A firework explodes in the sky during an event celebrating the country's Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's birth centenary in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on March 17, 2020. Bangladesh kicked off year-long ceremonies on Tuesday to celebrate the country's Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's birth centenary. After the first three COVID-19 cases were reported in the country, the government postponed a major event of world leaders in Dhaka on March 17 to mark the 100th birth anniversary of Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh which declared an independent country in 1971. (Str/Xinhua)
DHAKA, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh kicked off year-long ceremonies on Tuesday to celebrate the country's Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's birth centenary.
Bangladeshi President M Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Tuesday morning paid tributes to the great leader, popularly known as "Bangabandhu" (Friend of Bengal).
The day is a public holiday and also observed as the National Children's Day in Bangladesh.
The Bangladeshi government declared the period from March 17, 2020 to March 26, 2021 as the "Mujib Borsho (Year)" marking the birth centenary of Rahman, also known as Mujib.
Along with Bangladesh, the Mujib Year is being celebrated globally with the initiative of the UNESCO.
The Bangladeshi government have chalked out various programs, including a grand opening ceremony, to be observed throughout the year. Some of the programs, however, have been rescheduled following the detection of COVID-19 in the country.
After the first three COVID-19 cases were reported in the country, the government postponed a major event of world leaders in Dhaka on March 17 to mark the 100th birth anniversary of Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh which declared an independent country in 1971.
Apart from the government, Hasina's ruling AL party and its front and associate bodies and socio-cultural, political and professional organisations organised elaborate programs on Tuesday to observe the day.
In a message on the eve of the day, Prime Minister Hasina on Sunday extended her heartiest greetings to the countrymen, expatriate Bangladeshis and people of the world on the birth centenary of Bangabandhu and the National Children's Day.
Hasina, the eldest of five children of Rahman, inaugurated the three-month countdown at a ceremony on Jan. 10 which was the homecoming day of Rahman in independent Bangladesh in 1972 via London and New Delhi after 290 days of jail.
