This evening, the Permanent Mission of Bangladesh to the UN and the Consulate General of Bangladesh, New York jointly celebrated the 49th Victory Day of Bangladesh at the Mission’s ‘Bangabandhu Auditorium’ in a befitting manner and with festivity. Earlier, the day’s programme began in the morning with the playing of the national anthem of Bangladesh followed by observing one minute silence as a mark of respect for the martyrs of the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971.
The Victory Day event turned into a congregation of a huge numbers of expatriate Bangladeshis in USA including the Freedom Fighters, cultural and political personalities, businesspersons and journalists. In the open discussion, discussants spoke about the undisputed leadership of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in our emergence as an independent country, the history of the Liberation War, the remarkable socio-economic developments and successes of Bangladesh and the pragmatic leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for implementing the Vision 2021 and the Vision 2041. The Freedom Fighters shared their wartime memories. The Discussants also vowed to make Bangladesh a ‘Golden Bangla’ ahead of the upcoming birth centenary of the Father of the Nation.
One minute silence, as a mark of respect to the martyrs, was observed at the beginning of the evening’s programme. It was followed by a special prayer seeking devine blessing for the departed souls of the martyrs and reading out of messages from the President, Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and State Minister for Foreign Affairs.
The event was chaired by the Permanent Representative (PR) of Bangladesh to the UN, Ambassador Rabab Fatima. In her welcome speech, the PR paid deep respect to the great founder of the independence- the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the four national leaders, three millions martyrs, two hundred thousand dishonored women and the bravest sons of the soil-our freedom fighters, who earned the long-cherished freedom and independence of Bangladesh. Ambassador Rabab said, “Under the visionary leadership of honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, now Bangladesh is known in the world as a role model of development and a responsible and progressive state”. She enumerated many of the successes of Bangladesh at the UN in the areas of graduation from LDCs, Rohingya issues, implementation of SDGs, climate change, migration, peacekeeping, women empowerment and elections.
The PR mentioned that the activities of the expatriate Bangladeshi citizen are enhancing the image of Bangladesh in foreign lands. She urged them to contribute through knowledge remittance, share their experiences and invest more to the development of our motherland.
Ambassador Fatima also urged the Diaspora to come forward for observing the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation in a befitting manner at the UN as well as in USA, next year. She called upon all to put sincere efforts to turned Bangladesh into a ‘Golden Bangla’ envisioned by Bangabandhu, under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The Consul General of Bangladesh in New York, Ms Sadia Faizunnesa, in her remarks recognized the contribution of about one million expatriate Bangladeshis to the development of the country. She said, “You are the real representatives of Bangladesh abroad. The remittances, you are sending to Bangladesh is enormously helping our country’s economic prosperity”. Consul General thanked the parents for teaching Bengali language and culture to their children growing up in the United States. Referring to the successful launching of the country’s first ever satellite ‘Bangabandhu Satellite-1’, the Consul General said, “Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been continuously working to build a digital Bangladesh based on information technology”. She sought the assistance of the expatriate Bangladeshis to bring back the killers of Bangabandhu to the country in order to have them face justice.
In the programme, the Mission welcomed the freedom fighters with flowers. Among the freedom fighters, Abdul Mukit Chowdhury, Abdul Baten and Rashed Ahmed and on behalf of the children of martyrs Freedom Fighters, Dr. Masudul Hasan and Fahim Reza Nur spoke in the open discussion segment. Ms. Irene Parvin, Shahnaz Momtaz and Mujahidul Islam among the politicians and Ms Naima Khan & Shelly A Murad, as representatives of the Bangladeshi community in New York, also spoke. All the speakers thanked Sheikh Hasina government for publishing the list of ‘Razakars’ on the eve of the Victory Day. They urged the Freedom Fighters and pro-liberation forces to join hands for combating any kind of conspiracy of Razakar, Albadar, Alshams and their alliances against Bangladesh. The speakers also pledged to push forward the development of Bangladesh under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
A captivating cultural programme began following the discussion segment where rendition of patriotic songs, recitation of poems and dances performed by the young artists of a local cultural organization ‘Bangladesh Academy of Fine Arts’- BAPA enthralled the audience. Two renowned books- the Unfinished Memoirs and Karagarer Rojnamcha were distributed as gifts among the performers. The guests were treated with authentic Bangladeshi cuisine.