Hundreds of Kolkatans are joining the “Bangladesh Utshob” that began in the historic premises that houses the country’s Deputy High Commission here. The five-day event began on Friday.
This mission is located on a road that is named after Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rehman. Bengali diplomats in the service of Pakistan took over this building by chasing out their colleagues from the western wing and turned it into the first mission of the provisional government of Bangladesh during the Liberation War.
A large group of Bangladeshi singers and dancers have arrived in the city to lend lustre to the Bangladesh Utshob, the country’s Deputy High Commissioner in Calcutta, Abida Islam said.
Timir Nandi, Sama Rahman, Sajid Akhter, Salma Akbar, Bulbul Islam, Kumar Biswajit are among the artistes who have arrived already — but there are more to come. They will perform during the evenings with local artistes from West Bengal.
“Other than the music and dance, we have stalls here showcasing Bangladeshi food and textiles, ceramics and melamine products and much else,” Islam said.
A team of Bangladesh freedom fighters have also arrived in Kolkata to join the Victory Day celebrations at the Eastern Command of the Indian Army.
“We fought the war together, shoulder to shoulder, so we want them (freedom fighters) to be part of our celebrations,” said Lt-General Dalbir Suhag, GOC-in-C, Eastern Command.
Bangladesh is also the partner country in the Kolkata Industrial Fair that starts on Friday at the Science City here.
Source: Bd News24
