Bangladesh High Commission in Ottawa celebrated the Golden Jubilee of the Independence and National Day of Bangladesh on 26 March 2021 with due festivity and fervor. This year, the intensity of celebration is immense as the ongoing celebration of the Birth Centenary of the Father of the Nation added huge momentum to the celebration of the 50 years of the Independence and National Day of Bangladesh. Keeping the health advisory in mind, the High Commission chalked out the programme of the day in three different segments which were firstly flag hoisting in the morning, observance of silence and reading out of the messages including to offer special prayer for martyrs in the afternoon and virtual Reception in the evening.
The morning part of the celebration of the day began at 10:00 am at the Bangladesh House. Bangladesh High Commissioner, H.E. Dr. Khalilur Rahman hoisted the national flag. The Deputy High Commissioner including all the officials of the High Commission were present at the time of the ceremonial flag hoisting. The instrumental tune of the National Anthem of Bangladesh was played during flag hoisting.
The afternoon part of the event begins at 5:30 pm by paying one minute silence as tribute to the freedom fighters and all the martyrs who sacrificed their lives during the liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971. All the officers and officials of the High Commission were physically present to celebrate the day maintaining the health advisory of the host government. Then the messages of Hon’ble President, Hon’ble Prime Minister, Hon’ble Foreign Minister and Hon’ble State Minister for Foreign Affairs were read out by Mr. Chranjib Sarker, Deputy High Commissioner, Mr. Dewan Hossne Ayub, Minister, Political, Mr. Md. Shakhawat Hossain, Counsellor and Mr. Shakil Mahmud, Counsellor respectively. After reading out of the messages, a special prayer was offered for all the martyrs for their eternal peace and salvation.
The virtual Reception began at 07:00 pm in the evening. The virtual event was conducted by Mr. Miah Md. Mainul Kabir, Minister & HOC as Master of Ceremony. The event included speeches of Bangladesh High Commissioner in Canada, H.E. Dr. Khalilur Rahman, Federal Minister for the Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness of Canada Honourable Bill Blair, MP, as the Chief Guest, Hon’ble Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada Honourable Rob Oliphant MP, as Guest of Honour, Hon’ble Chandra Arya, the Member of Parliament from the Nepean riding of Ontario, Hon’ble Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, Member of Parliament representing Beaches-East York of the Greater Toronto Area who is also the Chair of Bangladesh Canada Parliamentary Friendship Group, Doly Begum, Hon’ble Member of Provincial Parliament of Ontario Province from Scarborough Southwest of Toronto.
The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau issued the following statement on the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh’s independence: “Today, Bangladeshi communities in Canada and around the world will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh’s independence. At this important milestone, we reflect on Bangladesh’s remarkable economic and social transformation since its independence. Canada has been a proud development partner over the last 50 years, and we continue to work alongside Bangladesh to meet the needs of Rohingya refugees and to create opportunity for both our countries. We look forward to building on this longstanding cooperation, expanding our trade relationship, and advancing our shared values, including the empowerment of women and girls, and respect for cultural and linguistic diversity. The friendship between our countries is also rooted in strong people-to-people ties. Every day, the Bangladeshi-Canadian community makes important contributions to Canada’s multicultural fabric and prosperity. On behalf of the Government of Canada, I offer my best wishes to all who are celebrating the Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh’s independence.
All the invited dignitaries of the host Government in their deliberations expressed their best wishes and felicitations on the occasion of the 50th year of the Independence and National Day 2021 of Bangladesh. They also expressed greetings for the ongoing celebration of the Birth Centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. They acknowledged the immense and unparallel contribution of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as the architect of the independent Bangladesh. All of them opined that the historical relations between the two countries began since the leadership between Bangabandhu and Pierre Elliott Trudeau and existing relations had deepened in collaborations of many areas between the two countries.
High Commissioner H.E. Dr. Khalilur Rahman in his deliberation welcomed and extended heartiest greetings to all Bangladeshi expatriates in Canada through virtual on the 50th Anniversary of the Independence of Bangladesh. At the outset, he paid homage to the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, to four National Leaders, three million martyrs, two hundred thousand tortured women who lost their honor and all the valiant freedom fighters for their sacrifice for the Independence. He mentioned that this year’s celebration assumed significance as celebration of the Birth Centenary of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was also going on simultaneously.
Mentioning the remarkable social performances, High Commissioner said that Bangladesh had been able to bring down poverty rate below 20.5%. Child and maternal mortality rates drastically came down and life expectancy rose to 73 years; while adult literacy rate to 74%, he added. He mentioned that before the COVID-19 Pandemic, the economy grew at the rate of 8.13%. He further mentioned that even during the pandemic, our economy grew at the rate of 5.24%, one of the highest in the world which was possible due to the visionary directions of the Hon’ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to adopt the policy of balancing of life and livelihood keeping the economic activities afloat even in the midst of the ongoing pandemic. He said that the size of the Bangladesh economy stood at around USD 220 Billion and average per capita national income rose over US$ 2000. He further mentioned that according to the World Economic Forum, Bangladesh would be the 24th Economy of the world by the year 2030. Today, Bangladesh was a “Development Miracle” and known as a Role Model for Development for many nations, he added.
He said that Bangladesh-Canada relations dated back even before the start of our War of Independence. When Awami League led by the Father of the Nation won the general elections held on 7 December 1970, then Right Hon’ble Prime Minister of Canada Pierre Elliott Trudeau urged the Pakistani rulers to hand over power peacefully to the elected Representatives. He further said that the present government led by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina attached great importance to Bangladesh-Canada bilateral relations and considered Canada as an important partner for our development. Moreover, Bangladesh and Canada were also working closely on many issues of mutual interest and of global importance, including climate change, global peace and security and others, as well as early resolution of Rohingya crisis, he added. In terms of trade relations, the two countries have seen phenomenal growth in recent years. The trade volume increased by almost 33% in 2019 over the previous year. Though slowed down due to the ongoing pandemic, we expect the expansion of trade between the two countries would pick up soon again. The High Commissioner thanked the Right Hon’ble Prime Minister of Canada for issuing a Video Message for National Events celebrating the twin historic occasions in Dhaka.
He expressed commitment to work more closely with Canada and urged the international community to hold the perpetrators, who persecuted Rohingya population and committed crime against humanity, accountable and to ensure that 1.1 million Rohingyas who were now sheltered temporarily in Bangladesh, could go back to their homeland Myanmar with dignity and safety. He further mentioned that the continuing stay of these forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals in Bangladesh was not only a development threat to Bangladesh, but it could also turn out to be a full-blown security concern in the region and beyond.
Finally, on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of our Independence and the ongoing celebration of the Birth Centenary of the Father of the Nation, High Commissioner expressed his commitment to transforming the country into “Sonar Bangla”, a Golden Bengal, a Developed Nation by 2041 under the leadership of the Hon’ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
During the Virtual Reception, cultural performances were also displayed including documentaries on the history and ongoing development and progress of Bangladesh. After this, the event ended.
