Chhabed Sathee: The 37th Federation of Bangladeshi Associations in North America (FOBANA) conference in Dallas, Texas, broke the record of the last 36 years in the history of the Fobana conference in the United States. Bangladesh Association of North Texas (BANT) successfully held the 37th historic Fobanan conference for three days and impressed 4/5 thousand expatriates gathered in Dallas.
The Federation of Bangladeshi Associations in North America (FOBANA) conference, which started last Friday (September 1) and is known as a gathering of Bangladeshi expatriates in North America, ended last Sunday (September 3). Irving City Mayor Rick Stoffer officially opened the 37th FOBANA Convention at the Irving Convention Center in the heart of Dallas. After that, Hashmat Mobin, President of Bangladesh Association of North Texas (BANT) and convener of the 37th Fobana Conference, announced the official opening of the conference. People’s N Tech CEO Abu Bakar Hanif was present at the time.
Thousands of visitors from all over the state of Texas and from different states arrived at the conference venue in the afternoon to attend the conference.
Organizers of Dallas Fobana said that about 64 North American organizations came to Dallas to participate in this year’s conference.
Guests attended a ‘black tie dinner’ in the ballroom of the Westin Hotel at the Irving Convention Center on Friday evening. On behalf of the host organization Bangladesh Association of North Texas (BANT), the convenor of the 37th Fobana conference, Hashmat Mobin, chairperson of the executive committee of Fobana, gave a welcome speech on this occasion. Ahsan Chowdhury Hero, Executive Secretary Nahidul Khan Sahel, Member Secretary of 37th Fobana Conference Sham Suddoha Sagar and former officials of Fobana.
At the beginning of the program, Bant artists performed the national anthems of Bangladesh, USA and Canada (three countries). The inauguration ceremony saw the presence of thousands of culture lovers.
In the speech of the chief guest, Irving City Mayor Rick Stoffer said that people of all religions live in the United States. This country has multiculturalism. Bangladeshis have a considerable role in building this Dallas city. Meanwhile, the historical Fobana Conference is being held in this city. He hopes that the people of the city will remember this event of the 37th Fobana conference held in 2023 forever. He said that through this conference, a bridge will be created between Bangladesh and the United States in the future.
The opening ceremony of the 37th Fobana was ushered in the evening at the Irving Convention Center in Dallas with the national anthems of Bangladesh, America and Canada. Abu Hanif spoke as a special guest at the inaugural function of Fobana in a joint presentation by Diba Saha, Sadman Farib, Farhanaz Reza, Sharmin Sonia, RJ Rahi and Abir Alamgir.
He said Fobana is a disciplined organization, bridging the diaspora.
Pro VC of Chittagong University said among others. Benu Roy said that sitting in a developed country like USA, we are all speaking in Bengali in this convention, many students are benefiting through Fobana, which is exemplary. Fobana is thriving today with 37 years of continuity.
Daffodil University founder Sabur Khan spoke as special guest. He said, Phobana can play a role in creating entrepreneurs with Daffodil if she wants. Fobana can introduce scholarships in private universities.
In the speech of the special guest, Hakeem Arif, Director International Mother Language Institute, said, ‘Fobana is patronizing our mother tongue, which is a joy and glory.”
Speaking at the opening ceremony, the chairman of Fobana Dr. Ehsan Chowdhury Hero, Vice Chairman Masud Rob Chowdhury, Fobana Executive Secretary Nahidul Khan Sahel, 37th Fobana Convener Hashmat Mobin and Member Secretary Sham Suddoha Sagar on behalf of the host committee.
Hashmat Mobin, convener of the 37th FOBANA and president of Bangladesh Association of North Texas (BANT), said that it is not right to talk about one’s own success. Only the Bangladeshis coming to Dallas will tell how the 37th Fobana conference went. I don’t want to say anything else. But all I can say is that I and all of the people who worked with me were very happy to be able to meet so many people in Dallas. We have succeeded in achieving our goal. In the last three days, everyone was engaged in a lot of fun and entertainment. For the past three days, everyone has forgotten about the exile and thought only about Bangladesh. They were all lost without their knowledge. He expressed sincere thanks to all the leaders and workers of the organizing committee and all the artists and the audience.
Fobana Executive Secretary Nahidul Khan Sahel said that the 37th Fobana conference organized by Bangladesh Association of North Texas (BANT) in Dallas in 2023 has been completed very successfully. He feels that this year’s Fobana conference has set a new milestone in terms of attendance and success. It is estimated that more than twelve thousand (12000) expatriate Bangladeshis are participating in the conference during the three days of the conference. The organizing committee has shown great competence in organization without any minor mistakes. On behalf of Fobana Central Committee, he thanked the organizing committee.
Atlanta’s Bangladhara organization has been given the responsibility to organize Fobana in 2025. Nahidul Khan Sahel has been nominated as the convener and Mahbubur Rahman Bhuiyan as the member secretary. He thanked everyone on behalf of the Bangladhara organization.
Attorney Mohammad Alamgir, newly elected Chairman of Fobana Executive Committee attended the Fobana Conference in Dallas. He said, “From my long experience, I have never seen an audience like the Fobana Conference in Dallas before. Where did so many people come from? I couldn’t even think of it. It is not so easy to bring 62 social and cultural organizations of the United States together and create an opportunity for them to serve. This was made possible by the efforts and ingenuity of the host organization’s promoter Hasmat Mobin and member secretary Sham Suddoha Sagar.
