The Speech of 7th
March, 1971:
The Beginning of the End
On March the 7th, 1971 Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman delivered an epoch making
speech on the Racecourse Field of Ramana, Dhaka to a gathering of over two million people
that shaped the birth of a nation called Bangladesh – our motherland. Bangabandhu spoke
for about 18 minutes but the speech moved the countrymen to snatch their long desired
independence. A speech that can move 75 million people towards a 9 months bloodshed
struggle for freedom from the usurping the then West Pakistan can surely be named as a
historical speech of all-time. The speech is not only significant for its appeal towards the war
of independence of Bangladesh, but also for the everlasting interest for mankind,
peacemaking, absolute democracy and strong diplomatic structure. When we talk about this
speech, we must not forget the incidents and legitimate reasons behind such a historical
event.
Long Term Background: From the division of British India, Pakistan had two wings – one to
the West of India; known popularly as the then West Pakistan and the other – the then East
Pakistan, now Bangladesh, with about 1600 kilometers of distance between. The Western
wing had constantly been suppressing the East in many aspects. From economy to cultural
disparity had been a constant in the two winged nation. The West would take the lion’s
share of the revenue arned, ____% whereas only ___% of the whole population lived there.
Again, discrimination in the job sectors even including military and other professional forces
were dominant. A tendency of suppression in culture and dismissal of promotiong Bengali
tradition in the national media was also a vital reason for the people of Eastern wing to be
enraged upon the Western wing usurping leaders.

Immediate Background : Amidst social, cultural and economic racism of the West Pakistan
administration, the election of 1970 was the final and crucial-most reason for a combusting
protest against West Pakistan that gets reflected in the 7th March’s speech of Bangabandhu.
In 1970, General Yahya Khan erected as the president of Pakistan and announced for a
general election under a Legal Framework Order (LFO), which directed that upon the
formation of the parliament it would have to draft a constitution for Pakistan within 120
days based on the ideology of Pakistan, acknowledging its theocratic nature. It also said that
if General Yahya was not satisfied with the contents of the constitution he would trash the
draft.
AL fought the election on its Six-Point programme and announced that the constitution
would be framed incorporating the programme that promised maximum autonomy for all
the provinces of Pakistan. Many, including Maulana Bhashani, the chief of National Awami
Party (NAP), questioned the propriety of participating in such an election under LFO. But
Mujib was no revolutionary and believed in universally practiced democratic norms and that
elections were the only means of going to power. The Bangalis did not make a mistake in
choosing their leader and the party.
Under a democratic systemit is the majority party that is called to form the government.
But, on February 28, 1971, Bhutto announced that the 120 days’ time frame under LFO must
be removed, and if Yahya Khan postponed the sitting of Parliament, which was scheduled to
sit in Dhaka on March 3, 1971, he was willing to discuss the matters relating to Mujib's Six-
Point programme and framing of the constitution. Unexpectedly, on March 1, 1971 it was
announced that Yahya had decided to unilaterally postpone the sitting of the parliament. He
was dancing to Bhutto's tune. Bhutto was the lynchpin in the conspiracy against the people
of East Pakistan.
The postponement of the sitting of the parliament was the last nail in the coffin of a united
Pakistan. Syed Shahid Husain, a civil bureaucrat from the then West Pakistan serving in
Dhaka and witness to many events leading to March 25-26, 1971, writes in his memoir,
What Was Once East Pakistan: “The decision to postpone the session of National Assembly
triggered an immensely negative response. Dhaka Radio Station broadcast Mujib's call for
public protest in the province against the postponement. But people were unable to restrain
themselves and showed spontaneous and forceful resentment by coming out on the streets
within half an hour of the announcement….About 150 people showed up in my office and
respectfully asked me to order the closure of the office because their democratic rights had
been violated. I ordered accordingly.”
On March 3, Bangabandhu addressed a huge gathering at Paltan Maidan organised by
Purbo Pakistan Chhatra League where a national flag of Bangladesh was formally hoisted
and a manifesto of the proposed independent new nation was announced. The national
anthem of the would-be new country was also declared. Bangabandhu announced that on
March 7, 1971 he would give the formal directives to the nation at Ramna Race Course
(present day Suhrawardy Uddayan) about the future course of action.

