Historic 6-Point Day Today

Today (June 7), the nation is commemorating the historic Six-Point Day, which marks the demand for autonomy for what was then East Pakistan, now Bangladesh.

On June 7, 1966, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Father of the Nation, initiated a massive movement against the Pakistani regime based on the Six-Point demand, which is considered the Magna Carta of the Bengalis. This demand called for autonomy for East Pakistan. During a hartal for the release of Bangabandhu and other leaders detained for initiating the Six-Point Movement, eleven people, including Manu Mian, Shafique, and Shamsul Haque, were killed by police and paramilitary EPR on June 7, 1966, in Dhaka and Narayanganj.

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman first presented his historic six-point political and economic program in Lahore on February 5, 1966. This program aimed to achieve greater autonomy for East Pakistan amid exploitation and discrimination by Pakistani rulers. The six-point demands included: amending the constitution to establish a true Federation of Pakistan based on the Lahore Resolution; limiting the federal government’s role to Defense and Foreign Affairs; introducing two separate but freely convertible currencies for East and West Pakistan; granting taxation and revenue collection powers to the federating units; maintaining separate accounts for the foreign exchange earnings of the two wings; and creating a separate militia or paramilitary force for East Pakistan.

President M Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued separate messages on the eve of Six-Point Day. To commemorate the occasion, various socio-political organizations, including the ruling Awami League, its affiliated bodies, and like-minded socio-cultural groups, have organized numerous events.