Born on 17 March 1920 at Tungipara Gopalganj, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman would go on to become synonymous with the aspiration of nationhood of Bengalis. He spent almost one-fifth of his life in jail fighting for the causes he believed in and in the course became ‘Bangabandhu’, the ‘Friend of Bengal’. From the language movement in the 50s to the War of Liberation, he led the Bengalis in all their struggles for emancipation during his lifetime. In independent Bangladesh, he presided over one of the largest and most difficult reconstruction tasks in history, which came to an abrupt halt as a result of his assassination. His 7 March 1971 speech is considered one of the greatest political speeches of all time. In April, 2004, listeners of BBC Bangla voted Bangabandhu as the “Greatest Bengali of All Time”.
