Nation celebrates Pahela Baishakh tomorrow (Tuesday) amid gaiety; Ramna Park ringed with security bulwark

Nation celebrates Pahela Baishakh tomorrow (Tuesday) amid gaiety; Ramna Park ringed with security bulwark

Pahela Baishakh, marking the advent of Bengali
New Year, will be celebrated tomorrow (Tuesday) amid gaiety across the country under tight security cover.
True to their centuries old tradition, people of all walks of life will gather in funfairs to hail the New Year 1416 with new hopes and aspirations.
Mogul Emperor Akbar introduced the Bangla calendar year and the celebration of Pahela Baishakh began during his rule. Now it has become integral part of the Bengali’s cultural heritage and tradition and turned into a day of merriment.
The day is a public holiday.
President Zillur Rahman, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and opposition leader and BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia gave separate messages on the occasion conveying New Year’s greetings to the countrymen and all Bengali-speaking people across the globe.
In his message, President Zillur Rahman said Pahela Baishakh is a “unique day of nurturing as well as self-realization of our eternal rich tradition”.
He expected that the New Year spirit would “unite all in all aspects of national life by forgetting all past conflicts”.
The President hoped that the New Year would bring welfare and happy news for all.
In another message, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said the influence of Bangla New Year in the life of the Bangali is diverse. “The way Bengali New Year has brought change in the psychology of the Bengali it also has cast impacts on their attitude, behavior, dress and food habit,” she said.
Recalling the memories of the persons killed in the bomb attack at Ramna Batamul during celebration of Pahela Baishakh in the 1408 Bengali Year, she prayed for salvation of the departed souls. She also expressed her deep sympathies for those who became crippled in the heinous attack.
Sheikh Hasina also expressed the hope that the Bengali New Year festival would bring the messages of “happiness, peace and prosperity, overcoming all obstacles in the way of advancement of the nation”.
In her message Khaleda Zia said, ”New Year has brought messages for us to start with fresh vigor putting behind past failures, disgrace and gloom.”
She also hoped that the Bengali New Year festival would bring happiness, peace and unalloyed pleasure for all.
Traders and shopkeepers across the country will open ‘Halkhata’ (new book of accounts) and entertain customers and visitors with sweets on the first day of the New Year as part of the tradition and culture.
On every return of Pahela Baishak, all classes of people, especially the youths, come out on the roads at daybreak wearing traditional dresses to celebrate the day.
Thousands of people will throng traditional venues in different parts of the capital city, including Ramna Park, Suhrawardy Udyan, Central Shaheed Minar, Dhaka University, Shahbag, and Dhanmondi Lake areas, to welcome the New Year amid pageantry.
The most colorful celebration of the Bengali New Year begins at the Ramna Batamul at dawn with an elaborate programme undertaken by Chhayanaut, a leading cultural troupe. Artistes from Chhayanaut will welcome the day with Tagore’s famous song ‘Esho hey Baishakh, esho, esho (come O Baishakh, come)’ under the banyan tree at the Ramna Park.
Students of the Institute of Fine Arts of Dhaka University, wearing colorful masks, will take out a ‘mangal shobhajatra (procession of good wishes)’ in the morning as part of the carnival.
Men, wearing panjabi-pyjama, women, attired in sari with red borders, and children in colorful dresses all will throng traditional Baishakhi Mela (fair) and other cultural functions in the city and elsewhere in the country.
People will partake of ‘Panta Bhat (watery rice)’ with fried hilsha, lentils, green chili and onions at home, restaurants and fairs following the rich tradition of Bengali culture.
Though the observance of Pahela Baishakh has become popular in the cities, but New Year festivities are deeply linked with rural life in the country.
People in the villages will bathe early in the morning and, clad in fine clothes, go to visit relatives, friends and neighbours. They will also visit different Baishakhi fairs arranged in many parts of the country.
The Bengali-speaking people of West Bengal will also celebrate the day in a festive manner.
State-owned Bangladesh Television (BTV) and Bangladesh Betar and the private TV channels will air special programmes on the day.
Different socio-cultural organisations have chalked out elaborate programmes to celebrate the day. Bangla Academy, Shilpakala Academy and Nazrul Institute will organise separate cultural programmes to welcome the New Year.
The Libertarian War Museum will stage various programmes that include dance and folk songs at 9:30 am on the day.
The Baishakh Udjapan Jatiya Parishad will also bring out a procession
from the Central Shaheed Minar, marking Pahela Baishakh
Meanwhile, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) declared off-limits to vehicles roads stretching from Shahbagh to Matsya Bhaban and from the TSC to Doel Square of Dhaka University, as the entire zone turns into a human sea.
Extensive security measures have been taken in the city for smooth celebration of the day. More than 8,000 uniformed police, elite troops of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), dog squads, bomb-disposal units will guard Ramna and Dhanmondi areas to provide foolproof security for the celebration of Pahela Baishak under full scanning focus of CCTV cameras.
Besides, FBI-trained SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics), 19 check-posts, 37 pickets, eight mobile patrols and 60 motorcycle patrols will add to the security bulwark seen as unprecedented since the concert bombing at Ramna Batamul that left 10 people dead during Pahela Baishak celebrations in 2001.
Security will also be provided for the ‘Mangal Sobhajatra’ pageantry arranged by the students of the Fine Arts Institute.
(Source: UNB News)
Habibullah Mizan
Sub-editor
The New Nation, Ittefaq Bhaban, Dhaka, Bangladesh