Bangladesh to posthumously honour Meghalaya CM's mother

Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma's mother will be posthumously awarded by the Bangladesh government this month for her role in Bangladesh's independence 40 years ago, official sources said today.

The Bangladesh government has conveyed this to Sangma who will be travelling to the neighbouring country to receive the honour for his late mother.

"The government of Bangladesh has decided to formally recognise your mother, late Rawshanara Begum Sangma's contribution and to express gratitude on behalf of the people of Bangladesh," said a letter written by Foreign Minister Dipu Moni to the CM.

Mukul's mother has been selected for the honour by the National Committee to Honour Foreign Friends of the Bangladesh Liberation War, of which the foreign minister is the convener.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will felicitate the recipients on March 27.

"Your mother's support came at a critical time when we stood up against barbaric atrocities and the worst ever genocide in world history and contributed to the eventful emergence of sovereign Bangladesh," the letter read.

Official sources said the CM's mother, who lived at Ampati, near the Indo-Bangladesh border in West Garo Hills district, had provided food and makeshift shelter to people who fled their home to evade atrocities by the Pakistani troops during the war.

Ampati is now the home constituency of Sangma.