40 years on, Bangladesh to honour ‘foreign friends’ who aided liberation

Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni has an eclectic mailing list as Convenor of the National Committee to Honour the Foreign Friends of the Bangladesh War of Liberation. Writing to the 140-odd guests Bangladesh wants to honour this weekend in Dhaka, and again in December, she speaks of the "omission" of there being a lag of 40 years in formally recognizing the "contribution" of foreign friends of Bangladesh.

Although it is generally remembered that a short but bitter war liberated Bangladesh from Pakistan, Dhaka has decided to go beyond honouring just the generals and other armed fighters who fought for the cause.

The Indians listed to be honoured include the late Gen. J S Aurora, who signed the famous surrender pact with Pakistan's Gen. Niazi, the late Babu Jagjivan Ram, the then Indian defence minister, the late Jyoti Basu, a young politician who backed the movement vociferously and belonged to East Bengal, and the late poet Kaifi Azmi, who wrote poetry which helped the idea of Bangladesh flower.

Veteran Indian MPs Bhupesh Gupta of the CPI and Atal Behari Vajpayee are being acknowledged for their forceful speeches in the house supporting Bangladesh. Late Communist activist Kalpana Joshi, known for her role in the Chittagong armoury raid in the 1930s, is also being honoured for supporting Bangladesh's liberation.

Former BBC journalist Mark Tully is being remembered for his coverage of the war. The struggle had touched the music world too and acted as a force multiplier. So Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, the late Allan Ginsberg and George Harrison are being thanked for their contribution then through special songs and concerts.

In an indication of Bangladesh's new self-assuredness, Dhaka also plans to honour 11 Pakistanis who stood by it. Among them are the late Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz and poet-activist Habib Jalib.

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