Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday paid rich tributes to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by placing a wreath at his portrait in front of the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum in Dhaka’s Dhanmondi on the occasion of the historic Six-Point Day.
Afterwards, the prime minister stood in silence for some time as a mark of profound respect for the memory of Bangabandhu, the architect of independence.
Flanked by senior Awami League leaders, Sheikh Hasina placed another wreath at Bangabandhu`s portrait as the ruling party chief.
Later, associate bodies of the Awami League placed wreaths at the portrait of Bangabandhu marking the historic occasion.
On this day in 1966, Bangabandhu launched a massive movement against the misrule of Pakistanis based on the six-point demand, the Magna Carta of the Bangalis demanding autonomy for then-East Pakistan.
The Awami League under the leadership of Bangabandhu called for a day-long hartal on June 7, 1966 throughout East Pakistan pressing the demand for autonomy to end the exploitation, deprivation, subjugation and tyranny of the then central government of Pakistan on the people here.
Ten people, including labour leader Manu Mian, Shafique and Shamsul Haque, were killed as the police and paramilitary East Pakistan Rifles (EPR) opened fire on the demonstrators on the day in Dhaka, Tongi and Narayanganj during the hartal.
The Pakistani atrocities intensified the movement for provincial autonomy turning it into the historic mass upsurge in 1969 that subsequently caused the downfall of the reign of Ayub Khan.