Victory Day is a national holiday in Bangladesh celebrated on 16 December to commemorate the defeat of the Pakistan Armed Forces in the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971 and the Independence of Bangladesh. It commemorates the Pakistani Instrument of Surrender, wherein the commander of the Pakistani Forces, General AAK Niazi, surrendered to the Mukti Bahini and their Indian allies, ending the nine-month Bangladesh Liberation War and 1971 Bangladesh genocide and marking the official secession of East Pakistan to become the new state of Bangladesh.
Victory Day celebration at National Martyrs' Memorial
Signing of Pakistani Instrument of Surrender by Pakistan's Lt.Gen. A. A. K. Niazi to the Joint Commander of the Liberation Force Lt. Gen. Jagjit Singh Aurora in Dhaka on 16 Dec' 1971.
Jatiyo Smriti Soudho at Savar, a tribute to the martyrs of the Bangladesh Liberation War
Mikoyan MiG-29 & Chengdu F-7 of Bangladesh Air Force fly over national parade ground
Independence of Bangladesh
Independence of Bangladesh was declared on 26 March 1971, celebrated as Independence Day, from Pakistan. The Independence Day of Bangladesh is celebrated on 26 March when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared the independence of Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Liberation War started on 26 March and lasted till 16 December 1971 which is celebrated as Victory Day in Bangladesh. There is a dispute along partisan line on who declared the Independence of Bangladesh. The Awami League claim Sheikh Mujibur Rahman while the Bangladesh Nationalist Party claim it was Ziaur Rahman.
Shaheed Minar, Dhaka commemorates the language movement.
The national monument to the Liberation War.