Bangladesh will construct a monument in the memory of the Indian soldiers martyred in the 1971 Liberation War against Pakistan, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the country's independence, Liberation War Affairs Minister Mozammel Haque said in Dhaka on Thursday.
He made the comments when outgoing Indian High Commisisoner Riva Ganguly Das paid him a farewell visit. "We are constructing the monument coinciding with the 50th anniversary of our independence" crucially backed by India, a ministry spokesman quoted Haque as saying.
The minister recalled with gratitude the cooperation of Indian government and its people during the Liberation War. Das said that 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," she said.
Das requested the minister for taking up initiatives for translating the books on the Liberation War in Hindi.
Das also expressed India's willingness to become a part of the golden jubilee celebrations of Bangladesh's independence in 2021. An official familiar with the monument project said the government has selected 3.5 acres of land at frontier Ashuganj of Brahmanbaia district bordering 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.
He said the construction of the monument was expected to begin by this year and is expected to complete in the next two years while its abstract architectural design was aimed to reflect the bonding between the two neighbours.
Haque congratulated Riva on her next posting as Secretary (East) in the External Affairs Ministry, saying the relations between the two nations will reach a different dimension during her tenure. Bangladesh earlier felicitated Indian soldiers and veterans and posthumously honoured the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and several other distinguished Indians for their role in 1971.
Bangladesh has National Martyr's Memorial on the outskirts of Dhaka where ceremonial homage is paid for all the 1971 martyrs. The war in 1971 began after the sudden crackdown at midnight on March 25 that year in erstwhile East Pakistan by Pakistani troops and ended on December 16 as Pakistan conceded defeat and unconditionally surrendered in Dhaka to the allied forces comprising Bengali freedom fighters and the Indian Army.
Officially three million people were killed during the nine-month-long war.
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