& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

EU envoys skip Savar V-Day programme

Join president's reception

Diplomatic Correspondent
European Union envoys based in Dhaka did not attend the Victory Day programme to pay respect to liberation war martyrs at the National Memorial at Savar yesterday morning.
It was their collective decision not to attend that raised a lot of questions among the diplomatic community and also inside the government.
However, they joined the president's reception at Bangabhaban in the afternoon.
FROM PAGE 16
In a note verbal in late Sunday, Ell Ambassador William Hanna informed the foreign ministry that the EU envoys had a coordination meeting yesterday (Monday) to prepare a report on the prevailing situation in Bangladesh for the EU headquarters and thus they could not attend the Victory Day programmes.
In a reply also sent on Sunday night, the foreign ministry reminded the envoys that the Victory Day is a state level programme and skipping the programme may carry a message that the EU diplomats are not showing due respect to the millions of people who sacrificed their lives for the independence of Bangladesh.
The ministry hoped that the Eli envoys
would attend the Victory day programmes.
It has been reliably learnt that the EU envoys had security concerns over attending the programme at the National Memorial following a bad experience in 2011. Therefore, even last year, most of the EU diplomats did not go to Savar.
Official sources said the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs invites foreign missions and others concerned for paying tributes to the martyrs at National Memorial.
They said generally about 40 to 50 percent foreign diplomats attend the programme at Savar as it is not obligatory for them.
The EU, which had its coordination meeting at 3:00pm yesterday, advanced it to 11:00am. It
was held at the residence of the EU ambassador.
"We had to work all morning to draft and agree on a report to Brussels as the Ell's political and security committee will discuss the new situation tomorrow |today]. We managed to finish our work in time for the president's reception, and were delighted to be there," said one of the envoys of the Eli countries.
The president had invited the foreign diplomats in Dhaka on December 10 to attend the reception at Bangabhaban.
Envoys from different countries, including the United States, India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, the Vatican, and the UN resident coordinator yesterday paid tributes to the liberation war martyrs.