 It was here, on 7 March 1971, that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman delivered a historic speech calling for the independence of Bangladesh from Pakistan, and here too, later that year, that the Pakistani Army surrendered in the Liberation War of Bangladesh.The area has since become a staging ground for protests by students and other groups.It was the site of public protests by around 30,000 civilians on 8 February 2013, against a lenient ruling against war criminals.