Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will recite a poem on her father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman written by her younger sister Sheikh Rehana at the inaugural ceremony of the birth centenary of the father of the nation.
Rehana will also appear in the chorus of the theme song of the two-hour colorful event which will be broadcast live in all televisions and different platforms of social media from 8pm to 10pm on Tuesday.
Birth Centenary Celebration National Implementation Committee’s chief coordinator Dr Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury said on Monday that they are all set to celebrate the moment.
“We’ll start exactly at 8pm with fireworks from Suhrawardy Udyan,” he said as Bangabandhu was born at 8pm on March 17, a hundred year ago in a respected Muslim family in Tungipara, Gopalganj.
The birth centenary inauguration programme was rearranged due to the coronavirus outbreak. But still there will be surprises, Dr Chowdhury said.
They selected Suhrawardy Udyan for the inaugural fireworks, considering the site to be historic as Bangabandhu had delivered his momentous March 7, 1971 speech that led the nation to the Liberation War and eventual independence.
The two-hour event is pre-recorded including the speeches of the President and the Prime Minister.
Only the fireworks at the beginning and the laser show at the end from the South Plaza of the National Parliament will be broadcast live.
Dr Chowdhury said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was supposed to come to Dhaka for the event but could not due to coronavirus outbreak, gave a message which will also be broadcast within the programme.
Apart from India, President of Nepal, Prime Minister of Bhutan and Secretary Generals of the UN and OIC also gave their messages.
Songs by 100 children will also feature the show.
The countdown for the celebration began on January 10, coinciding with Bangabandhu’s homecoming in 1972, as the founder of the newly born Bangladesh, after nine months of captivity in Pakistan.
The coronavirus pandemic forced the organisers to scale down the inauguration fanfare, but keep it indoors instead of public gatherings at the National Parade Ground.
But the President and the Prime Minister will lay wreaths at Bangabandhu’s shrine at Tungipara in Gopalganj on Tuesday morning. But there will be no gatherings of children like yesteryears due to the coronavirus outbreak. The day is also the National Children’s Day.
The prime minister will also place wreaths at Bangabandhu’s portrait at the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi Road No. 32 in the capital ahead of travelling to Tungipara.