Those who conspired against 7 March Speech are now celebrating it: Information minister

Information Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud has said those who conspired against the 7 March Speech are now celebrating the day.

"I do not know if they are celebrating it with any ulterior motive, but I will tell them that they did not benefit by distorting history. Bangabandhu cannot be removed from the minds of the people," said Hassan Mahmud.

He said now the 7 March Speech has been recognised as an important documentary heritage of the world, but there have been many conspiracies over this speech.

"This speech was not played on television for 21 years after the assassination of Bangabandhu. This speech was banned from all state functions, even the name of Bangabandhu was banned," said the information minister at a seminar titled "Bangabandhu's Speech on 7 March: Road to Liberation of Bengalis," which he attended as the chief guest.

The seminar, presided over by Press Club President Farida Yasmin, was organised at the Jatiya Press Club on Sunday.

The information minister said, "The government would be criticised if it was in charge. We cherish the culture of welcoming that criticism, but we should avoid unreasonable criticism, criticism of misleading the people and the practice of distorting history."

At the seminar, former vice chancellor of Dhaka University Professor AAMS Arefin Siddique said, "This speech not only showed the way for the liberation of Bengalis, this speech also showed the way for human liberation. Every word in this speech is patriotic."

Senior journalist Ajit Kumar Sarkar presented the keynote paper at the seminar.

Former information adviser to the Prime Minister Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, journalist Monjurul Ahsan Bulbul, General Secretary of National Press Club Ilias Khan, its Treasurer Shahed Chowdhury, its former general secretary Swapan Saha, its former president and Daily Jugantar Editor Saiful Alam, and others also spoke on the occasion.