Memorial overflows with flowers, witnesses difference this time

Today is the 55th Independence Day, the countrymen paid tribute to the brave martyrs of 1971 with flowers. They remembered the sacrifice of the best sons of the nation with love.

President Mohammad Shahabuddin and Chief Advisor Dr. Muhammad Yunus, political parties, organizations and people from various classes and professions gathered at the National Memorial premises in Savar. However, this year's celebration had a different look compared to previous years. Due to the upcoming Eid holidays and Ramadan, the presence in the memorial premises was comparatively less.

The President placed a wreath at the memorial minaret at 5:50am. After that, Chief Adviser to the interim government Dr. Muhammad Yunus placed flowers at the memorial.

People remembered the golden children of the nation in pin-drop silence. A smart team of the army, navy and air force gave the national salute. At this time, the bugle sounded a mournful tune. Then the family of Bir Shrestha, war-wounded freedom fighters and heroic freedom fighters paid their respects. The advisory council and diplomats also paid their respects.

At 6:10 pm, the memorial premises were opened for everyone to pay their respects. The memorial area became a gathering place for people of all ages, including children, boys and the elderly. Officials and employees of various government, private, semi-government, educational institutions and other organizations, as well as the general public, paid their respects to the martyrs at the National Memorial with banners and festoons.

Gradually, the martyr altar was filled with flowers of respect and love.

However, due to the low presence of the general public, a different atmosphere was created throughout the memorial area. The crowd was less compared to other years. As the month of Ramadan and most industrial factories were closed on Tuesday, people in the surrounding area were homebound. This reduced the pressure on people.

Rinku Pal, a father who came to the memorial from Dhamrai with his child Sintan, said, "I brought my child to show Independence Day and the memorial. My daughter is not given time due to her busy schedule. Today, since I have time, I came to pay my respects. My daughter is very happy. She has learned to pay her respects."

Shakib Hasnat, a private employee from Shyamoli, said, "This time, I am seeing relatively fewer people at the memorial due to fasting. I came from Dhaka with my family in the early morning to pay my respects on behalf of my organization. Many of my office colleagues left Dhaka right after Sehri. It feels great to be able to offer flowers to everyone at the memorial in the morning. We spent some time with our family."

Mizanur Rahman, Deputy Assistant Engineer of Public Works at the National Memorial, said, "After opening the memorial to the public in the morning, people are paying their respects in droves. As factories and various institutions have been closed since yesterday, there are fewer people today. However, the altar is slowly filling up with flowers of respect. However, the flowers are being removed from the altar to facilitate the payment of tributes."