Editorial
Honouring liberation war friends
We felicitate the govt for taking a long overdue step
Yesterday we had another tryst with our foreign friends who had stood by us as a tower of strength during our liberation war and helped us breathe freely in a country of our own in the end. The president and prime minister conferred Bangladesh Liberation War Honour and Friends of Liberation War Honour on 61 meticulously chosen recipients on Saturday.
This came as part of the process of recognising some 560 foreign nationals and organisations for their signal contribution to the birth of Bangladesh. On July 25, 2011, the honouring series began by conferring "Bangladesh Freedom Honour" posthumously on former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi. Then on March 27, 2012 state accolades went to 75 individuals, six organisations, Mitra Bahini (allied forces) and the people of India. Even through Bangladesh missions abroad the awards will be given to those who might not be able to make it to Bangladesh.
The long list of recipients, the research and meticulous homework going into it, the elaborate preparations methodically made, securing physical presence of large number of dignitaries and handing over the awards to them attest to the AL government's stunning success in holding aloft the spirit and values of the liberation war.
Those who gave us moral, spiritual and material support the world over by spreading the message of our dire needs in our darkest moments and helped rally world public opinion against genocide unleashed on us should have been honoured much earlier. It took us 40 years to do it -- a shame on previous governments. Where the preceding governments failed, the AL-led one has succeeded.
By honouring them we have honoured ourselves. What is more to the point, a long unpaid debt of gratitude is being paid in a progressive manner of which a substantial part has been accomplished. A gratified nation feels happier.
This has not only bonded us afresh to our friends in the liberation war and paid homage to those no more but also enhanced goodwill and warmth of those countries from which they came towards Bangladesh.
Let's also add a word of grateful thanks to those who could be physically present amidst us despite pressing preoccupations to receive our tokens of gratitude awash with sincerity and endearment.
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