Bangladesh to construct monument for martyred 1971 Indian soldiers
Bangladesh is set to construct a monument on its soil for martyred 1971 Indian soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the country’s independence from Pakistan, Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque said on Thursday.
“We are constructing the monument coinciding with the 50th anniversary of our independence,” a ministry spokesman quoted Haque as saying as Indian high commissioner in Dhaka Riva Ganguly Das paid her farewell call on him at his office.
The minister recalled with gratitude the cooperation of Indian government and its people during the Liberation War while Riva Ganguly Das said Bangladesh and India were tested friends.
“Some people are out to spread misleading information purposely to worsen the relations between the two next-door neighbours but the Bangladesh-India ties are not so fragile,” the Indian envoy said.
She requested the minister for taking up initiatives for translating the books on the Liberation War in Hindi.
An official familiar with the monument project said the government by now selected 3.5 acres of land at frontier Ashuganj of Brahmanbaia district bordering India’s Agartala.
“The site which has been selected has historic significance . . . Indian army fought Pakistanis some decisive wars in 1971 along with our freedom fighters in Ashuganj,” the official said.❐
