The 7 November sepoy-people's revolution set Bangladesh's course, PM Tarique Rahman says in message

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has said the historic sepoy-people's revolution of 7 November 1975 determined the course of Bangladesh.

He said this in a message issued on the occasion of the Historic National Revolution and Solidarity Day on Saturday (7 November). The prime minister wished success to all programmes taken up nationally to observe the day.

He said those who wanted to turn Bangladesh into a subservient state, to strip the people of their democratic political rights and establish one-party authoritarian rule in the country, and to tarnish the glory of the army, the symbol of the country's valour, courage and honour, were defeated through the historic revolution of the patriotic sepoy-people on 7 November.

In the message, the prime minister said that on 7 November the sepoy-people, united, stood against all conspiracies against Bangladesh's independence and sovereignty. In the country's history, the historic day was the day of identifying Bangladesh's friends and foes.

He said a proverb is worth noting in discussing every historic context of the country, from Bangladesh's birth and the Liberation War onwards: staying absorbed in the past alone leaves one eye blind, while forgetting the past leaves both eyes blind. So, he said, remaining engrossed in history all day is not proper, and neither is failing to learn from history in charting the future, which would be a historic mistake.

Tarique Rahman said history bears witness that the defeated evil force of 7 November 1975, following a long path of conspiracy, later united under the name of a grand alliance and turned the country into a subservient state. It tarnished the army's glory and dignity by carrying out the planned killing of army officers at the BDR Pilkhana. It seized the people's voting rights and democratic political rights and established fascist rule in the country.

He said that through the sacrifices of thousands of martyrs and the bloody mass uprising of heroic students and people, the country has finally been freed from fascism after more than a decade and a half.

The prime minister said the war of 1971 was for achieving independence, and 2024 was for protecting the independence of the country and its people. Just as people from all walks of life took to the streets in 2024 to protect that independence, in 1975 too the sepoy-people united and took to the streets to foil all conspiracies against the country's independence and sovereignty.

The prime minister said the main pledge of this 7 November should be that no one in future can strip the country and its people of their rights or turn the country into a subservient state. To implement that pledge, he said, national unity is needed.

Tarique Rahman said that in Bangladesh's socio-economic, geographical and political reality, to uphold national unity the spirit of the 7 November sepoy-people's revolution must be held in heart and mind.

He said the Liberation War of 1971, the sepoy-people's revolution of 7 November 1975 against subservient forces, the anti-autocracy movement of 1990 and the anti-fascist mass uprising of 2024 — at different times in history, every revolution and uprising had one aspiration: to build a self-reliant and safe welfare state in independent Bangladesh by establishing all the democratic political rights of the people.

In the message, the prime minister said that on this historic day of the 7 November 1975 sepoy-people's revolution, held to foil conspiracies against Bangladesh's independence and sovereignty and to protect the people's democratic rights, let the resounding utterance of the patriotic, democracy-loving people be: 'Not Delhi, not Pindi, not any other country — Bangladesh before all.'

The prime minister expressed hope that the revolutionary spirit of 7 November will become an inspiration and a guide in building Bangladesh's future.