The BNP will honour four foreign friends, who contributed to the country’s Liberation War in 1971, on March 20, about a week ahead of the country’s Independence Day.
Those chosen for the honour are late US senator Edward M Kennedy, late British musician George Harrison, late Australian citizen WAS Ouderland, receiver of Bir Pratik, and late Debdulal Bandyopadhyay, newscaster and journalist of All India Radio and Doordarshan.
They will be honoured at the ‘Freedom Fighters Rally’ in Dhaka’s Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB), on March 20, BNP’s Acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told reporters at the party’s Nayapaltan headquarters on Wednesday.
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia will attend the function to be hosted by Muktijoddha Dal, an affiliate of the party.
In addition, the BNP and its associate organisations have planned events, including discussions, in the run up to Independence Day celebrations on March 26.
Muktijoddha Dal President Ishtiaq Aziz Ulfat told bdnews24.com: “We will honour some of our foreign friends who had extended their wholehearted supports to our Liberation War and visited different states to create public opinion in our favour. This time we’ll give posthumous honourary awards to four foreign friends.”
He said they were already in touch with their families through Bangladesh embassies in those countries.
Ishtiaq said: “At the national level, late President Ziaur Rahman will be given a posthumous award for having proclaimed of the country’s Independence. The decision to bestow on him this award as the country’s ‘greatest pride’ has been taken since he had given the nation direction during the war.”
Sadeque Ahmed Khan, one of the key leaders of the Muktijoddha Dal, said senator Edward M Kennedy had defended Bangladesh’s independence in the congressional council of the USA during the Liberation War. “He had campaigned in different countries in its favour.”
All India Radio newscaster and gifted elocutionist Debdulal Bandyopadhyay is known for his reading of Sangbad Parikrama, or news roundup during Bangladesh’s war of independence. His mellifluous voice and professional delivery had made him very popular as a news reader.
During Bangladesh’s war of independence, his readings of Sangbad Parikrama, kept listeners spell-bound. People would gather round the radios on roadside shops and listen to the programme as late as 10pm.
After the independence of Bangladesh, the country’s first President Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman felicitated Debdulal in Dhaka for his contribution to the war of independence.
In June 1971, the Bengali musician Pandit Ravi Shankar and his ‘friend’, The Beatles musician, George Harrison, created awareness abroad about the Bangladesh Liberation War and collected funds for the refugees who took shelter in India.
WAS Ouderland was an Australian commando officer who actively took part in the World War II and the Bangladesh Liberation War. He was awarded the fourth highest gallantry award, the Bir Protik, by the Bangabandhu government. He is the only foreigner to receive this honorary award.
Sadeque Ahmed Khan said that the prime minister of the government-in-exile Tajuddin Ahmed, WAS Ouderland and Col Ziauddin were honoured by the Muktijoddha Gana Parishad in 2003.
“We are in touch with families of our four more foreign friends. If members of their families are unable to come, we’ll send letters to the embassies concerned asking to receive the awards on behalf of their families.”
Source: Bd news24