DHAKA, Dec 18, 2020 (BSS) – The 50th Victory Day was celebrated on Wednesday in Bangladesh missions at London, Brazil and Canada amid great festivity and fervor remembering with gratitude millions of freedom fighters who embraced martyrdom to liberate Bangladesh from the Pakistani occupation forces in 1971.
Homage was paid to the martyred freedom fighters and Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman prior to beginning of the day-long programmes, according to messages received here from Bangladesh missions abroad.
The missions celebrated the day with elaborate programmes, including hoisting of the national flag, discussion meetings, cultural functions and offering special prayers seeking divine blessings for the martyrs of the Liberation War.
Discussants fondly remembered the supreme sacrifices that the freedom fighters had made at the call of Bangabandhu against the brutal Pakistani soldiers who carried out one of the history’s worst genocides, killing three million unarmed civilians.
Bangladesh High Commission, London organised a high-profile victory day celebration where participants including eminent British parliamentarians, senior UK Foreign Office officials, Ambassadors and recipients of Friends of Liberation War Honour paid their profound homage to Father of the Nation and expressed solidarity with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s commitment to upholding Bangabandhu’s secular, progressive and pluralistic values in sustaining Bangladesh’s growth and prosperity.
Chaired by High Commissioner of Bangladesh to the UK and Ireland Saida Muna Tasneem, the meeting was participated by Chair of All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Bangladesh and UK’s Trade Envoy for Bangladesh Rushanara Ali, MP, Vice-Chair of the APPG on Bangladesh and Conservative Friends of Bangladesh, Bob Blackman, MP, High Commissioner of India to the UK Ms. Gaitri Issar Kumar, Non-resident Ambassador of Bhutan to UK Tenzin R. Wangchuk, Director for South Asia and Afghanistan at the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Gareth Bayley, Oxfam’s Special Representative in 1971, Julian Francis OBE, leading Bangladeshi-British organiser of 1971 liberation war movement in the UK Sultan Mahmud Shariff, Community representative Syed Sajidur Rahman Faruk and valiant freedom fighter Luqueman Hussain.
Tasneem said, “It is now our turn to protect those fundamentals of Bangabandhu’s 1972 Constitution-Democracy, Secularism, Bengali Nationalism and Social Justice, as based on these principles, Bangabandhu’s visionary daughter Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina continues to take Bangladesh to unprecedented heights of growth and prosperity even in post-Covid,”.
Paying respects to Bangladesh’s Father of the Nation, Rushanara Ali MP said, “I am proud of the fact that I was born in Bangladesh and came to the UK at the age of seven, and take pride in today’s Bangladesh that has achieved tremendous socio-economic prosperity despite Covid pandemic and leadership in disaster management and climate-resilient under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina”.
Bob Blackman, MP, also paid homage to Bangabandhu and recalled the royal hospitality and warm reception extended to him by Prime Minister Edward Heath’s government demonstrated Britain’s support to newly independent Bangladesh. He congratulated Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for the ‘spectacular 5.21 percent economic growth even in a post-pandemic challenging world.
Indian High Commissioner Gaitri Issar Kumar said, “Bangladesh and India have entered a ‘golden age’, ‘Sonali Oddhaya’, under the visionary statesmanship and close friendship between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Noranda Modi and our two peoples”.
In Brazil, Ambassador M Zulfiqar Rahman inaugurated the “Bangabandhu Memorial Library” at the embassy as part of the embassy’s program to mark the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of the nation.
He also unveiled a “Bangabandhu Corner” at the embassy.
It is hoped that this diplomatic effort to promote Bangabandhu and Bangladesh as a whole in the Latin American region, including Brazil, will play a significant role in improving relations between Bangladesh and the countries in the region. The Bangabandhu Memorial Library will also contribute to brighten the image of Bangladesh to the people of the region.
The High Commission at Ottawa, Canada also organized a virtual celebration in a befitting manner.