In his historic speech on March 7, 1971, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Father of the Nation, declared that our struggle was "a struggle for liberation" and "a struggle for independence". The war of 1971 did embody and embed the spirit of both these struggles. At the same time, I think liberation is a continuing journey towards making our independence meaningful for our people. When I hear of the word "liberation", two interlinked thoughts tend to cross my mind: "liberation from what" and "liberation for what".

When I reflect on these in the context of my country, I deeply feel that our war of liberation was like crossing a Rubicon in our nation's march "from what" to "for what".