2.5 lakh people in B`desh sing national anthem to set record

Dhaka: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today joined over 2.5 lakh people in singing the national anthem on the country`s 43rd Independence Day in a bid to break world record set by Indians last year. Hasina joined the chorus along with the 1971 Liberation War veterans and her cabinet colleagues at the National Parade Square for getting Bangladesh`s name recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records. The immediate past record in the same category was set by Indians on May 6 last year when 121,653 people simultaneously sang the country`s national anthem at an event in Lucknow.

Cross sections of people including school children sang simultaneously the "Amar Sonar Bangla, ami tomai bhalabashi" (My Golden Bengal, I love you) at the "open to everyone" event monitored by Guinness Book officials here. According to machine counts, 2,54,681 people sang the national anthem simultaneously at the main ground but organisers said the figure exceeded 3 lakh with inclusion of audience who joined the chorus on the sidelines. Nobel Laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore, also the composer of the Indian national anthem, composed the song in 1905 against the partition of Bengal by then British rulers. It was first sung as the country`s national anthem during Bangladesh`s Liberation War when the acting government was installed on April 17, 1971. The Guinness Book officials said they would come up with a formal announcement on the record after completing the due formalities. As part of the Independence Day celebrations, tens of thousands of Bangladeshis earlier today thronged the National Memorial at suburban Savar and offered wreaths to the martyrs of 1971. President Abdul Hamid and the premier placed the wreaths first in a solemn ceremony when the army bugles played the last post. Bangladesh previously formed the world`s largest human national flag as it celebrated the 42nd Victory Day on December 16, 2013 marking the surrender of Pakistani troops to Indo-Bangla joint command in Dhaka after nine months of war.