DHAKA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh on Monday marked their 48th Independence and National Day.

The day is a national holiday in Bangladesh, and is celebrated with parades, and paying of respect at Jatiyo Smriti Soudho, the national memorial at Savar on the outskirts of Dhaka.

At Monday dawn, on behalf of the nation, President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina paid tribute to martyrs of the Liberation War at the National Memorial in Savar.

The celebration of the Independence Day began with a 31-gun salute at dawn by a smartly turned-out contingent drawn from the Bangladeshi Army, Navy and Air Force while the bugles played the last post.

Wearing the red and green of the Bangladeshi flag, people of all ages and all walks of life also thronged the national memorial to pay respect to war heroes.

On March 26 every year, Bangladesh commemorates the country's declaration of independence on late hours of March 25, 1971 and the beginning of the fight by Bengalis in erstwhile East Pakistan for freedom in 1971.