'Denial of March 7 tantamount to denial of independence'

Awami League General Secretary and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader today said the denial of historic March 7 speech of Bangabandhu is tantamount to denial of the independence.

"Those who deny March 7 speech, they actually disavow the country's independence," he said.

The minister was talking to journalists after paying tributes to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman marking the anniversary of his historic March 7 Speech.

He paid homage to the memory of the Father of the Nation by placing a wreath at his portrait on the premises of Bangabandhu Museum at Dhanmondi here.

Mentioning March 7 as a very significant day for Bangalee nation, Quader said Bangabandhu in true sense had declared country's independence through his landmark March 7 address at a mammoth rally in the then 'Race Course Maidan', now Suhrawardy Udyan, in the city.

Bangabandhu's fiery speech inspired the freedom-loving Bangalees for waging a decisive struggle against the then Pakistan occupation forces, he said.

The minister said Bangabandhu's assassins and perpetrators of August 15 carnage, who grasped the state power after the massacre, had banned the playing of the landmark speech but the UNESCO recognized the fiery speech as a part of the world's documentary heritage.