Foreign Minister Dr. AK Abdul Momen said, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was vocal in favor of world peace and has struggled throughout his life to get the just rights of people.
He said this in the video message posted on social media on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Bangabandhu’s receiving the Julio Curie Award.
Dr. Momen said, we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of Bangabandhu's Julio Curie Award receiving in all our missions abroad. The Julio Curie Award was the recognition of the work of the Father of the Nation and the first international honor for Bangladesh.
He said Bangabandhu was imprisoned for demanding Bangla as the state language. Bangabandhu could not accept the discrimination between East and West Pakistan, torture and oppression of the majority Bengalis. In his historical March 7, 1971 speech, Bangabandhu called for freedom for the oppressed, exploited and deprived people of Bengal. Responding to Bangabandhu's call, the people of Bengal fought a long nine-month war to liberate the country.
The foreign minister said that after the establishment of independent Bangladesh, he announced the foreign policy of "friendship with all, enmity with none".
He said, Bangabandhu is not among us today, but with his message of peace, Bangladesh got the status of the number one peacekeeping country in the United Nations under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for establishing lasting peace in the world. It has introduced a 'Culture of Peace' to establish sustainable peace in the world.
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Bangabandhu’s receiving the Julio Curie Award, our commitment will be to work for the establishment of lasting peace in the world. Only then will Bangabandhu's dream be achieved.
Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was awarded the 'Julio Curie' Peace Award by the World Peace Council on 23 May 1973.