Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud yesterday said film can play a vital role to inspire the new generation with the spirit of Liberation War.
He was addressing the inaugural ceremony of the 10th Liberation DocFest, a festival of screening documentary on freedom and human rights, arranged by Bangladesh Liberation War Museum on its premises at Agargaon here.
Liberation War Museum Trustee and former minister Asaduzzaman Noor and festival director Tareq Ahmed also spoke on the occasion.
Hasan, also Awami League joint general secretary, said the festival is being held on liberation war and human rights.
He said Bangladesh’s achieving of independence through the great Liberation War under the leadership of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman will remain as an example for the freedom loving people in the world’s history of human civilization for ages.
Bangladesh had attained independence through bloodstained war in exchange of huge lives and no other country did so, he mentioned.
Noting that production of meaningful short films having importance message for life is increasing, he said such movies can play an important role to inspire the new generation to engage themselves in changing the society positively.
He lauded the arrangement of the festival by Liberation War Museum where 140 films of 40 countries, which have been selected from over 2,100 films of 196 countries, will be screened.
While replying to questions of journalists after the event, the information minister said how the government is bringing back Bangladeshi sailors from Ukraine is an extraordinary task.
The sailors who returned home and their family members are expressing gratitude to the government, he mentioned.
Meantime, he said, the government also took all out measures to bring back the body of sailor Hadisur Rahman to Bangladesh.
He also prayed for eternal peace of departed soul and conveyed deep sympathy to bereaved family.
Hasan said there are allegations that many countries could not shift their citizens to a safer place while citizens of many countries had to walk for 60 kilometers for a safe place.
About rejection of Indian actress Sunny Leone’s visa application by the Bangladesh government, the minister said her visa application has been rejected as she applied for visa with US passport hiding her familiar name.
“A group of actors was given visa and Sunny Leone was in the team. But visa application was made with identity of US citizen hiding her name ‘Sunny Leone’,” he said.
Applying for visa by hiding identity is illegal, he said, adding that when the ministry noticed the matter, her permission has been rejected.
When asked about BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir’s comment that the country’s GDP growth rate is fake, he said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recognized that Bangladesh has surpassed India in GDP growth rate.
BNP doesn’t want country’s progress rather they want that the countrymen will remain as poor because BNP suffers from jealousy witnessing the country’s progress.
