Biography of Ouderland launched

18 May 2010, 18:00 PM

Staff Correspondent

A biography of Ouderland Bir Pratik, the only foreigner to receive a gallantry award for his contribution to the country's Liberation War, has been launched commemorating the Dutch-born Australian's ninth death anniversary. Ouderland, born in 1917 in Amsterdam, was the chief executive officer of Bata Shoe Company when the war broke out in 1971. He took part in the war and was later awarded Bir Pratik. He remained in Bangladesh till 1978 and later settled in Australia. He died on May 18, 2001 at the age of 84. The book launching ceremony was organised by Bureau of Human Rights Bangladesh (BHRB) at its conference room in the city yesterday. Speaking as the chief guest, Civil Aviation and Tourism Secretary Shafique Alam Mehdi expressed admiration and respect for Ouderland for his role in the liberation war. On a different note, he said the aviation ministry is free of any form of corruption and harassment, adding that anyone facing harassments at the ministry may post complaints, which would be looked into promptly. Australian High Commi-ssioner to Bangladesh Dr Justin Lee inaugurated the launching ceremony while Chief Exe-cutive Officer of RTV M Hamid and BHRB Secretary General Dr Md Shahjahan also spoke. The book titled 'Bengali Biography on Ouderland Bir Pratik' is written by Mahbubur Rahman and will be available for purchase at a price of Tk 100.