Independence Day

Where The Mind Is Without Fear

 

by Rabindranath Tagore

 

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high 
Where knowledge is free 
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls 
Where words come out from the depth of truth 
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection 
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way 
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit 
Where the mind is led forward by thee 
Into ever-widening thought and action 
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake

 

 

Bangladesh Flag

 

 
Independence Day in the People's Republic of Bangladesh commemorates the country's declaration of independence, achieved on 26th March, 1971.  Formerly East Pakistan, the Bangladesh War of Liberation lasted nine months in which thousands of civilians died (the Bangladeshi Authorities say it was 3 million), there was an exodus of 10 million refugees into this new country, and 30 million others were left displaced.  Somewhere in the middle, a category 3 cyclone raged too.



 

National Monument, Savar.

Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941): poet, novelist, song-writer - author of the national anthems of both Bangladesh and India - is a Bangladeshi cultural icon and his words and music claimed as the emblem of the separatist movement.  For many, he was not only the soundtrack of the revolution, rather the revolution centred on him.

These days, Independence Day remains a celebration of freedom, a time to remember, and is a national holiday.  There is nothing Bhola's Children enjoy more  than a picnic and a parade - and here they are (rain-soaked!) waiting for both to start:



No rain on Bhola's Children's parade!

 

Anne x