President Abdul Hamid today told parliament that the political parties have to nurture the culture of tolerance of others' opinion, show mutual respect, and attach due importance to others' views in order to give institutional shape to democracy.

"Imbibed with the spirit of 1971, we shall have to build up resistance against those who seek to hinder the trend of advancement in the country through confusion-mongering and derailing the simple-minded people of this land by denying the reality and concocting imaginary stories and situations," he said.

The president added: "Only then would the 'Golden Bangla' as dreamt by Bangabandhu [Sheikh Mujibur Rahman] materialise, and the celebrations of his birth centenary become meaningful."

The president was delivering his speech in the special session of parliament convened to mark Mujib Borsho -- the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The special session of parliament started on November 8.

This was the first time the Jatiya Sangsad went into any special session, sources at the parliament secretariat said.

The special session was scheduled to be held on March 22 but postponed following coronavirus outbreak in the country.

Earlier, the parliament went into a special sitting on two occasions -- January 31 and June 18 in 1974 -- but it was in session on both occasions, addressed by former Yugoslav President Marshal Josip Broz Tito and then Indian president VV Giri respectively.

Abdul Hamid said: "We shall have to protect our independence, which we snatched from the clutches of the Pakistani invaders in exchange for a sea of blood. The benefits of freedom shall have to be delivered to the doorsteps of all."

He also observed that unity is needed most for building the "Sonar Bangla" of Bangabandhu -- a unity of the people, especially of those on the side of the Liberation War.

"The unity that brought us together in 1971, that unity has to be forged against communalism, undemocratic behaviour and violence."

He said there is no scope to look at Bangabandhu and Bangladesh separately. One has to know about Bangabandhu in order to know Bangladesh, the struggle for freedom of the Bangalees and the Liberation War.

"Those who tried to look at these two phenomena separately have failed. Today's reality is the biggest proof of that," Hamid said.

In his long speech, Abdul Hamid said: "Let the nation advance forward on the path of building a hunger- and poverty-free Bangladesh by embracing the spirit of the Liberation War and the ideals of the Father of the Nation; let the nation succeed in dropping its anchor on the shore of Bangabandhu's 'Sonar Bangla'," he said.

Saying the Father of the Nation had a huge heart, Hamid said: "He used to dream himself, and also made other people dream."

"His confidence, love and faith in his countrymen were infinite. He repaid the love of the people of Bangla by sacrificing his own life. He has made the Bangalee nation indebted to him."

The president suggested that the life and deeds of Bangabandhu, his thoughts, ideas and philosophy have to be disseminated among the younger generation of Bangladesh and across the world through observance of the Mujib Year.

He said Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is not merely a name, but Bangabandhu is an institution, an entity, a history. Hamid said an invisible Bangabandhu is much more powerful than a living Bangabandhu.

"As long as Bangladesh remains, the Bangalees live, the people of this country remain, Bangabandhu shall remain as a source of inspiration for all. He will continue to illuminate the world as a luminous torch of freedom for the oppressed people of the world."