The Embassy of Bangladesh in The Hague celebrated the 48th Victory Day on 16 December 2018 with due solemnity and festivity in the Embassy premises. The programme commenced with the hoisting of National Flag at full mast by Ambassador Sheikh Mohammed Belal. A large number of Bangladesh community living in the Netherlands and the officials of the Embassy along with members of their family etc. attended the ceremony. At the outset, one minute silence was observed in honour of the martyred freedom fighters who sacrificed their invaluable lives in the Liberation War. Homage was also paid to the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, all Freedom Fighters and all ‘Brianganas’ of 1971 who lost their sanctity. Messages of the Hon’ble President, Hon’ble Prime Minister, Hon’ble Foreign Minister and Hon’ble State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh issued on the occasion were recited by the officials of the Embassy.
A discussion session followed, where the members of Bangladesh Community living in the Netherlands namely, Mr. Zainal Abedin, Mr. Golam Rabbani and Ms. Tanbira Talukder spoke on significance of the victory day and liberation war in our life. They also took part in constructive discussion, highlighting the role of expatriate community and Bangladesh Embassies to make a bridge so that they (expat. community) can add value in the process of nation building. To fulfill the dream of the Great Leader Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of ‘Golden Bangla’ the expatriate community urged all to join hands to uphold the spirit of development of Bangladesh.
Bangladesh Ambassador to the Netherlands Sheikh Mohammed Belal, in his speech, paid homage to the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and recalled how his leadership inspired the whole Bengali nation to be united to fight for the independence. As a means of pay back to the invaluable sacrifices of the martyrs, Ambassador Belal flagged that our young generation should come up with forward looking ideas and initiatives towards achieving our long cherished goal of Sonar Bangla. Since the future of the country is in the hand of the new generation, it is very much important to inculcate the spirit of nationalism and liberation war into them. Mentioning few instances of development wonders attained under the able leadership of the Hon’ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, he expressed hope that this development spree will remain persistent in all over the country.
Ambassador Belal also expressed gratitude to Hon’ble Prime Minister for her leadership in successful completion of Bangladesh Delta Plan (BDP)-2100 and also thanked the Netherlands for their sustained support. He also shared with the audience some landmark achievements of Bangladesh’s diplomacy as Bangladesh once again got elected to the Executive Council of OPCW for term 2019-21 as well as Bangladesh’s first ever successful election as member of the Bureau of ICC for next two years. Ambassador Belal also expressed his personal thanks for nominating him as member of the Board of Directors of the Trust Fund for Victims of the ICC. All these achievements could be considered as our expression of gratitude to those freedom fighters and Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman for enabling us to work for an independent country.
Later, a colourful cultural programme was organized at the Chancery premises, where the expatriate community as well as members of family of the officials of the Embassy enthusiastically took part. The artists presented patriotic songs, traditional folk dance and poems commemorating the Victory Day and the spirit of Liberation War. A young band of Bangla music named Trimatrik rendered a touching musical presentation at the end.