On the eve of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh celebrated a memorable event in its history: on March 26, 1971, the head of state, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, proclaimed the independence of his country from Pakistan. Bangladesh or East Bengal (and later East Pakistan) has been considered part of this state since 1947. The contradictions between the residents of the regions were quite acute and were associated with the lack of official status of the Bengali language, uneven distribution of resources, discrimination based on ethnicity, etc.
“Bangladesh began celebrating March 26 as a national holiday — Independence Day — in 1971. It was on this day that our great leader and father of the nation, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, proclaimed the independence of Bangladesh, and after that, our people waged a nine-month war for the freedom of the motherland occupied by the troops of Pakistan. With the help of all freedom-loving people in the world, including your country and its leadership, the people of Bangladesh won the liberation war on December 16, 1971,” Mohammed Abdul Hye, Charge Ambassador of Bangladesh in Russia in 2001, wrote in an official message to Kommersant.
Today Bangladesh is an independent state striving for the political, trade and economic development of the country, as well as the establishment of diplomatic relations with other countries. In particular, a high level of cooperation in Russian-Bangladeshi relations is maintained. Just this month, Russian Ambassador Alexander Mantytsky met with the Speaker of the Parliament of Bangladesh Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury.
“During the conversation, the mutual intention to strengthen friendly relations between the parliaments of Russia and Bangladesh was confirmed, including under the auspices of the friendship groups created to exchange the best practices of national legislation,” the press service of the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
Finally, the People’s Republic of Bangladesh is an active participant in international organizations. Thus, this country initiated the adoption of the UNESCO resolution on the establishment of the International International Mother Language Day. After all, in 1952, many Bangladeshis gave their lives for their language to be recognized as the state language.
The material was collected and processed by Sofia Chernopyatova
