Nationwide One-Minute Blackout to Mark Genocide Day on March 25

According to a press release from the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs issued on Monday, March 23, the program will take place from 10:30 PM to 10:31 PM. This symbolic darkness serves as a tribute to the martyrs of the "Black Night" of March 25, 1971, when the Pakistani military launched the brutal "Operation Searchlight" against unarmed civilians.

To ensure safety and public welfare, Key Point Installations (KPIs), hospitals, fire services, power stations, and other essential emergency service providers, along with foreign missions in Bangladesh, will remain exempt from the blackout. In line with the solemnity of the day, the government has also prohibited any form of decorative lighting on all government, semi-government, autonomous, and private buildings on the night of March 25.

Furthermore, as part of ongoing austerity measures due to the global energy crisis, the government has extended the ban on decorative lighting to March 26, the Great Independence and National Day. Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed previously confirmed that this decision aims to save electricity while maintaining the dignity of these significant national occasions. Citizens and organizations across the country have been requested to cooperate in implementing these commemorative programs.