Honor Bangladesh Flag Day

26, 2019, as Bangladesh National Flag Day; and WHEREAS, The war, also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, began after the Pakistani military junta based in West Pakistan launched Operation Searchlight against the people of East Pakistan on the night of March 25, 1971; and WHEREAS, The war ended on December 16, 1971, after West Pakistan surrendered and Bangladesh sent them back to their country by expressing a spirit of generosity and forgiveness; and WHEREAS, Bangladesh, as a State, became independent on March 26th, as it had started to possess all the elements of Statehood from this very day; and WHEREAS, March 26th, the day Bangladesh declared independence from Pakistan, is a National Holiday and is in remembrance of those who laid their lives down for independence and fought hard; the 31 gunshot salute at dawn marks the beginning of the day's celebrations; and WHEREAS, Independence Day of Bangladesh has a connection with the Proclamation of Independence of 1971 and is considered to be one of the bases of the national liberation and present legal system; and WHEREAS, Victory Day is also a national holiday in Bangladesh celebrated on December 16th each year to commemorate the victory of the allied forces over the Pakistani forces in the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971; and WHEREAS, The Commanding Officer of the Pakistani Forces General AAK Niazi surrendered with his forces to the joint forces of Bangladesh, which marked the end of the nine month-long Bangladesh Liberation War and 1971 official secession of East Pakistan into Bangladesh; and WHEREAS, Born on December 16, 1946, Shib Narayan Das is the craftsman of the first national flag of Bangladesh; and WHEREAS, As desired by the then NUCLEUS, an organization involved in the independence movement, Shib Narayan Das using a match stick and yellow colored paint, he marked the map of Bangladesh over the red circle of the proposed flag in Dhaka University (DU) from deep midnight of June 6th up to the dawn of June 7th in 1970; and WHEREAS, On behalf of the NUCLEUS, the same flag was unfurled by Abdur Rab along with AFM Mahbubul Haq, Das and other student league leaders from the roof top of the western porch of the Arts Faculty of DU, on March 2, 1971, shortly before the outbreak of the Bangladesh Liberation War; and WHEREAS, After the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, the map of Bangladesh was removed from the flag as it had difficulty for rendering the map correctly on both sides of the flag; and WHEREAS, Artist Quamrul Hassan was asked to report on the design, color, shape and explanation; on January 17, 1972, the new design was made the official national flag of Bangladesh; and WHEREAS, The flag consists of a red disc on top of a green field; the red disc is offset slightly toward the hoist so that it appears centered when the flag is flying; the red disc represents the sun rising over Bengal, and also the blood of those who died for the independence of Bangladesh; and the green field stands for the lushness of the land of Bangladesh; and WHEREAS, As a symbol of their pride, they honor their flag in the morning of their Independence Day; and WHEREAS, Many Bangladesh people have made New York their home, and this Legislative Body, representing the people of the State of New York, is pleased to thank the Bangladesh people for their contributions to this great Empire State; and WHEREAS, It is the custom of this Legislative Body that those who enhance the well-being and vitality of their community and have shown a long and sustained commitment to excellence certainly have earned the recognition and applause of all the citizens of this great Empire State; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to recognize March 26, 2019, as Bangladesh National Flag Day; and be it further RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed be transmitted to South Asian Fund For Education, Scholarship and Training (SAFEST) Executive Director Mazeda A. Uddin, Director-Adan Islam, Sahana Begum Bangladesh Society Inc.; Abulfazal Didarul Islam President of Jackson Heights Bangladesh Business Association (JBBA), Mohammed Hossain Khan President of Federation of Bangladesh Association in North America (FOBANA), Shameem Ahmed President of Bangladesh American Democratic Society (BADS), Mizanur Rahman Founder of Organization of Bangladeshi American Community (OBAC), and Fakrul Islam Delwar Founder of Jamaica Bangladesh Friends Society (JBFS).