‘Bangladesh will always stand by the oppressed people of Vietnam’

April 17, 1972

BHUTANESE DELEGATION CALLS ON BANGABANDHU

A Bhutanese government delegation led by Bhutanese Foreign Minister Dawa Tsering calls on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman today at his official residence. They present Bangabandhu some traditional handicrafts of their country. Tsering also hands over a letter from the Bhutanese King to Bangabandhu, inviting him to visit Bhutan.

SOLIDARITY WITH VIETNAM PLEDGED

Finance and Planning Minister Tajuddin Ahmed declares that the government and the people of Bangladesh will always stand by the oppressed people of Vietnam and also of any other country who are struggling for their emancipation from the clutches of imperialist powers. Addressing a mass rally organised in observance of Vietnam Day in Dhaka, he says that the independent and non-aligned foreign policy of Bangladesh does not in any way mean equating the imperialist aggressors with the victims of such aggression. Speaking highly of the gallantry and heroism of the Vietnamese people, Tajuddin Ahmed says that the national liberation war of the Vietnamese people is bound to succeed and expresses the confidence that the brave Vietnamese people are sure to make their mark in the comity of nations as a free and sovereign nation soon.

CONSTITUTION DRAFTING BODY MEETS

The Constitution Drafting Committee set up by the Bangladesh Constituent Assembly today has its first meeting. Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister and also the Chairman of the Drafting Committee Dr Kamal Hossain says at the meeting that the Constitution will be drafted incorporating the four principles of democracy, socialism, nationalism and secularism. He reconfirms Bangabandhu's earlier declaration that all shades of opinion will be taken into consideration in framing the constitution. The Drafting Committee has been directed by the Constituent Assembly to submit the draft of constitution by June 10, 1972.

AL ORGANISING COMMITTEE FORMED

Bangabandhu today declares the 44-member organising committee of Awami League. As per the request of the Awami Leauge council members Bangabandhu will remain president of the party until the next session of the council. Zillur Rahman is nominated as the new general secretary of the party.

CONSTRUCTION OF LOW-COST HOUSES PLANNED

Public Works and Housing Minister Matiur Raman discloses that the government has taken a plan to construct sufficient low-cost houses in the country to solve the housing problems of the displaced people. He further says that Bangabandhu observed keenly how similar problems had been solved in the Soviet Union by constructing low-cost houses on a mass scale and he recommended similar measures to be adopted to resolve the housing problem of the displaced persons in Bangladesh. 

SOURCES: April 18, 1972 issues of Bangladesh Observer, Dainik Bangla and Ittefaq