Staff Reporter: Bangla Corner has been launched at the Queens Public Library in New York at the initiative of the Bangladesh Consulate General, New York and in collaboration with the Queens Public Library as part of the Mujib Year and the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Bangladesh’s independence. Local time on Tuesday (September 28) visiting Foreign Minister in New York. A. K. Abdul Momen, MP inaugurated the Bangla Corner.
The ceremony was attended by Foreign Secretary Masud bin Momen, New York State Senator John C. Lew, Queens Borough President Donavan Richards, and President and CEO of Queens Public Library Dennis M Walcott. Also, members of the Bangladeshi-American community, including expatriate heroic freedom fighters, attended the event.
The largest settlement of the Bangladeshi community in the United States is Queens Borough in New York, where Bengali is the fourth largest language after English, Spanish and Chinese. That is why the inauguration of ‘Bangla Corner’ at the Queens Public Library in the borough is of special significance. A total of 309 books of ‘Bangla Corner’ have been provided by Bangladesh Consulate. The books are about Bangabandhu, Bangladesh’s freedom struggle and liberation war and the history, heritage and culture of Bangladesh written by renowned writers and literary figures of Bangladesh. In addition, Bangladeshi novels, short stories and children’s books have found a place in this corner.
For three consecutive years from 2019 to 2021, the celebration of International Mother Language Day has aroused a great response by incorporating Queens into the mainstream. Following this, the Consulate for the growing number of Bangladeshi-Americans in Queens took the initiative to establish a ‘Bangla Corner’ at the Queens Public Library, one of the largest in the United States, on the occasion of the ‘Year of Mujib’. Although this ‘Bangla Corner’ was supposed to be inaugurated on a large scale in 2020, it was not possible due to the Covid epidemic. Later this year, during the UN General Assembly, the ‘Bangla Corner’ was inaugurated on Tuesday following a limited range of rules regarding covid.
Foreign Minister in the speech of the chief guest.
Dr. A.K. Abdul Momen said 2021 is important in many ways because this year marks the birth centenary of our father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the golden jubilee of Bangladesh’s independence and today is the 75th birth anniversary of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the worthy daughter of the father of the nation.
He also said that another notable achievement of Bangladesh this year is that Bangladesh has successfully crossed all the indicators of being a developing country from the list of least developed countries this year. He said that is why the auspicious inauguration of ‘Bangla Corner’ on this day of the year carries special significance. He recalls his past around the Queens Library at this time. “We are the only nation that has given blood for language,” he added. He hopes that expatriate Bangladeshis will come to this ‘Bangla Corner’ with their future generations and read books. On this special day, he presented to the Queen’s Public Library a compilation and analysis of 32 speeches delivered by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to the nation and a special compilation of the writings of 75 eminent persons on the occasion of the Prime Minister’s 75th birthday.
In his speech, Ambassador Masud bin Momen, Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh, said that this ‘Bangla Corner’ established in the year of Mujib is of special significance to our Bangladeshi-American community. He hopes the consulate’s contacts with other mainstream institutions, including the Queens Public Library, will continue to grow.
Bangladesh’s Consul General in New York and Bangladesh’s Ambassador to Brazil (nominated) Sadia Faizunnesa and President and CEO of Queens Public Library Dennis M. Walcott delivered the welcome address at the event. In her speech, Consul General Sadia Faizunnesa mentioned Bangabandhu’s first speech in Bengali at the United Nations and Bangabandhu’s historic Bengali speech on March 7 was recognized by UNESCO. In this context, he referred to the period of repeated imprisonment of Bangabandhu during the language movement from 1948 to 1952 and said that the establishment of this ‘Bangla Corner’ in the year of Mujib was very symbolic and important.
Speaking at the event, among other guests, was New York State Senator John C. Lou, and Queens Borough President Donavan Richards and journalist Hassan Ferdous. Everyone praised the initiative to introduce the Bengali language to the new generation of Bangladeshi-Americans.
They hope that this will create a better understanding of Bangladesh among all Bengali speaking people, especially children and adolescents. At the end of the speech, the Secretary of State handed over several of his own books to Dennis Walcott, President of the Queens Public Library.
Also, the Secret Documents of the Intelligence Branch on Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s Volume: 1-9 and the book “Lighting the Fire of Freedom: Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman” published with photographs based on the history of the Liberation War were donated to the library. Dennis M. President and CEO of Queens Public Library. Walcott presented a Memorandum of Honor to the Secretary of State in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the community.
Note that the books donated to the Queens Public Library will be on display in the main branch for 6 months and will be stored in the various branches of the library thereafter.
BP/SM
