India and China are two neighbouring nations. Both countries gained independence from colonial powers around the same time – India in 1947, and China in 1949.

Every moment of this day is vivid in my memory. January 10, 1972, the day Bangabandhu came back from prison to his freed motherland—to the nation which he had led to victory and independence, but from a distance. I was a witness to his great and historic return.