The time was filled with unrest and people in general were anxious. Will Bangabandhu
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declare the independence? Would it be a unilateral declaration of
independence or would he announce some sort of compromise?
The Speech: Bangabandhu gave everyone a patient hearing but said very little. He knew
exactly what his options were and their possible outcomes. By midday the vast Ramna Race
course was teeming with millions to hear from the 'Poet of Politics,' a title given to him
earlier by Newsweek. Syed Shahid Husain writes: “I had noted in my diary that Sheikh Mujib
was likely to declare independence on March 7. As a matter of fact I had heard this on the
BBC. On March 7, Mujib addressed a mammoth really but did not declare independence.
Yahya must have been disappointed as he had probably hoped that Mujib would proclaim
independence and thus provide him the justification to arrest the East Pakistan leader.”
Bangabandhu arrived at the venue at 2.45 in the afternoon and spoke for only 19 minutes. It
was electrifying 19 minutes. Not only the people of entire Pakistan and East Bengal were
glued to their radios but the world was holding its breath. However, on orders from the
central government, both the radio and the TV had to abstain from broadcasting the historic
speech. In protest, the staff of the radio and TV walked out of their broadcasting stations.
The speech was extempore, and became one of the memorable speeches ever given by a
politician.
Bangabandhu started with the lines, "Today, I appeared before you with a heavy heart. You
know everything and understand as well. We tried with our lives, but the painful matter is
that today, in Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi and Rangpur, the streets are dyed red
with the blood of our brethren. Today the people of Bengal want freedom, the people of
Bengal want to survive, the people of Bengal want to have their rights. What wrong did we
do?"
He mentioned four conditions for joining the National Assembly on 25 March:
1. The immediate lifting of martial law;
2. The immediate withdrawal of all military personnel to their barracks;
3. A proper inquiry into the loss of life during the conflict.
4. The immediate transfer of power to elected representatives of the people;
He also gave several directives for a civil disobedience movement, instructing that:
 People should not pay taxes;
 Government servants should take orders only from him;
 The secretariat, government and semi-government offices, and courts in East
Pakistan should observe strikes, with necessary exemptions announced from time to
time;
 Only local and inter-district telephone lines should function;
 Railways and ports could continue to function, but their workers should not co-
operate if they were used to repress the people of East Pakistan.

While Bangabandhu was speaking the Dhaka, Garrison was preparing for an assault on the
unarmed civilians in case there was a declaration of independence. Bangabandhu did not
disappoint the waiting millions, but said what he had to in an intelligent and statesman-like
way. He ended his speech saying: “The struggle this time is for emancipation, the struggle
this time is for independence.” A straight declaration would have branded him a
secessionist and he would have losst world sympathy.
Bangabandhu declared
a programme of non-
cooperation unless
their demands were
met, which included
handing over power to
the majority party (AL)
in the parliament,
lifting of martial law,
pulling the army to the
barracks, holding
impartial enquiry for
the killing of innocent
civilians by the army. He directed the people not pay any taxes, and to observe complete
shutdown. All transport vehicles would run, banks would remain open till 2 p.m. and all
buildings would fly black flags. As a matter of fact it was Bangabandhu who was running the
civil administration of East Bengal and not Yahya Khan. By all definition East Pakistan was
lost and the world was witnessing the slow emergence of a new independent nation.
On March 15, 1971, Yahya arrived in Dhaka to talk to Bangabandhu. But it was too late. The
die was cast. It was just part of the conspiracy to reinforce the Pakistan army to annihilate
the Bengali nation. On March 25, 1969, when General Ayub Khan abdicated power in the
face of massive student uprising in both wings of Pakistan, he made a speech saying that he
could not preside over the destruction of Pakistan. He handed over power to General Yahya
who did exactly that because that was the pre-determined destiny of Pakistan, a country
created with a flawed ideology. Bangabandhu's speech on that afternoon has become
synonymous with the history of Bangladesh. Long live the spirit of March 7, 1971.
Analysis: The speech continued for about 19 minutes, or 18 minutes and 59 seconds. During
this 19 minute the population of 75 million people was looking upon the father of the nation
for hope of directions. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, prior to giving that speech had talked to
various ambassadors in Dhaka and knew if he declared immediate independence some of
those countries which befriends Pakistan will not support the newly formed Bangladesh,
this included The United States of America too. On the other hand on 7th March of 1971, the
two million people were being guarded by of a force of 10,000 Pakistani army personnel.

