Independence Day parades cancelled

FT ONLINE 

The government has cancelled all parades and gatherings planned for Mar 26 Independence Day throughout Bangladesh in an attempt to stop the coronavirus from spreading.

The Cabinet Division announced the revised programme plans for the Independence Day and Mar 25 National Genocide Day in a circular on Thursday on approval of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

It asked the deputy commissioners of all districts and the Upazila executive officers to limit presence of people while hoisting the national flag at government, semi-government, autonomous and non-government buildings.

President Md Abdul Hamid and Hasina will place wreaths at the National Memorial in Savar at sunrise to pay respects to the martyrs of the 1971 Liberation War, according to the circular. A limited number of people will be invited there.

The government also urged all political, social and cultural organisations to refrain from crowding the memorial while paying homage to the martyrs.

The circular did not say anything in particular about the parade and gathering of children at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka, but an official at the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs said the programme has been cancelled as well.

No reception for the freedom fighters at district and Upazila levels will be organised, the circular said.

The local administrations can send the war veterans flowers and gifts instead of organising such gatherings, it added.

No new coronavirus case was reported until Thursday noon after the detection of the first three patients in Bangladesh on Mar 8.

But the government had already restricted gatherings that were scheduled for Mar 17 in celebration of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s birth centenary. The main event to kick off the yearlong celebrations in Dhaka had been postponed.