Dhaka- The military backed interim government in Bangladesh Tuesday announced plans for hoisting the national flag at half mast at all private and state establishments this Friday to show respect to the country's founding leader Sheikh Mujib ur Rahman, who was brutally killed in 1975.

The interim authorities also decided to call a day of national mourning for Friday to recall the memory of Mujib, the founder of Bangladesh, who steered the country to independence from Pakistan in December 1971.

To mark Mujib's killing at the hands of a group of rebel army soldiers on August 15, 1975, both President Iajuddin Ahmad and executive head of government Fakhruddin Ahmed are expected to lay floral wreaths at the gravesite of the founder president in his home town of Tungipara, 240 kilometres south of the capital Dhaka.

The rebel soldiers also killed his wife, his three sons, and 26 other family members in a midnight massacre which had gone down in the country's history as one of its most brutal episodes.

Mujib was stripped of his constitutional status as the Father of the Nation and his secular government was overthrown in the botched coup, staged by former officers and men who set up a short-lived, right-wing Islamist administration.

Mujib's name was wiped out from school text books while his contribution to independence was challenged by his right-wing critics.

The High Court recently ordered the government to reinstate Mujib's position of honour without delay.

In a weekend meeting, the interim regime decided to recognize the court verdict. (dpa)