The Bengali people took a democratic and non-communal approach in their movement for being free from a thousand years of shackles, exploitation and injustice of Pakistanis. It became necessary for the Bengali nation to establish an independent state to protect the right to speak the mother tongue, to protect the long-standing local culture and to uphold the ethnic identity. And Awami League led the nation step by step on the path of this long liberation struggle and freedom movement. This party was formed by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and later reorganized by his daughter Sheikh Hasina.
The political objectives of the Awami League can clearly be understood through a single speech of Bangabandhu at the first council session of the Awami League in independent Bangladesh on April 7, 1972. Awami League chief Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman said in an unequivocal voice, “Our aim is clear. We must bring smiles to the faces of the poor people.”