Bangladesh
Six-Point Day Country observing historic Six-Point Day today
Dhaka, June 7: Today is June 7, the historic Six-Point Day. It is an unforgettable and significant day in the history of Bangladesh's freedom struggle. On this day in 1966, the police and the then EPR fired on the unarmed people during a strike called by the Awami League to realise the six-point charter of the Bengali Nation declared by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Eleven people, including Manu Mia, Safiq and Shamsul Haque, were martyred in Dhaka and Narayanganj. The Six-Point movement spread across the nation and the freedom-loving people of Bengal joined in.
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman raised a six-point demand on behalf of the people of East Bengal at a national conference convened by all the opposition political parties of East and West Pakistan in Lahore on 5 February 1966 against the dictatorial Ayub government to liberate it from Pakistani rule-exploitation-deprivation.
Later, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman returned to Dhaka on 11 February and started a nationwide campaign in favour of the Six Points and went to the remote areas of Bengal to present the need for the Six Points to the people. The people of Bengal at all levels were fully aware of this 6-point and spontaneously supported the six-point.
The Six points are considered as the certificate of liberation of Bengalis. Fearing the overwhelming public support for the Six Points and the popularity of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the dictatorial government led by the military junta Ayub Khan arrested Bangabandhu on 8 May 1966 and sent him to jail.
The movement declared by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman reached a new dimension on June 7, 1966. Under the leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the undisputed leader of the Bengalis, the outline of independence was drawn up with the unwavering support of the Bengalis towards the Six Points. The seeds of independence germinated through the six-point movement and the freedom movement took shape.
The mass uprising of 1969 began in the course of the 11 meetings of the Six Point movement.
Above all, in the general election of 1970, the people of Bengal gave an exclusive verdict to the nominees of Bangladesh Awami League and Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Bangabandhu called for the war of liberation in a historic speech on March 7, 1971 at the Racecourse Maidan (now Suhrawardy Udyan) when the Pakistani ruling party, despite gaining an absolute majority, began to delay the transfer of power to the Bengali people's representatives, elected to form the government.
