The struggle this time is a struggle for emancipation, the struggle this time is a struggle for independence.

—Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman 

Through these words, immortalized during his 19-minute speech on the afternoon of March 7, 1971, Bangladesh’s Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman gave a clarion call to his people to struggle for freedom, emancipation and independence. Nineteen days later, on March 26, 1971 Bangladesh (until then known as East Pakistan) declared its independence from West Pakistan, and the Liberation War broke out. The War tested every sinew, and stretched every nerve, but through the collective blood, sweat and tears of its people, and the goodwill of the Indian establishment, Bangladesh emerged triumphant. The rest, over the last half-a-century, has been an extraordinary narrative of a Rise of a Nation.