On this day, 46 years back, the greatest Bangalee of all time and Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman proclaimed independence of Bangladesh in the early hours of March 26, 1971. People from all walks of life responded to his clarion call, participated in the War of Liberation and achieved victory on Dec. 16, 1971 to give us an independent Bangladesh. On the occasion of the 46th anniversary of the Independence and National Day, I convey my heartfelt greetings and warm wishes to my compatriots living at home and abroad. I recall the supreme sacrifices made by the 3 million martyrs. I also pay my deep respect to the 200,000 women who sacrificed their honor for our freedom. My sympathy goes to those families who lost their near and dear ones during the Liberation War. We also express our gratitude to the wounded freedom fighters. I also pay my gratitude to people from all walks of life and especially the members of the diplomatic front who, during and after our Liberation War, played a courageous role that created the ground for obtaining moral, financial and military support from global community in favor of the Liberation War. Enormous contributions from our foreign friends have been written in golden letters in the history of our Liberation War — we are privileged to recognize their contribution and bestow honor as "Friends of Bangladesh". Bangabandhu's daughter and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has declared ‘Vision-2021' (to build a middle-income country by 2021) and ‘Vision-2041' (to build a developed country by 2041) in line with the spirit of the Liberation War and the dream of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to build a ‘Sonar Bangla' (Golden Bengal). We have since then attained the status of a lower middle income country and are on track to become a middle income country well before 2021. Bangladesh was acclaimed as a ‘role model' after successfully achieving many of the ‘Millennium Development Goals' (MDGs). The 71st United Nations General Assembly last year adopted the ‘Sustainable Development Goals' (SDGs). Even before that we had already started working to align our national plan in line with the agenda 2030. With Bangabandhu's daughter and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at helm of affairs, Bangladesh will be on course to meet the objectives and targets under SDGs. I thank all the members of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and our Missions abroad who have been working with sincerity, dedication and commitment in achieving our foreign policy objectives and implementing development goals. I also congratulate Bangladeshi Diaspora in every corner of the world, which is immensely contributing to the strengthening of the image of Bangladesh. I may add that the Bangladesh Parliament on March 11, 2017, has unanimously adopted a Resolution declaring March 25 as the "Day of Genocide". We should, therefore, renew our pledge to work for the country from our respective positions imbued with spirit of Liberation War to build the ‘Sonar Bangla' (Golden Bengal) of Bangabandhu`s dream. Joy Bangla!