Abir Alamgir, the newly elected Executive Secretary of Fobana Executive Committee, said that this year’s conference held in Dallas was the best conference in the last few years. The presence of about 8,000 Bangladeshis in the three-day conference impressed everyone. Hundreds of organizers of 62 organizations from 22 cities in 18 states of America and Canada participated in the conference. In the past conferences, it has been seen that usually the main stage programs have more audience presence and attraction, but in this conference, apart from the main stage program, the presence of well-dressed visitors was noticeable throughout the day in various programs on the 4 floors of the convention hall. The participation of the new generation in the conference was remarkable. Youth Forum, Kavya Jalsa, Business Networking events and seminars on various topics were well attended.
All the artists who were scheduled to attend this year’s conference participated and some 34 organizations from North America presented their excellent group cultural performances, which was one of the largest participations. In this year’s conference, 55 organizations had voting rights, the representatives of the organizations elected a new executive committee for the next year through voting. Organizers from around 16 states are represented in this committee. I am very optimistic about this new team, I believe we can make Fobana more dynamic in the next one year with an excellent team work.
Reza Rahman, who is in charge of media and communication of the host organization, said, “I don’t need my opinion on how the Fobana conference in Dallas went, the other 10 expatriates who participated in the conference will tell how it went.” He thinks that it was an incredibly beautiful and worthwhile conference. It is no small thing to keep everyone up to 2 am on Saturday and Sunday in the presence of about 3,000 people.
Sheikh Limon, cultural secretary of the host organization Bant and cultural chairman of the 37th Fobana, said that such a successful Fobana has never happened in the history of Fobana and it does not seem to happen in the future. The Irving Convention Center in Dallas was busy with the march of more than 10,000 Bengalis in three days. Dallas took Fobana to another level. Fobana of Dallas will be written in golden letters on the pages of history.
Syed Hossain said that this year’s Dallas Fobana must be called a success. Because in the last few years no one could give such a gift. In my view, this year’s Fobana is a successful Fobana conference.
Fahad Solaiman, a businessman from New York, said that a really successful Fobana conference was held in Dallas. A gathering of so many people in a beautiful and organized ceremony has never been seen anywhere before.
Duke Khan, election commissioner and former outstanding member of Fobana Executive Council, said that Dallas is one of the best conferences in Fobana is history. Meeting of Bangladeshis. The gathering of young people was more in this Fobana. Songs, Poetry Jalsa, Mela, Youth Seminar, Women Empowerment Seminar, Business Seminar, BUET, Chittagong University Alumni Meet Fair was very beautiful. A large crowd of young people met. Bangladesh Embassy’s round-the-clock consular service was well equipped. The food stalls of the fair had various kinds of interesting food. I just want to congratulate the organizers.
Rabiul Karim Belal, the former outstanding member of Fobana and the former convener of the Fobana conference in Kansas (2007), said that it was not possible to go to the Dallas Fobana conference this time due to being busy with an urgent work. But by talking to everyone related to Fobana, Dallas got to know about the success of Fobana. I am very happy to hear. It can be said without a doubt that if we fulfill our responsibilities properly we will get success in all fobana. He expressed his sincere thanks to the organizers for giving a successful Fobana.Subarna Duke said, we just wanted to make a good history, because we immigrated from Bangladesh. For our future generations to read about us, how we have established ourselves in the United States and how we have built strong communities for the next generation, the new generation learns through this conference.
At around 8:30 pm, a different video showing the history of Fobana over the past 36 years was shown in the auditorium. After that artists from Bant performed chorus songs, dance dramas and cultural groups from Washington DC performed their performances.
Popular artists Shafin Ahmed, Kanak Champa, Azrin, Lipi Hossain, Swapnil Sajeeb also performed music on the occasion. Local artistes include Farida Khan, Nabila Rifat, Laz, Dina Samad and Ishaan Gibran.
The conference on Saturday (September 2) included discussions on Bengali literature and culture, thematic meetings and seminars, business discussions, book fairs, interesting poetry jalsa of expatriate poets and writers, band shows, song dramas, fashion shows, youth forums and Scholarships for students.
There was also an interesting poetry jalsa of North American poets and writers, special seminars on women empowerment and seminars on business development and import and export in the country, about 20 seminars were held on Saturday and Sunday.
Around 50 artists including Mithali Mukherjee, Imran, Kana, Rizia Parveen, Shahnaz Beli, Muja, Nirjhar, Romel Ahmed and Momo performed on the main stage on Saturday and Sunday.
In addition, there were excellent performances by the new generation in the two-day event. With the participation of Bengali businessmen and entrepreneurs from different parts of the world, including North America, interesting events including business network lunch, discussions on immigration laws, performances by popular artists from Bangladesh and local artists, awarding of awards to various individuals and organizations who have contributed to the Bengali diaspora society.
The Bangladesh American Association of Greater Washington DC (BAGDC) has been given the responsibility as the host organization of the upcoming 2024 Fobana Conference. In this year, the name of the host organization for the upcoming 2025 Fobana conference was announced. The next 2025 Fobana conference will be held in Georgia, Atlanta. Bangla Dhara has got the responsibility as the host conference. BAGDC and Bangla Dhara leaders and workers said that they will soon reveal the preparations and their plans for the ceremonial conference in 2024 and 2025.
