Dhaka, March 13 -- The 7th of March is a seminal date in Bangladesh's road to independence. In 1971, it was the day that a crowd estimated at several lakhs to a million gathered at the then-Racecourse Maidan in Dhaka (today's Suhrawardy Uddyan) to hear 'Bangabandhu' Sheikh Mujibur Rahman deliver a clarion call of freedom for the Bengalis of East Pakistan.

Although he stopped short of declaring independence outright, much to the discontent of some of his younger lieutenants, Mujib's riveting delivery laid the groundwork for the freedom struggle that lay ahead, as he urged his fellow Bengalis to prepare to "fight the enemy with whatever means available" to them.

By then the undisputed leader of the Bengali nation, he also reiterates his i...