Spectacular firework lights up Dhaka sky as Bangabandhu's birth centenary celebration begins

Grand fireworks lit up Dhaka's skyline as the Mujib Year celebrations, marking the birth centenary of Bangladesh's founder Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, got underway throughout the country on Tuesday.

The Bangabandhu's 100th birth anniversary will also be celebrated across the world in line with the initiative of the UNESCO.

"The Father of the Nation's ideals are our eternal source of inspiration," President Abdul Hamid said, opening the centenary celebrations at the Suhrawardy Udyan, in a nationwide televised speech as the country witnessed the illuminated skylines.

Addressing the gathering, Prime Minster Sheikh Hasina, who is the eldest daughter of the Bangabandhu, in an emotion-choked voice said Bangladesh will always follow its founder's ideology and uphold the flag given by him.

"Father, sleep in peace...your Bangladesh is marching towards advancement at an indomitable pace and will go ahead further...We must build 'Sonar Bangla' as dreamt by you (Bangabandhu). The day is not far away. It's our commitment to you," Hasina said in her speech telecast by both state-run and private television channels.

Despite the scaled down festivity in view of the global coronavirus pandemic, the capital Dhaka appeared jubilant with sounds of fireworks and illumination at 8:00 pm, the time when Mujibur Rahman was born 100 years ago.

Several foreign dignitaries, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, were scheduled to join a grand inaugural ceremony originally planned, but the COVID-19 outbreak forced the government to scale down the planned festivities and the delegates to postpone their visits.

Instead, recorded statements of the foreign leaders were telecasted by all Bangladeshi TV channels.

The year-long celebrations were scheduled to open amid massive festivities at the National Parade Ground in Dhaka.

Besides Modi, Nepal President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, Bhutanese Prime Minister Lotay Tshering, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Secretary General Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen sent their recorded statements paying tributes to the Bangabandhu.

Mujibur Rahman was assassinated along with most of his family members, including his 10-year-old son, in a 1975 military coup that toppled his government. His daughters Hasina and Rehana survived the attack as they were abroad that time.