Bangabandhu also knew that if anything wrong takes place, the lives of these 2 million will
be at stake. So it was necessary yet challenging to proclaim the path to the upcoming War of
Freedom. On occasion of that, he said “The history of Bangla is the history of killing and
oppression of 23 years. You cannot keep suppressed the 7.5 crore people.” – denotes the
whole population of East Pakistan has turned against West Pakistan, leading them towards
the dream of independence is a matter of time.
“Build fortresses in every house.In every village, every locality, every union and every
sub-division establish ‘Resistant Council’ under the leadership of the Awami League.” –
which clearly sends the message that this nation is about to fight, and disobey until and
unless achieve what is cherished. He also said “Be prepared with whateveryou have” –
indicating the war is near and the people in general need to fight with all that courage and
hope they can gain in the name of freedom.
”Bear in mind since we have given blood, we will give more. By the grace of Allah, we will
surely liberate the people of this country.” – implying we have learnt to shed blood, the
country is aroused to the taste of liberty at ultimate cost and it has become irrevocable to
resist them now.
And finally , “The struggle this time is the struggle for our emancipation. The struggle this
time is the struggle for our independence.” – in a fabricated tone he declared that
Bangladesh from onwards whatever happens is considered independent and so he calls
upon the countrymen to confront the military junta and bring their rightful country to birth.
Significance: On 31 October 2017, UNESCO added the speech in its the Memory of the
World Register as a “documentary heritage”. A documentary heritage according to UESCO
is any document, written, scripted, printed, audible or visible is a document that

understands humanity, has historical value for the mankind and represents the world for
future as we live in today. According to United Nations this speech bears value that serves
for not only immediate wartime directions but also directs any human kind to the right of
his own and stand his point. This speech goes beyond the timeline of history and stands for
forever nationalism and freedom.
Upon the breakout of War of Liberation, this speech was regularly broadcast from the
Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra (Independent Radio Station of Bengal), as it was the cultural
spokesman of our liberation war.
Ziaur Rahman (later President of Bangladesh) wrote in the magazine Bichittra on 26 March
1974 that the speech had inspired him to take part in the 1971 Liberation War.
Jacob F. Field, in his book “We Shall Fight on the Beaches: The Speeches That Inspired
History” includes this speech and says it is one of the most contemporary speech for any
freedom seeking nation.
The speech of 7th March has inspired the 200,000 people who were present on the Ramana
Race Course and also the whole nation to take part in liberation war and free our country
from the enemy. This speech has touched the soul of every Bangladeshi and even after
1971, this speech has encouraged all other movements. The speech of 7th March was an
eye-opening declaration for the nation that we should stand together and free our country
from West Pakistan. This speech stands as an oratory version of our declaration of
independence. It also inspires the world today to seek for every individual’s rights. It is so
much moving that only after 18 days of the event when Operation Searchlight began, the
people of the country stood against the militia without any fear and without any immediate
indications. We must acknowledge the fact that though the declaration of independence
came later on, but this speech is the one that represented as the declaration for the 75
million people in general. We are proud that Bangladesh’s Father of Nation had driven us
with such a speech that we can hold dear to and gather strength defying the barriers of time
and space. It is, our Declaration of Independence.
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Speech of 7th march, 1971

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