Global Watch

BANGLADESH PM Sheikh Hasina & Narendra Modi Inaugurate Bangladesh Bhawan In Tagore’s Santineketan In Presence Of WB CM Mamata Banerjee

BANGLADESH Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and PM Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated Bangladesh Bhavan in Santiniketan, about 160 km from Kolkata, in presence of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and other dignitaries. The Rs 25 crore Bhavan, paid for by Dhaka, has a museum showcasing Rabindranath Tagore’s association with Bangladesh, Liberation War & Indo-Bangla relations. May 25 is also the date of birth of Kazi Nazrul Islam, Bangladesh’s National Poet. He was born in Burdwan district of West Bengal. He remains a symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity in both the countries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is Chancellor  of Visva Bharati University ,urged the students turn 100 villages around Santiniketan in Birbhum district of West Bengal self-sufficient to mark the central university’s centenary in 2021.“The villages should have a power connection, LPG gas supply, the children should receive vaccinations, the villagers should be able to fill up forms digitally,” Modi said delivering his convocation address. The Prime Minister referred to Swachh Bharat scheme saying students should adopt and implement the scheme for the benefit of rural people around the central university. Modi also said he was constrained to know about the non-availability of drinking water in Santiniketan.“As I was coming by car, some children gestured to me that they don’t even have drinking water. As the chancellor, I tender my apology,” Modi said at the beginning of his speech. Mamata Banerjee was present on the dais along with Sheikh Hasina when Modi was speaking. Hasina and Banerjee became the first head of government of a foreign country and the first chief minister to be present during the ceremony.“It is a rare occasion where the prime ministers of two countries are present at the convocation programme of a university,” said Modi. Great humanist Rabindra Nath Tagore, who was born, grew up and breathed at Kolkata, had formally started the college in Santiniketan in December 1921 with the money he had received as the award for the Nobel Literature Prize for his collection of poems titled Gitanjali in 1913. This was Modi’s first visit to Visva-Bharati, the only central university of which he is the chancellor. Tagore had to frequent the then East Bengal where he had ancestral property, lived in a boat on the river Padma and composed several memorable poems. He was influenced by a folk singer called Lalan Fakir and paid rich tribute to him. The boat has been preserved by the Bangladesh government.“He was a global citizen then, he is a global citizen now. In many countries that I have visited, I have seen people carrying his values with deep respect. In Afghanistan, everyone knows his story Kabuliwala,” the Prime Minister said while  speaking about his contribution .Tagore’s elder brother Satyendranath Tagore, the first Indian to become an Indian Civil Service officer, taught the poet English literature in Ahmedabad. He was posted there as District Collector, PM Modi recalled.“Gujarat also had a small contribution towards making the personality of Tagore,” he said. Recalling Indo-Bangladesh ties, PM Modi said: “Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is present with us. India and Bangladesh are two separate countries, but our interests are connected. Be it culture or public policy, we learn a lot from each other. One such example is Bangladesh Bhavan”. . Hasina’s sister Rehana, and a large team of Bangladesh ministers, attended the programme. On 26 May, Hasina will be awarded an honorary D Litt by the Kazi Nazrul University in Asansol of West Burdwan district. She will also visit Jorasanko Thakur Bari, where Tagore was born in 1861, lived and passed away in 1941, and Netaji Bhavan, the ancestral house of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, in south Kolkata. Reportedly, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will also be signed between Visva-Bharati and the Secondary and Higher Secondary Division of the education ministry of Bangladesh.(Image courtesy : India TV)

 

 

 

 

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