Today is Flag Hoisting Day, the day when Bangladesh’s national flag was hoisted for the first time on the campus of the University of Dhaka in 1971.

ASM Abdur Rob, the then vice-president of the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union, hoisted the flag on behalf of the Swadhin Bangla Chhatra Sangram Parishad on March 2, 1971, more than three weeks before the proclamation of the country’s independence. Rob, then a leader of Chhatra League, is now the president of the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal - JSD.

Dhaka University and the JSD have chalked out separate programmes to mark the day.

The university authorities will observe the day at Battala on the campus at 10:00am. ASM Abdur Rob has been invited to participate in the programme.

During the 16-year rule of the Awami League government, DU authorities did not invite him to attend the programme. After the fall of the AL government on August 5, 2024, amid a mass uprising, he was invited to last year’s Flag Hoisting Day celebration at the university.

The JSD, in a press release on Sunday, called upon its leaders and activists to participate in the programme at Battala in front of the Arts Faculty of Dhaka University at 10:00am.

The party will also organise a discussion at the National Press Club today to mark the day. Leaders of different political parties are expected to address the event.

The first national flag was hoisted atop Dhaka University’s Arts Building amid tumultuous cheers from students gathered there. The flag featured a golden map of Bangladesh inside a red circle set against a green background.

During the nine-month War of Independence, the flag served as a symbol of the state of Bangladesh and was used by the provisional government to bolster its political, diplomatic and military struggle to free the country from the Pakistani military.

After independence, a modified version of the flag, with the map removed, was officially adopted as the national flag on January 17, 1972.