DHAKA, Dec 16: Bangladesh celebrated 36 years of independence on Sunday.

“Victory Day” began with a 31-gun salute at a national monument in Savar near the capital, Dhaka, at dawn. Tens of thousands of Bangladeshis later gathered at the monument to lay wreaths and pay homage to those killed during the bloody war.

Bangladesh, then a part of Pakistan, proclaimed independence on March 26, 1971.

Sunday, usually a working day in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, was declared a public holiday to celebrate the anniversary.

The celebrations come amid a state of emergency which bars gatherings by political parties. Bangladesh, a parliamentary democracy since 1991, is currently run by an interim government backed by the country’s influential military.—Agencies