DHAKA: Bangladesh on Friday marked 50 years with President M Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paying rich tributes to all the victims of the 1971 Liberation War.

President Hamid first placed a wreath at the altar of the National Memorial in Savar followed by the Prime Minister, reports The Daily Star.  After placing the wreaths, Hamid and Hasina stood in silence as a mark ofrespect to the memories of the war victims.

A smartly turned-out contingent drawn from Bangladesh Army, Navy and Air Force presented a state salute on the occasion while the bugles played the last post. Later, the President and the Prime minister signed the visitors' book there on the occasion.

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's younger daughter Sheikh Rehana, Jatiya Sangsad Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, senior Awami League leaders and high civil and military officials, among others, were present at the memorial.

Due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the state ceremony is being celebrated on a limited scale maintaining the health guidelines and social distancing. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has arrived in Dhaka to participate in the Golden Jubilee celebrations.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will join Hasina at the National Parade Ground, the main venue of the celebrations, in Dhaka with President Hamid as the chief guest.

Bangabandhu declared independence on March 26 that year after the Pakistani forces had brutally cracked down on the unarmed people of the then East Pakistan on the night of March 25, 1971.

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