About the 7th March Foundation

The 7th March Foundation was setup in 2014 by a small but dedicated group of people who have for many years worked in promoting education, racial and religious harmony, equalities and social justice in the UK and elsewhere.

We came together to tell the incredible story of a momentous and inspirational event in Bangladesh’s history and its principle actor: the historic speech of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on 7 March 1971.

Our goals

Our aim is to promote justice, equality, freedom and friendship amongst peoples regardless of race, religion, gender and geographical locations, by highlighting the significance of this historic event and the life and work of its leader: the founding father of the independent and secular People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. In furtherance of our aims and objectives we would like to create a platform of excellence for cultural exchange of ideas and experiences among all parts of the global community striving for justice, equalities, freedom and friendship through research, seminars, conferences, exhibitions etc.

Our projects

In order to promote its aims and objectives the Foundations has been working on a number of initiatives aiming at the younger generation of the Bengali Diaspora, and the wider global community. Our projects include working with children through schools and parents, campaigning for establishing 7th March as one of the national days of Bangladesh and setting up offices in Dhaka and Kolkata. However our major projects are:

• 7th March Research Programme. This is an ongoing and long-term research programme examining the speech and the event of 7th March in historical and global context.

• Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Lecture. The Foundation aims to host this annually on matters of national and international importance in line with the principles and the life and works of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Our goal in this respect is to engage people in shaping a safe and fairer global community based on equality, justice and freedom.

• Road2Ramna Exhibition. This involves an exhibition about the liberation struggle of Bangladesh. Like its rivers flowing into the Bay of Bengal, the various strands of Bangladesh’s struggles culminated into one event on the seventh day of March 1971 at the Ramna Racecourse Ground. On that momentous day in Bangladesh’s history the vast field of Ramna turned into a sea of people; and Bangabandhu spoke of their aspirations and pointed the way forward. One can still hear the thundering voice of Bangabandhu resonating: Bangladesher ethihash korun ethihash – bangler mumurjo manusher korun arthonader ethihash (the history of Bangladesh is full of sorrows; the history of Bengal is the history of the oppressed and the voiceless). Apart from highlighting this event and the liberation war that followed, the exhibition will trace the long history of struggles of Bangladeshi people for freedom, justice and dignity.

Our team

Nooruddin Ahmed
Syed Manzurul Islam
Captain Shiv Banerjee
Azizul Kamal
Ansar Ahmed Ullah
Jamal Ahmed Khan
Azad Bokth Choudhury
Farid Ahmed
Mashuk Miah
Julia Basher
Nilufa Jahan
Naajia Ahmed
Shahanara Tahid