Guwahati: Chief Minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma, recalled the state’s involvement in the battle, notably the tremendous sacrifice made by soldiers, in light of the visit of the “Muktijoddhas” (liberation warriors) of Bangladesh.
The chief minister announced that he is probably going to Bangladesh shortly to further bolster the long-standing ties between India and Bangladesh.
A 25-person team of liberation fighters is in Guwahati and Shillong for a three-day trip.
The visit is part of #AzadiKaAmritMahotsav and Swarnim Vijay Varsh celebrations organised by High Commission of India in Bangladesh & Act East Policy Affairs, GoA,” Sarma tweeted after meeting the delegation on Monday evening.
Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav honours the 75th anniversary of India’s independence, while Swarnim Vijay Varsh commemorates the 50th anniversary of India’s victory over Pakistan in the 1971 conflict that resulted in the creation of Bangladesh.
“The Bangladesh Liberation War was a landmark event where 9 valiant soldiers from Assam made the supreme sacrifice. Some Assam Police officers trained & equipped Mukti Bahini members,” the chief minister said in a Twitter post.
He continued by saying that Assamese civic society also stepped up to assist the East Bengali refugees.
The chief minister declared that the Bangladeshi foreign minister had extended an invitation for him to visit the nation.
A delegation of 19 prominent editors and journalists from different Bangladeshi organisations also arrived in Guwahati on Monday.
A formal announcement, as reported by PTI, stated that the team, which is being led by Independent TV of Bangladesh’s Chief News Editor, Ashish Ghosh Saikat, will be visiting with several organisations while there.
According to the statement, this exercise is being conducted as a part of the Familiarization Program for Foreign Media being run by the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India.
The press representative from the Indian High Commission in Dhaka, Vaibhav Sunil Gondane, and the ministry of external affairs’ publicity representative, Pawan Kumar, are accompanying the team.
The team will travel to IIT Guwahati, Numaligarh Refinery Limited, and the Centre for Development and Peace Studies, among other places, according to the press release.