London, March 23 (OurVoice) – European Bangladesh Forum (EBF), a Europe-based Diaspora organization of Bangladeshi Europeans will organize a Virtual Seminar on ‘50 Years of Independence: Geo-Political Support for Bangladesh in 1971’ on Wednesday, March 24 at central European time 2 p.m. (UK time 1 p.m. and Bangladesh time 7 p.m.).
The seminar is being organized in the backdrop of the Golden Jubilee of the independence of Bangladesh. Bangladesh and India share many things in common, especially in terms of history, politics and culture. Bangladesh and India share not only a common border of 4096 km but also share a common history of struggle for freedom and liberation. India extended all-out support to Bangladesh to liberate her from the clutches of Pakistan in 1971. Bangladesh too lent all possible cooperation to India, inter alia, uprooting the armed insurgency from the soil of Bangladesh, who under the state patronization during the BNP-Jamaat rule in late 70s and early 80s, led an armed struggle against India. The latest, inauguration of the ‘Maitri Setu’ (Friendship Bridge), a bridge over the Feni river between the two countries via videoconferencing by the head of the two states demonstrates the friendly ties between the two countries. Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina on the occasion said, ‘Opening of any bridge is testimony to Bangladesh government’s continued commitment to support our neighbors India in strengthening connectivity in the region, particularly for Northeast India.’ The relationship between the two countries- India and Bangladesh- is more solid today than ever before.
After the assassination of the founder of Bangladesh, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on 15 August 1975, Bangladesh moved to a different direction, away from the above four principles and the country witnessed an alarming rise of anti-India and anti-secular forces vitiating the bilateral relations under the leadership of General Ziaur Rahman and the BNP-Jamaat rule. What is a matter of more concern and alarm is that Pakistan is still struggling to wipe out the memory of their humiliating defeat in 1971 and making attempts to indulge in the internal matters/politics of Bangladesh.
The year 2020 is the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and 2021 is the 50th years of Bangladesh’s Liberation War and marking the establishment of Bangladesh-India bilateral diplomatic ties.
The meeting will mainly focus on the geo-political support to Bangladesh during the liberation war in 1971 and the post war development cooperation. The meeting will be addressed by the Director Research of South Asia Democratic Forum (SADF), Brussels Dr. Siegfried O. Wolf, General Secretary of Sector Commanders’ Forum writer, senior journalist and columnist Freedom Fighter Haroon Habib, Executive Director of the Institute of Conflict, Law and Development Studies (ICLDS) Major General (Retd) Abdur Rashid, Editor of Bangladesher Khobor and Bangladesh News and former Managing Editor of the national News Agency, Bangladesh Sangbad Sagstha (BSS) Azizul Islam Bhuiyan, Founding President of Bangabandhu Foundation Germany Younus Ali Khan and renowned journalist and writer from the Netherlands Bikash Chowdhury Barua. The conference will be moderated by senior researcher and writer Dr. Mojibur Doftori of Finland.
The virtual meeting is being organized in collaboration with the London-based British Bangla News. It will be live telecast from the British Bangla News and can be watched live on the You Tube and the British Bangla News Facebook Page. The program can be live watched on YouTube Link: https://youtu.be/C6JL9EcnAds and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ 1893291424235804/posts/2916554851909451/?d=n.
It may be mentioned here that the forthcoming virtual conference is the follow-up virtual conference of EBF on the topic, ‘International Recognition of 1971 Genocide in Bangladesh’ held in The Hague, Netherlands on March 23, 2019.
