HE, Mr AKM Mozzammel Huq, Hon’ble Minister for Liberation War Affairs, H.E.Dr. Gowher Rizvi, Adviser to the Hon’ble Prime Minister on International Relations, Mr Mostafa Mohsin Montu, General Secretary, Bangladesh Gono Forum, valiant Muktijodhas, heirs of Muktijodhas, member of the media and my colleagues.

At the outset I thank you all for sparing valuable time to attend the scholarships award ceremony.

The Muktijodha scholarship scheme was started by the  Govt of India in 2006 for direct descendents of Muktijodhas. Under this scheme, scholarships are awarded to higher secondary and under graduate level students.  Under graduate students get Tk 24,000/-per year for four years and higher secondary students get  Tk 10,000/-per year for two years.  Till now more than 9500 students have benefited from the scheme and an amount of Tk 13 crores has been utilized for this purpose.

This year, scholarships have been awarded to 800 Under graduate students.  Some of the students will be handed over the cheques today. After this function at Dhaka, similar functions will be held at other Divisions (Barisal, Khulna, Sylhet, Rangpur, Chittagong & Rajshahi) over the next few weeks.

India and Bangladesh share a historical legacy of fighting and winning the Liberation war together.  This is a unique example in modern history where Armies from two nations have fought the war as an integrated force and defeated a common adversary.  These are eternal bonds, permanently cemented by the blood and sacrifice of our martyrs.  These bonds have stood the test of time and will continue to bind our two nations together in future.

On this occasion, I pay my tribute to the martyrs of both countries who have laid down their lives during the Independence struggle.  May their souls rest in peace.

We recognise and honour the contribution and sacrifice of the Muktijodhas.  This scholarship scheme is a small symbolic gesture of our Govt to show our continued solidarity with them.  They have been our lasting friends and have played an important role in  keeping alive the “spirit of the Liberation War”.

I once again thank the  Hon’ble Minister for Liberation War Affairs, himself a valiant muktijodha and senior political leader, Adviser to the Hon’ble Prime Minister on International Relation Affairs,  General Secretary, Bangladesh Gono Forum and all Muktijodhas for sparing their time to grace this occasion. 

I also thank, the Bangladesh-India friendship Society for organising this event.

Thank you.

|| Jai Bharat – Jai Bangla ||