Important Days

Important Days

Minorities Rights Day (December 18)

The Day is observed every year to create awareness among the people about the rights of minorities.
The day aims to safeguard the individual rights of the religious, ethnic, racial, or linguistic minorities in the country.
On December 18, 1992, the United Nations adopted the day as Minorities Rights Day.

Note

- The National Commission for Minorities was set up under the National Commission for Minorities Act 1992.
In India, six religious communities have been notified as minority communities – Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians, Zoroastrians and Jains.

Constitutional Provisions

Article 30(1) – Right of all religious and linguistic minorities to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice
Article 30(2) – Freedom of minority-managed educational institutions from discrimination in the matter of receiving aid from the State.

VIjay Diwas (December 16)

December 16 is a day recognised to honour the valour of soldiers who helped India emerge triumphant over Pakistan in 1971 war.
The year 2022 is the 51st anniversary of the event, which led to the creation of Bangladesh.

About 1971 Indo-Pak War

The struggle for independence in East Pakistan started on December 3, 1971, and ended later on December 16, 1971 with the surrender of the Pakistan army.
On December 16, 1971 the then Major-General in the Pakistan Army, Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi, surrendered to the joint forces of Indian Army and Bangladesh’s Mukti Bahini.
Niazi signed the ‘Instrument of Surrender’ at Ramna Race Course in Dacca (now Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh).
The ‘Instrument of Surrender’ was signed and accepted by Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora, the then General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of India’s Eastern Command.
As a result, Bangladesh was brought on the world map, which was until then East Pakistan.
Bangladesh celebrates the day as ‘Bijoy Dibos’ to mark the country’s formal independence from Pakistan.