DHAKA [BANGLADESH]: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday handed over the Gandhi Peace Prize 2020 to Bangladesh’s Father of Nation Sheikh Mujibur Rehman’s younger daughter.
“It is a matter of pride for Indians that we got the opportunity to honour Sheikh Mujibur Rahman with Gandhi Peace Prize,” said the Prime Minister Modi during his address at the National Day programme in Dhaka.
PM Modi was seen in a dark coloured ‘Mujib Jacket’ as he paid tribute to Banganadhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman during the programme.
“On behalf of all Indians, I extend my heartiest congratulations to all of you, all the citizens of Bangladesh. I pay tribute to Bangobandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rohman ji who sacrificed his life for Bangladesh and its people,” he said.
“It is a matter of pride for Indians that we got the opportunity to honour Sheikh Mujibur Rahman with Gandhi Peace Prize. I also salute the brave soldiers of the Indian Army who stood with the brothers and sisters of Bangladesh in the ‘Muktijuddho’ (Liberation War). I am happy to see them present at this event today” PM Modi said.
The prime minister had earlier met the ‘Muktijuddhso’ or those who fought in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation war
The Prime Minister is on a two day visit to Bangladesh from today to attend the celebration of Bangladesh’s 50th year of liberation from Pakistan and the centenary year of its founder Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, the father of Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
“Today in Bangladesh, the blood of those who fought for their liberation and the blood of Indian soldiers are flowing together. This blood will form such a relationship that will not break down under any type of pressure and will not fall prey to any kind of diplomacy,” Modi said.
The Prime Minister stated that one of the first movements of his life was to join the struggle for the independence of Bangladesh. “I must have been 20-22 years old when I and many of my colleagues had done Satyagraha for the freedom of the people of Bangladesh. I even had the opportunity to go to jail during this satyagraha for Bangladesh’s struggle for freedom,” PM Modi said.
On Monday, India announced that Bangladesh’s father of the nation Rahman for the Gandhi Peace Prize.
In a statement on Monday, the Bangladesh government said that the award is a befitting tribute to the ever-deepening Bangladesh-India relations.
“The award is also a befitting tribute to the ever-deepening Bangladesh-India relations in a year when both countries are jointly celebrating the Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh’s Independence,” the statement read.
The Bangladesh government said that the honour assumes special significance on the 50th year of Bangladesh’s independence when the country is on the “verge of becoming a developing country, through political, economic and social transformation, the foundations of which were laid by Bangabandhu”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday arrived in Bangladesh on a two-day visit to the nation, his first tour to a foreign country since the Covid-19 outbreak last year. He was received by his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka. (Agency)
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