Tuesday, 3 October, 2023
E-paper

US Visa Policy

Bangladesh can no more be browbeaten

It is recorded in history that we as a nation were broken several times by sheer use of brute force but never defeated and forced into submission. The East India Company of Britain occupied the then undivided India by means of treachery and use of force. Their expedition to subjugate the whole subcontinent was initiated from Bengal but the Bengali people never accepted their defeat; they were the first to revolt against British imperialism, conducted ceaseless struggles against colonial repression and finally freed themselves from British colonialism.

Similarly, the Pakistani colonial rulers repressed us in thousand and one ways including plundering our resources, attacking our language and culture and depriving us of all legitimate rights. The valiant sons of the soil shed blood to protect our language and millions of the people sacrificed their lives in the Liberation War of 1971 and established Bangladesh as an independent state, never to be cowed again by any alien force. And, in case, anyone tries to force us into submission by any other means, we are ready to make necessary sacrifices to protect our sovereign rights.

However, attempts to intimidate us have not stopped altogether. Certain global power has been trying to bring us to our knees by imposing sanctions and visa restriction on us. On our part, we will stick to our basic principle of friendship to all and malice to none. We want friendship with all but of course not at the cost of our pride and sense of self-respect. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, like a courageous leader with sense of self-respect, is right to say that it does not matter at all if someone does not allow us to enter their country by imposing visa restrictions. There are so many places to go and so many nations to make friendship and do business with. It should not be forgotten that Bangladesh is determined and also able to run on its own feet, with its head held high in the comity of nations.