Security has been beefed up here ahead of a key visit of Congress party president Sonia Gandhi will today receive Bangladesh`s highest state award on behalf of former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for her outstanding contribution to the country`s 1971 `Liberation War`. Bangladesh has taken steps to ensure maximum security for the visit, officials said.
The elite Special Security Force (SSF) alongside the anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) personnel and the regular police force would enforce the security while a special squad of India’s Special Protection Group (SPG) was already in the capital to ensure foolproof security system, a senior police officer said. Security forces will leave "no stone unturned" to ensure her protection, he said.
Sonia, who will arrive in Dhaka on Monday on a two-day visit at the invitation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, will also be the chief guest at the inaugural function of a five-day conference on `Autism Spectrum Disorders and Developmental Disabilities in Bangladesh and South Asia` beginning from today.
Analysts here believe that the tour will boost Indo-Bangla ties ahead of the scheduled visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in September. Earlier, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni told reporters that Bangladesh was "looking forward to the visit of Sonia Gandhi". "She is a family member of Indira Gandhi who was our great friend during our war for freedom, the President of Congress and the chairperson of UPA," Moni said.
Earlier this week, the cabinet decided to confer the country`s highest state honour, `Bangladesh Swadhinata Sanmanona` on the assassinated Indian Prime Minister for her outstanding contribution to the country`s independence. The Congress president will today receive the award from President Zillur Rahman at a special ceremony in the presidential palace.
The late Indian premier traveled across the world to mobilise support for the people of East Pakistan, which later became Bangladesh, amid a massive crackdown on civilians by the Pakistan Army.
On March 26, 1971, Bangladesh - then East Pakistan - declared its independence from West Pakistan. The Pakistan Army surrendered to the allied forces of the Indian army and the Mukti Bahini on 16 December 1971, which resulted in Bangladesh becoming an independent nation.
The government also plans to rechristen an important road in the memory of the former Indian Prime Minister. A separate monument would also be built to honour Indian defence personnel martyred in the 1971 war. The government has shortlisted 47 "foreign friends" and five organisations to be honoured in December for their contribution to Bangladesh`s freedom struggle.
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