Information Minister and Joint General Secretary of Awami League Dr Hasan Mahmud said, "Bangladesh-India harmony and friendship is written in blood and this friendship is inseparable. As long as Bangladesh exists, India's contribution to the rise of Bangladesh will be written in gold letters.”
He was speaking as the chief guest at a discussion on 'Bangabandhu, Liberation War, Bangladesh and India's Role' organized by the Bangladesh-India Harmony Council at the National Press Club in the capital on Tuesday.
Dr Hassan Mahmud said, "In 1971, without the overall cooperation of India, it would not have been possible for us to achieve the independence of Bangladesh in nine months. One crore people took refuge in India in 1971. India trained the freedom fighters. After India later officially declared war on Pakistan, the Indian army fought alongside our freedom fighters against the Pakistani forces. Hundreds of members of the Indian Army along with our freedom fighters have been martyred for the independence of Bangladesh. That is why our alliance with India, our relationship, is written in blood.”
Not only that, when Bangabandhu's death sentence was announced in a Pakistani jail, the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi rushed from one end of the world to the other to liberate Bangabandhu. That is why I remember the contribution of Mrs. Indira Gandhi with deep gratitude, he added.
Awami League joint general secretary Dr Hassan said, "Some political parties in our country, including BNP, try to deny India's contribution and make anti-India speeches. One of the main themes of their politics is anti-India and their anti-India rhetoric increases when elections come.”
He said, "We have seen when they were in power, on the one hand they sat in the country and went against India and on the other hand they went to India and adopted a very kneeling policy. Their leader came from India wearing an expensive sari and gave a strong speech against India. All the political parties, including BNP, which have been heating up the Press Club-Nayapaltan-Television screen with anti-India rhetoric, have again gone to the Indian High Commission for Iftar. I hope their anti-politics will stop.”