Prime Minister released Muktir Dak, the ‘call for freedom’ on March 7

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina released the special calendar commemorative postage stamp, envelope and seal called ‘Muktir Dak’ released on the occasion of historic March 7. Earlier, the special calendar called Muktir Dak published by the Directorate of Posts was handed over to the Prime Minister by the Minister of State for Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak.

Post and Telecommunication Secretary Abu Hena Morshed Zaman and Director General of Postal Directorate Tarun Kanti were present on the occasion.

The Prime Minister released commemorative postage stamps and other commemoratives at the Ganobhaban on Thursday (March 7). These commemoratives will be sold from the philatelic bureau of Dhaka GPO and later the March 7 postage stamps, opening envelopes and seals will also be available at other GPOs and major post offices across the country.

The ‘Muktir Dak’ calendar contains the calendar of 2024 divided into 3 months and on each of 4 pages the events of the 1971, 3 months with all the events related to the postage stamps during the liberation war. The last page of the 2025 calendar shows the variety of thematic stamps published over the last 5 decades.

Earlier, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid tribute to the portrait of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Dhanmondi No. 32 at 7 am on the historic occasion of March 7.

What is in the Muktir Dak Calendar

Home Page – Context:

The Great Liberation War is a deep emotion in our overall national consciousness, our existence, our roots, our collective first victory! The various activities during the liberation war greatly stirred us, motivated us to unite again, and made us energetic to take the country to new heights. The first 8 postage stamps of independent Bangladesh were issued during the war period. Our collection ‘Muktir Dak’ is about the story behind these eight postage stamps.

During the liberation war, on July 26, 1971, in a press conference at the British House of Commons, Justice Abu Saeed Chowdhury, the special envoy of the Bangladesh government appointed to Britain, first displayed the postage stamps in front of the journalists and invited guests. Then on July 29 these postage stamps were officially released simultaneously from Mujibnagar, various free areas, Bangladesh Mission in Kolkata and London. Postage stamps designed by Bimanchand Mallick were used for various letters, logistics and important documents sent from different free areas of the country during the liberation war. These postage stamps were the great means of introducing independent Bangladesh to the world.

January – March:

March 2 is an important date in the calendar of liberation war. On this day in 1971, the independence flag of Bangladesh was hoisted for the first time. The flag with a golden map in the center of a red circle on a green background reinforced the desire for independence. In continuation of Bangabandhu’s speech on 7th March, the cowardly invading forces planned the most hellish genocide in history under the cover of political trickery. This carnage, which started with the massacre of unarmed students in Dhaka University at midnight on March 25, marked the beginning of the armed liberation war. While telling the story of the country fighting the liberation war through the first 8 postage stamps of Bangladesh published during the liberation war, the flag of independence and the narrative of hellish genocide came up in two stamps.

April – June:

Bangabandhu was arrested in the early hours of March 26, immediately after declaring independence. Bangabandhu gave instructions for the war of resistance in his March 7 speech. According to that instruction, as the war of liberation started and Bangabandhu declared independence, the formation of the government of the independent country was determined. In the absence of the arrested Bangabandhu, the provisional government of the independent country was formed under the leadership of the Awami League on April 10, recognizing him as the architect of the nation. In the month of April, it was broadcasted in various media of the world under the leadership of Bangabandhu, “Pakistan’s Civil War” has started. Through two more of the first postage stamps published by the independent country, Bangladesh tells the world that the war was not a civil war; Rather, the liberation war led by the independent government led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

July-September:

The news of the formation of the Provisional Government of independent Bangladesh and the liberation war began to spread around the world. Despite the international manipulation of the invading forces and the one-sided and biased propaganda around the world, the genocide and refugee crisis in Bangladesh has caught the attention of the whole world. In this situation, the release of 8 postage stamps of independent Bangladesh on July 29 was an extraordinary diplomatic step, through which the true situation of the country was presented to the world on behalf of Bangladesh. The geographical location of Bangladesh and the call to stand by Bangladesh are highlighted in two postage stamps. Cultural and civil society around the world became reactive. The “Concert for Bangladesh” at Madison Square in New York on August 1 and the Cambridge University student-teacher rally on behalf of Bangladesh at Trafalgar Square in the United Kingdom on August 8 were two such unique events.

October – December:

The last three months of the war of liberation were truly a step-by-step march towards victory. The absolute victory of the Awami League in the general elections held in December 1970 a year ago and the foundation of the possibility of forming the government of Pakistan under the leadership of Bengalis was laid on that basis. Standing on that foundation and breaking the chain of deprivation in the continuation of the liberation war, the independent state of Bangladesh was born in December 1971 through the final victory. Two of the first 8 stamps of Bangladesh show a single ethnic group of seven and a half million people and 98% of that ethnic group’s support for the formation of Bangladesh in the 1970 elections. After the final victory of the liberation war was achieved on December 16, 1971, on December 20, 8 postage stamps were re-issued with the imprint of “Bangladesh Mukti” and was a unique example of spreading the news of the establishment of Bangladesh around the world.

Last Page – 2025:

Bangladesh Postal Directorate continues to carry on the effort to spread the story of Bangladesh around the world through the 8 postage stamps published during the Liberation War. To celebrate various days and achievements, postage stamps have been published on Bangabandhu, liberation war, martyred intellectuals, heritage, nature, wonderful development of Bangladesh, etc.