Why not demarcate 7th March speech spot

The High Court yesterday issued a rule asking the government to explain in two weeks why it should not be directed to demarcate the exact spot of Suhrawardy Udyan where Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman delivered the historic 7th March speech in 1971.

In the rule, the court also asked the respondents to show causes as to why they should not be ordered to preserve the historic place; install a statue bearing resemblance to the original stage from where Bangabandhu delivered the speech; and to perpetually commemorate the significance of the philosophy of the historic speech for future generations.

The secretaries to the ministries of information, liberation war affairs and cultural affairs; director general of department of archaeology; and the mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation have been made respondents to the rule, Deputy Attorney General Mokhlesur Rahman told The Daily Star.

The HC bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Zafar Ahmed issued the rule following a writ petition, filed by four architects including Abdullah Al Masum, seeking necessary directives to preserve the historic place at Suhrawardy Udyan in the capital.

On March 7 in 1971, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in a fiery speech at the then Racecourse Maidan (presently Suhrawardy Udyan) decisively called upon the repressed Bangalees to wage an independence movement against Pakistan.

Advocate Muhammad Mohsen Rashid appeared for the writ petitioners.