I have sheltered more than 12 lakh Rohingyas, it is not possible anymore
We have sheltered more than 12 lakh Rohingyas in the country. 35 thousand new Rohingya children are born every year, which means that this number is increasing every year, said Awami League’s joint general secretary and foreign minister. Hasan Mahmud said, “It is not possible for us to shelter any more Rohingyas, we hope that the kind of situation that was created earlier on the border of Myanmar will not arise again.”
On Friday (23 February) at CRB Shirish floor of Chittagong city, the foreign minister said this after the speech of the chief guest at the Amar Ekushe Chasik memorial medal awarding ceremony at the Amar Ekushe book fair organized by the Chittagong City Corporation (CHASIC).
Meanwhile, Myanmar’s junta government has recently announced that they will launch another operation. Many Rohingyas have already taken up residence at the border. How will the government deal with such a situation – in response to questions from journalists. Hasan said, you know that a few days ago our Prime Minister went to the security conference in Munich. There we also discussed the issue of Rohingya repatriation with various heads of state and government. Besides, the high-level delegation of the United States that is coming will play a helpful role in deepening the relationship between our two countries. We will definitely discuss the issue of Rohingya repatriation there.
“It is their internal matter to conduct operations in Rakhine, but because of that we have already created tensions here, and mortar shells from there have landed in our country, killing two people,” he said. As many as 330 members of their army and security forces came to our country, and were taken back.
The foreign minister said that we are working on how to send back those who have been given asylum earlier on humanitarian grounds. I sought the help of all countries, including the United States, to apply international pressure on the Myanmar government to send back the Rohingyas. That is why we have discussed with various countries including India, USA, China.
The speech of the chief guest at the book fair on the occasion of language month. Hasan said that one of the first ten points given by the Chhatra League after the establishment of the Chhatra League by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was that Bengali should be made the state language. Student leaders along with young leader Sheikh Mujib toured the districts to demand Bengali as the state language based on those ten points. These untold histories are slowly unfolding today.
At this time, the Foreign Minister emphasized on the internationalization of the Chittagong Book Fair. He said, Dhaka and West Bengal’s Kolkata, Agartala, Assam and their connoisseurs and publishers should be brought here, then this fair will be internationalized. We people of two Bengals speak the same language, cherish the same culture, grow up in the same bird’s nest, live in the same river basin. We need to increase people-to-people proximity beyond political boundaries. One of its main means is literature and culture and books.
Chittagong City Corporation (CHSIC) 2024 Ekushey Commemorative Medal and Literary Awardees include Shaheed Saifuddin Khaled Chowdhury (posthumous) in the liberation war and freedom movement, industrial development and social service. Nashir Uddin (posthumous), Professor Dr. Md. Gofaranul Haque, Shishir Dutta in Drama, Shreyasi Roy in Culture, Professor Pradeep Bhattacharya in Education, Suprabhat Bangladesh Editor Rusho Mahmud in Development and Upgradation of Newspaper Industry, Jasim Chowdhury Sabuj in Journalism, Zakir Hossain Lulu in Sports, Shaibal Chowdhury in Short Film Production and Research, Shamsul Arefin in Folklore and Research. , Shamsuddin Shishir in Essay, Absar Habib and Bhagyadhan Barua in Poetry, Arun Sheel and Shibu Kanti Das in Children’s Literature and presented mementos to the delegates.
Chittagong City Corporation Mayor Bir Muktijoddha Rezaul Karim Chowdhury spoke at the event convener Councilor Dr. Book Fair Celebration Parishad. Nishar Uddin Ahmed Manju, Chief Executive Officer of City Corporation Sheikh Mohammad Tauhidul Islam gave a welcome speech, Shishir Dutta who was honored in drama, Absar Habib who was honored in poetry and others gave a speech expressing their feelings.