India celebrates too

Tripura yesterday celebrated Bangladesh's Victory Day commemorating the heroic Indian Army soldiers who laid down their lives in the 1971 Liberation War.

Tripura State Rifles and Indian Army in Agartala also paid tributes to the martyrs of 1971, say news reports from the northeastern state. Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy, accompanied by Tribal Welfare (Primitive Tribe, Plantation and Rehabilitation) and Jail Minister Manindra Reang, senior officials and other dignitaries laid a wreath at the War Memorial in the heart of Agartala.

Tathagata, who visited Bangladesh last week, said, "Bangladeshi people and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina respectfully remembered the contribution and role of the Indian Army, government and people of India." He said Hasina was very grateful for India's role in the Liberation War.

"The brave Indian Army accompanied by people of then East Pakistan fought the war most successfully and protected the sovereignty of both present Bangladesh and  India," he said.

India's Border Security Force and Border Guard Bangladesh also exchanged greetings. A daylong programme at the Bangladesh Assistant High Commission in Agartala saw discussions, cultural functions and a get-together of people from various walks of life.

Indo-Asian News Service, quoting historian Bikach Chowdhury, reported that Tripura had six to seven camps in four sectors from where freedom fighters fought the Pakistani occupation forces. During the Liberation War, 10 million men, women and children from then East Pakistan took shelter in West Bengal, Tripura, Assam and Meghalaya. The Tripura government has been creating a "freedom fighter" park at Chottakhola in Belonia to commemorate the Liberation War and its heroes.