Bangladesh
Mangal Shobhajatra Mangal Sovajatra held in limited range
Dhaka, April 14: Considering the coronavirus situation and the lockdown, the Bengali New Year-1428 has been celebrated at Dhaka University through a limited symbolic program. On Wednesday (April 14), a brief symbolic Mangal Shobhajatra (procession) was organized at the faculty premises with various masks and symbols made by the artists of the Faculty of Fine Arts. State Minister for Culture KM Khalid and Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor Prof. Md: Akhtaruzzaman led the procession.
University Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education) Prof. Dr. ASM Maksud Kamal, Treasurer Prof. Mamtaz Uddin Ahmed, Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts Prof. Nisar Hossain, President of DU Teachers Association Prof. Dr. Md. Rahmat Ullah, General Secretary Prof. Dr. Nizamul Haque Bhuiyan and others were present on the occasion. Some teachers and students of the Faculty of Fine Arts took part.
Dr. Md: Akhtaruzzaman wished all the teachers, students, officials and employees of the university a happy Bengali New Year and said that the colorful festival and tradition of welcoming the Bengali New Year from time immemorial is non-communal, liberal and humane. Bangla-1428 is an important year in many respects.
The centenary of Dhaka University, the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the arrival of the Bengali New Year on the eve of the golden jubilee of independence. The Vice-Chancellor thanked the Faculty of Fine Arts for organizing the symbolic Mongol Shobha Yatra to welcome the Bengali New Year on a very limited scale following the hygiene rules considering the situation arising out of Covid-19.
State Minister for Culture KM Khalid said the procession is a World Heritage Site. But due to the ongoing epidemic, it is not possible to celebrate the first Baishakh in a festive atmosphere this year as well. We hope that in the future, Bengali New Year will be celebrated in North Bangladesh with the same colorful arrangements as before.
He thanked the university authorities and the Faculty of Fine Arts for organizing this symbolic procession in spite of various obstacles.
