William AS Ouderland Bir Protik remembered
Bangladeshi people need to remember and honour the foreigners who stood by their side during the Liberation War at great risk to their lives, said Foreign Minister Dipu Moni yesterday.
The war might have prolonged without their support, she said, adding that Bangladesh's foreign friends and allies played an important role in building public support internationally.
Dipu Moni was addressing as chief guest an inaugural ceremony of a documentary on William AS Ouderland Bir Protik in the capital's Bangladesh Asiatic Society auditorium.
Oikko Ltd organised the event on the occasion of the 95th birth anniversary of Ouderland, a Dutch Australian commando officer who actively participated in the Liberation War.
Ouderland is the only foreigner to have won the fourth highest gallantry award of Bangladesh, Bir Protik.
He organised and trained guerrilla fighters in his office at the Bata Shoe Company where he worked as a production manager. He also planned and directed guerrilla operations in Dhaka and surrounding areas.
Ouderland breathed his last in 2001.
Australian High Commissioner Gregory Wilcock and Deputy Attorney General Motaher Hossain Sazu were special guests at the event. The event also featured two documentaries on Debdulal Banerjee, a prominent voice of All India Radio Kolkata, and Gobindo Haldar, lyricist of prominent liberation songs.
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