Bangabandhu's Homecoming Day today

Today, Saturday, 10 January, marks the Homecoming Day of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the leader of Bangladesh’s liberation movement. On this day in 1972, he returned to the newly independent and sovereign Bangladesh after being released from imprisonment in Pakistan.

With Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s return, the victory of the War of Independence reached its full realisation. On the night of 25 March 1971, the Pakistani occupation forces arrested him from his residence in Dhanmondi and took him away.

He was imprisoned in a Pakistani jail. While the Bengali people were fighting for independence, Sheikh Mujib was languishing in prison in Pakistan, facing a sham trial and awaiting execution.

After the Pakistani forces surrendered on 16 December 1971, bringing the Bengalis’ final victory, world leaders became vocal in demanding Sheikh Mujib’s release. Under international pressure, the defeated Pakistani rulers were ultimately forced to release him with due honour.

He was freed from prison on 8 January 1972. After his release, he travelled from Pakistan to London in the United Kingdom, then to India, and finally returned to independent and sovereign Bangladesh on 10 January.