In 2017, UNESCO announced Bangabandhu’s March 7 speech as one of the most historic speeches in the world, worthy of being enlisted in the "Memory of the World Register”. The significance of the speech could not be clearer -- as a nation, Bangalees received a united purpose, a call-to-arms for self-determination, and a pledge to never surrender.
“My people love me,” is an oft-quoted remark of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. In foreign press reports, the claim is sometimes treated with a touch of sneer, which is unfortunate, because the Sheikh says this in all sincerity and apparently derives his real strength as a leader from this “love of my people.”