Indian Army soldiers perform during a ‘military tattoo’ exercise program ahead of Victory Day celebrations to mark the 53rd Victory Day in Kolkata, West Bengal. | Photo credit: PTI
Eight Indian military veterans of Bangladesh’s 1971 liberation war have arrived in Dhaka, while eight Bangladesh Army officers have arrived in Kolkata to join the Victory Day celebrations in the two countries, officials said.
Officials from Bangladesh and the Indian High Commission in Dhaka said that the delegation to attend the ceremony in Dhaka and Kolkata includes two serving officers from both sides. They reached the destination city on Sunday.
The delegation from Bangladesh included the Mukti Jodhas, who were part of the guerrilla resistance force in East Pakistan opposed to Pakistani rule there.
The visit by delegations from the two countries comes amid tensions over alleged violence against the minority Hindu community after a student-led uprising ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government on August 5 in Bangladesh. He left the country and took refuge in India.
The interim government of Mohammed Yunus has strongly denied any major sectarian violence. Hindus make up about 8 percent of Bangladesh’s population.
A Dhaka-based political analyst said, “The exchange of visits by veterans is a reminder of the friendship we had in 1971.”
He said that Indian Foreign Secretary Bikram Mishri’s one-day visit to Dhaka with his counterpart Jashim Uddin for Foreign Office consultations on December 9 partially eased the tension in bilateral relations as he also met Yunus and his de facto foreign minister, Tauhid Hussain.
“Now the exchange of visits of veterans is expected to show the goodwill of both the countries towards each other,” the analyst said.
Both India and Bangladesh celebrate the victory over Pakistan on December 16, 1971, and each year invite each other’s war veterans and serving officers to participate in the celebrations in the two countries.
Bangladesh celebrates its Independence Day on March 26 but Dhaka emerged as the independent capital of an independent country on December 16, nine months after the liberation war with significant Indian support.
“These annual bilateral visits provide a platform for liberation and liberation war veterans to celebrate the unique friendship of the two countries,” the Indian High Commission said in a statement.
It added that the occasion renews the memory of the liberation war “which symbolizes the common sacrifice of the armed forces of India and Bangladesh for the freedom of Bangladesh from occupation, oppression and mass tyranny”.
published – Dec 16, 2024 at 05:34 pm IST