During her address, she talked about the unified spirit of the people of the two countries
On the second day of her two-day trip to West Bengal, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday received a Degree of Literature (Hohoris Causa) from Kazi Nazrul University at Asansol in West Burdwan district of West Bengal at a special convocation.
During her address, she talked about the unified spirit of the people of the two countries. "Bengal might have been divided but people like Rabindranath Tagore and Nazrul Islam remained of both the countries." She said she had received several invitations from different countries for such degrees but since it was from a university named after the noted poet Kazi Nazrul Islam and on a day which was the poet's birth anniversary, she just could not refuse.
"Nazrul was a poet of secular thinking. We have managed to instil similar feelings among the people of Bangladesh and we want you to grow such a mindset," she told students who were present at the convocation.
Hasina elaborated on how her government had been working for the betterment of Bangladesh, which was a war-affected country and also lauded the way West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee had worked on the development of Churulia, the birthplace of Nazrul.
"In 1999, when I had come to Santiniketan, I had visited Churulia, the birthplace of Nazrul in Asansol but at that time the place was in poor state. In the last seven years that the Mamata Banerjee-led government has come to power, it has worked a lot towards the development of the place and has put up a 'Nazrul Tirtha' there to preserve poet's legacy," Hasina said.
She reiterated how the Indian government, since the time of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, had helped the People's Democracy of Bangladesh in several ways -- be it giving shelter to refugees to the training of freedom fighters.
State education minister Partha Chatterjee was present at the occasion. Referring to the secular viewpoints of Nazrul and Tagore, he took a dig at BJP and without naming anyone, said, "At a time when we are trying to rebuild our society and helping members of the society to think in a secular manner, some are trying to divide people with their instigating speeches, but we believe that the works of these two – Nazrul and Tagore – will keep the people of Bengal united.
Vice-chancellor of the university and West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi could not attend the event owing to health reasons but his letter was read out on his behalf. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee too gave the event a miss but she met Hasina at an informal meeting at one of the hotels in Kolkata later during the day before Hasina left for Bangladesh. After the meeting, which lasted for about one and a half hour, Mamata said that a lot of things regarding education and culture of the two countries was discussed. "It was a courtesy meeting. We have discussed a number of things. I know Hasina before she became the Prime Minister. There is a plan of putting up a museum on Mujibur Rehman," Mamata said
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